Fargues-Saint-Hilaire · Entre-deux-Mers · Gironde
Bakery, Sunday market and restaurants a stone’s throw away. Bordeaux twenty minutes away. Vineyards, a thousand-year-old abbey and the ocean for days out.
At a glance
20 min
Bordeaux, its quays and its station
15 min
Créon, its bastide and Wednesday market
35 min
Saint-Émilion and its grands crus
1 hr
Arcachon Bay and the Dune du Pilat
The village
Fargues-Saint-Hilaire, a lively village on the first hills of the Entre-deux-Mers
Just over 3,000 inhabitants, wooded hillsides — 150 hectares of forest within the commune — and a village centre where everything is done on foot: the morning bread, the shopping, a dinner without getting back in the car. The villa is a few minutes from the Bordeaux ring road, and yet the Entre-deux-Mers vineyards begin at the end of the street.
The village has kept its landmarks: the Saint-Hilaire church, rebuilt in 1845, the Château de Beauséjour (1734) and its gardens, the waymarked Circuit des Coteaux trails between woods and hamlets. And every Sunday morning, the market on Place du Docteur-Dejean brings together the greengrocer, the fishmonger, the rotisserie, the cheesemonger and the wine merchant.
- The bakery — artisan and well regarded, a few minutes’ walk away: the morning ritual is guaranteed, croissants included.
- The Sunday market — 7 am to 1 pm, Place du Docteur-Dejean: fruit and vegetables, fish, roast poultry, cheeses, wines.
- The supermarket — local produce to the fore and a fine selection of regional wines, plenty to feed the villa’s XXL kitchen.
- The restaurants — several addresses with varied cuisines, for evenings when the kitchen stays cold or lunch breaks between calls.
- Pharmacy and services — doctors, bank, post office, hairdressers: you can settle in for months without depending on the car every day.
- Walks — the Circuit des Coteaux starts from the village; the Roger-Lapébie cycle path is ten minutes away.
Twenty minutes away
Bordeaux, world capital of wine
The UNESCO-listed Port de la Lune, the water mirror of Place de la Bourse, the Cité du Vin, the Bassins des Lumières, the market halls and bistros of the Chartrons: Bordeaux is easy to enjoy from the villa, for an evening out or the daily routine of an assignment or a course.
In practice: the ring road is less than five kilometres away, the city centre about twenty minutes, Saint-Jean station twenty minutes — and Paris 2 hr 04 by TGV. Regional coaches (lines 470, 472 and 474) connect the village to the Bordeaux network.
The Capucins market
The “belly of Bordeaux”: oysters from the Bay, cheeses, canelés and world cuisines, Tuesday to Sunday morning.
The right bank, ten minutes away
Darwin and its reinvented industrial wasteland, the Arkéa Arena for concerts, Le Saint-James in Bouliac — a Michelin-starred table overlooking the Garonne.
The big events
Bordeaux Wine Festival on the quays in June, Bordeaux River Festival in odd-numbered years, the Christmas market on the Allées de Tourny in December.
Among the vines
Cycling the Roger-Lapébie path
A former railway line turned greenway: 57 km from Bordeaux to Sauveterre-de-Guyenne, through the vineyards, woods and villages of the Entre-deux-Mers, without a single serious climb. The old stations have become stopping points — a café in Espiet, bike hire in Créon.
Family holidays near Bordeaux →
From the villa, you reach the path at Latresne in ten minutes. An easy one-hour ride to Créon, or a full day to the abbey of La Sauve-Majeure and beyond. We will point you to the nearest bike and e-bike hire shops.
The region
Days out from the villa
The Bordeaux region in a star pattern: a new direction every day, and the calm of the garden in the evening.
Three days between Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion →
Saint-Émilion
35 min · UNESCO vineyards
The World Heritage medieval village and its jurisdiction, the monolithic church carved into the rock, the cobbled lanes — and the grands crus that surround it, from château to château.
The abbey of La Sauve-Majeure
20 min · Way of St James
Founded in 1079, UNESCO-listed since 1998: more than 80 carved Romanesque capitals and a bell tower overlooking the whole Entre-deux-Mers.
Créon and the bastides
15 min · a market since 1315
The bastide of Créon has held its Wednesday morning market since 1315 — around a hundred stalls under the arcades. Further on, Cadillac and its château of the Dukes of Épernon, Rions, Sauveterre-de-Guyenne.
Arcachon Bay
1 hr · oysters and stilt huts
The oyster ports of Gujan-Mestras, the Île aux Oiseaux and its huts on stilts, a dozen oysters by the water: the ocean for the day.
The Dune du Pilat
1 hr 05 · Europe’s tallest sand dune
More than 100 metres of sand between the Landes forest and the Banc d’Arguin. Climb it at sunset, when the Bay lights up.
Cap Ferret
1 hr 25 · the ocean side
The lighthouse, the oyster villages, the wild ocean beaches and the boat crossing of the Bay: the end of the world, less than an hour and a half from the villa.
Château de Camarsac
A quarter of an hour away: a 14th-century fortress reworked in the Renaissance, Entre-deux-Mers wines, tours and tastings by appointment and the estate’s restaurant at weekends.
The wine routes
Entre-deux-Mers, Côtes de Bordeaux, Sauternes and Graves to the south, Médoc to the north: dozens of estates open their cellars less than an hour away, often by simple appointment.
Towards the Dordogne
Libourne and its market, Castillon-la-Bataille, then the Dordogne valley, Bergerac and its bastides: a full day out, at the same easy pace.
Through the year
Four seasons around the villa
Summer
Heated pool, dinners under the pergola, evening markets in the villages and barbecues on the Big Green Egg. The ocean an hour away for the sunniest days.
Autumn
Harvest in the Entre-deux-Mers, golden vines, open days at the châteaux, the first fires in the wood stove.
Winter
Bordeaux in festive mode twenty minutes away, a warm house, Bay oysters at the Sunday market: the ideal setting for a mobility lease.
Spring
The maples in the garden wake up, the first terrace lunches, bike rides through the vines and La Sauve-Majeure in bloom.
Getting here & around
Easy to reach, easy to live without a car day to day
- By car — the Bordeaux ring road less than 5 km away, three parking spaces on the property behind the electric gate.
- Electric car — a charging point awaits you on the property.
- Saint-Jean station — twenty minutes away; Paris in 2 hr 04, Toulouse in 2 hr, Spain via the Basque coast.
- Bordeaux-Mérignac airport — thirty-five minutes via the ring road.
- Regional coaches — lines 470, 472 and 474 serve the village and connect to the Bordeaux network.
- Hiring a car — our local partners offer preferential rental rates during your stay: just ask us.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us about the village
Can you live at the villa without a car?
Day to day, yes: bakery, supermarket, pharmacy, restaurants and the Sunday market are all on foot, and regional coaches run to Bordeaux. For days out (Saint-Émilion, the Bay), a car remains more comfortable — we can put you in touch with a partner rental company.
Where can I do the shopping?
The village supermarket, the Sunday morning market on Place du Docteur-Dejean, the Créon market on Wednesdays (15 min away) and, for the big shop, the stores on the right bank ten minutes away.
Are there restaurants in the village?
Several addresses with varied cuisines in Fargues-Saint-Hilaire and the neighbouring villages; for a special occasion, Le Saint-James in Bouliac (Michelin-starred) is ten minutes away. We leave our favourite addresses on the kitchen tablet.
Village and region photos: royalty-free images — photo credits.