10 Best Museums and Galleries in Bordeaux

The Museum of Fine Arts of Bordeaux is a comprehensive high-end museum where you'll find a massive collection of paintings and sculptures from across centuries. The oldest pieces in the museum date back to the 15th century, while more modern 20th-century works can be found as well.

When you visit this museum, you'll notice some themes throughout the collection. While the variety is substantial, most of the work is done by French and Dutch painters. Additionally, you'll find work by legends such as Allan Ramsay, Henri Martin, John Lewis Brown and Pietro Perugino. You'll find it in the Saint-Pierre district in the town center.

Cité du Vin is a massive museum in an oddly shaped sleek building that showcases the history and brilliance of wine production. The building looks almost curved in appearance and features decor inside including an area where nearly 4,000 wine bottles are suspended from the ceiling.

Inside, you'll find a variety of exhibits to explore including permanent exhibits like the Buffet of the Five Senses, which will delight every one of your senses in one way or another. Different temporary exhibitions offer new experiences you can enjoy on subsequent visits. It's located in southern Bacalan.

The Bernard Magrez Cultural Institute is a popular cultural center that shows off contemporary art and hosts numerous cultural events every week. It was established from a chateau that now serves as a publicly available museum.

Among its collection, you'll find a wealth of contemporary art on display from the 20th century to the present day. Young local artists tend to spend a lot of time here honing their craft with workshops that you can get involved in as well. You'll find it just north of Saint Seurin - Fondaudège.

Musée National des Douanes is the national customs museum for France where you'll find numerous exhibits detailing the history of taxes, tariffs and border control. There's no better place in town to dive deep into the economic history of the country.

French customs is more diverse and fascinating than you might think, and you can explore it all with exhibits showcasing agent uniforms, national treasures, calculating machines and even weapons that smugglers would often use. It's all available in Saint-Pierre near the riverbank.

Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design is a museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing brilliant design that's as functional as it is aesthetically pleasing. While the museum originally focused on historical examples of decorative art, it's been showcasing modern examples as well since 2013.

When you visit this museum, you'll find it set up in a historic 18th-century aristocratic mansion. The ceramics collection is particularly impressive, but you'll find wood and metalwork as well. It's located in the middle of the town center.

Musée Mer Marine Bordeaux is a popular museum that dives deep into the maritime heritage of not only the city but the world at large. You'll find quite a few displays here including a permanent collection that showcases marine objects, model ships and works of art.

The collection covers all eras of maritime travel including humanity's earliest ventures into the water. Navigation techniques are particularly showcased in the collection. You can see it for yourself north of the city centre near the river.

The CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art of Bordeaux is a stunning modern art museum that's home to a massive permanent collection and rotating temporary exhibits. The permanent collection features iconic works from all sorts of artists from around the world including American artists and those from Asia.

When you visit this museum, you'll find a variety of temporary exhibitions to enjoy. While they often consist of visual artworks, you'll occasionally find musical and cinematic exhibitions as well. See it for yourself on the northeast side of the town center near the Garonne's western banks.

Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Bordeaux is a popular natural history museum that's home to numerous displays and artifacts with some items dating back to prehistory. The prehistory collection is quite impressive with pieces that showcase paleontological discoveries of Quaternary vertebrates.

Mineralogy and zoology also have a major presence at this museum with huge displays and odd curiosities both available to explore. The 2nd floor in particular has numerous floor-to-ceiling displays to emphasize a sense of scale. It's located on the north side of the town center.

Musée d'Aquitaine is home to an array of artifacts and displays detailing the history of Aquitaine, a historic region of southwestern France. More than 70,000 pieces are on display here showcasing the history of the region from prehistory to the modern era.

When you visit this museum, you'll find quite a few artifacts from Africa and Oceania as well, as the region was historically a busy harbor. You can check it out for yourself in southern Saint-Pierre just south of the town center.

Base Sous-Marine is a historic submarine base that has been repurposed into a cultural center and art gallery in stark contrast to its original purpose. When you visit the base today, you'll find an alluring underground experience where you can see modern art and exhibitions.

This destination used to be a functional submarine base that was built during the Second World War. It was so well reinforced that it could withstand an aerial attack and remain standing, so the city simply repurposed it after the occupation was over. See it for yourself in western Bacalan north of the town center.