The city of Bordeaux is among France's most exciting, vibrant and dynamic cities.
The Lonely Planet named Bordeaux as the best city in the world to visit in 2017, while the Queen referred to the city as ‘the very essence of elegance’.
Traditionally Bordeaux has been known for its wine, gastronomy and elegant 18th Century architecture but over the past decade it has a acquired a vibrant cutting-edge. The result is a city where past and present compliment each other beautifully.
This cutting edge is thanks, in part, to the vision of its progressive mayor Alain Juppé, who back In 1995 started a programme of rejuvenation that pedestrianised boulevards, restored neoclassical architecture, created a high-tech public transport system and reclaimed Bordeaux's former industrial docks. Half the city is now Unesco-listed, making it the largest urban World Heritage site.
The city offers easy access to the sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast and of course the world-famous wine growing regions of St Emilion and Médoc, home to a clutch of famous Bordeaux wine châteaux (Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild etc) The region is also building a reputation as one of France’s prime golfing destinations; the new Golf du Médoc course was recently awarded France’s Best Golf Course 2016.
Bordeaux is renowned for its' cuisine particularly the regional specialities, and the restaurants in the city are some of the best to be found in the country. Restaurants such as L'Entrecote, established in 1959, have attracted diners to form queues around the block almost everyday since then!
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Since July 2017 Bordeaux (and the surrounding region) is much easier to get to from the UK. Following the opening of a new 188-mile stretch of high-speed track between Tours and Bordeaux, the 3.5hr journey time between Paris and Bordeaux has been slashed to just over two hours. Even with a change of station in Paris, it will be possible to do the journey from London by Eurostar and TGV in just five hours 55mins.
Bordeaux airport is very much open for business too after the recent revamp of Easyjet's hub terminal at the city's airport. You can fly from the UK to Bordeaux with many airlines but with Easyjet you can fly from Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton and Southend. Prices start at £25 each way.
Unlike large areas of France, the property market in Bordeaux, is very active. You will of course pay a premium to buy property in such a sought-after city but prices are still less than half what they are in Paris. The average price in Paris is €753 per sq ft, compared with €328 in Bordeaux. Prices in Bordeaux are gradually climbing so investing in property here is likely to be a shrewd move.
If you're looking for an investment property to rent out for holiday lets, Bordeaux certainly gets a good amount of foot fall throughout the year. New laws affecting Airbnb in Bordeaux are being rolled out in March 2018. These new laws will restrict the number of nights a primary residence can be rented out on the site. The new law governing Bordeaux airbnb listings only affects those that have their property registered as their main home. If property owners want to rent out their property in Bordeaux for more than 120 nights per year through Airbnb, it will need to be registered as a commercial entity or rental property.
Travel journalists at the Telegraph were so taken with the city, they recently published an article giving: 10 reasons why Bordeaux is France’s Greatest City:
Here's a couple of our properties in the city to take a look at:
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