Published the 10/20/2026 in Useful Information
The biggest events in Southwest France in 2027 fall into two seasons. Summer is packed: the Tall Ships Races open in Bordeaux alongside Bordeaux Fête le Vin from 7 to 11 July, and the Tour de France plays out its final mountain week in the Pyrenees before finishing a stage in Libourne, at the foot of Saint-Émilion. Autumn belongs to wine-country running, from the Marathon du Médoc in September to the Bordeaux and Cognac marathons in November. Add the Rugby Sevens World Championship finale and the Top 14 semi-finals at Bordeaux's Stade Atlantique, and 2027 is a year to plan early. For a slower thread, Bordeaux marks 20 years as a UNESCO World Heritage city, and the houses of Montaigne, Montesquieu and Mauriac are there between two events. Here is the calendar we are building our private tours, small group trips and incentive programmes around: the dates already confirmed, the ones still to be announced, and what each event feels like when a driver is waiting and a château table is booked for the evening.
At a glance: events in Southwest France in 2027
Southwest France has a steady rhythm of yearly rendezvous, from en primeur week in April to the harvest festivals of September. What sets 2027 apart is a run of one-off events stacked on top of that rhythm.
Bordeaux becomes the departure port of the Tall Ships Races, 37 years after the city last welcomed the fleet in 1990. More than 40 sailing ships from 14 countries are expected on the Garonne, with close to 1,800 sailors, and the city is planning for around a million visitors. For the first time, the race start is merged with Bordeaux Fête le Vin, the city's wine festival.
Sport adds a second layer. Bordeaux's Stade Atlantique, a 42,000-seat ground that sells out for big rugby nights, hosts both the final leg of the Rugby Sevens World Championship and the Top 14 semi-finals. The Tour de France saves its decisive days for the Pyrenees and then rolls into the Bordeaux vineyards. And the Marathon de Bordeaux, back in 2026 after seven years away and now run by the organisers of the Paris Marathon and the Tour, settles into November alongside its older cousin in Cognac.
For travellers, this means two things. The good hotels and the best tables go early. And the days between the big moments are where a stay in Southwest France becomes personal: a cellar visit in the morning, a quiet lunch by the river, the crowds left behind until the evening.
Spring is when Bordeaux wakes up: the vines bud, the terraces fill and the wine trade arrives in force.
Every April, the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux presents the latest vintage, still in barrel, to around 5,000 merchants, importers and critics from some fifty countries. The week opens with a grand tasting in Bordeaux, then moves out to host châteaux in each appellation. It is a trade event, by accreditation only, and the 2027 dates are not yet announced; recent editions have run in the second half of April.
Our insider tip: if you are not in the trade, this is the week to avoid the big names, as their teams are fully booked with buyers. Come the week after instead, when the cellars are calm and the new vintage is the only topic of conversation.
Bordeaux hosts the third and final leg of the Rugby Sevens World Championship for the second year running, with matches on 29 and 30 May 2027. The best eight men's and eight women's teams compete, France among them, and this season opens the road to qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Sevens is fast, loud and festive: short matches, music between games and a crowd that changes shirts by the hour.
Our insider tip: the Stade Atlantique sits in the north of Bordeaux, on the way to the Médoc. Spend one day in the stands, the next among the châteaux of Margaux, with a driver for both. Tram lines are saturated after the last match.
Travelling to Bordeaux for the Rugby Sevens? Don't forget to book a day at the vineyard of a professional rugby player: a day of conviviality among the vines, with the stories of the pitch shared over a glass. Ask us for availability around the tournament weekend.
Rugby in Southwest France is not a sport you watch, it is a weekend you live, and June is when the French championship is decided.
On Friday 18 and Saturday 19 June 2027, the Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Métropole hosts the two Top 14 semi-finals. Four clubs, four sets of supporters and a city that already has one of the most loyal rugby crowds in France, with the Union Bordeaux-Bègles filling the same stadium on big nights. The winners go on to the final at the Stade de France, near Paris, on 27 June.
The stadium sells hospitality packages for both evenings, a natural fit for a corporate incentive, a client weekend or a group of friends who want the match without the queue. June is also the month of the Fête de la Fleur, the invitation-only evening of the Médoc's Commanderie du Bontemps, held each year in a different château.
Our insider tip: book your hotel now rather than waiting to see who qualifies. When the four semi-finalists are known, only a few weeks before, thousands of supporters look for rooms at once and central Bordeaux fills in days.
If you come to Southwest France for one event in 2027, we would make it this one: a river full of masts in front of the most elegant waterfront in France, with the wines of Bordeaux poured along the quays.
From Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 July 2027, Bordeaux is the departure port of the Tall Ships Races 2027, organised by Sail Training International. The ships berth along the Port de la Lune, the curve of the Garonne listed by UNESCO, for four days of open decks before the start of the race to A Coruña in Spain, then Sines in Portugal. Among the ships already announced are the Belem, the Norwegian Statsraad Lehmkuhl, the Dutch Europa and the Portuguese Santa Maria Manuela. More than half of the crews are trainees aged 15 to 25, and some 200 young people from the region will sail the first leg.
The novelty of 2027 is the pairing with Bordeaux Fête le Vin aka Bordeaux Wine Festival, the city's wine festival, held on the same quays at the same dates. In 2018 the city tried a smaller version of the idea, a tall ships regatta for the festival's 20th anniversary. This time it is the full race start, and around a million visitors are expected over the five days.
Our insider tip: the quays are at their most beautiful early in the morning, before the crowds, and on the evening of the departure. Choose a hotel within walking distance of the river, because traffic in the centre will be restricted all week, and keep one day for the vineyards, twenty minutes away, where July is calm.
A morning on the quays among the tall ships, a long lunch, then a private château visit and dinner in a Pessac-Léognan or Graves estate, with the owner or the winemaker, back in town in time to see the masts lit up over the Garonne. Built on request for couples, families and small groups, depending on availability.
Ask us for an FIT package or a small group quote: it is not too late! Hotel rooms in central Bordeaux for 7–11 July 2027 will be among the most sought after of the year. Tell us your dates and your group, and we will hold the right rooms, the driver and the château dinner before the city fills up.
July is the month when the whole of Southwest France is out of doors, and a stay can follow the festivals from the Charente to the Pyrenees.
Created in 1994, Cognac Blues Passions fills the public garden of Cognac with blues, soul, folk and pop for four summer evenings, with smaller concerts in the town and in Jarnac. The 2026 edition ran from 1 to 4 July; the 2027 dates are still to come. It pairs naturally with a day among the cognac houses and the distillers of the Grande Champagne.
Since 1932, Bayonne has dressed in red and white for five days and five nights each July, with parades, Basque music, pelota and the open doors of the peñas. The 2027 edition runs from Wednesday 14 to Sunday 18 July, followed a week later by the Fêtes de la Madeleine in Mont-de-Marsan, from 21 to 25 July. It is joyful and crowded, and best enjoyed for one evening from a quieter base in Biarritz or Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
The 2027 Tour de France keeps its decisive days for the Southwest. On 21 July the race rides from Muret to Pau. On 22 July, Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan brings the Tourmalet and the Col du Portet together in one stage for the first time. On 23 July, Hasparren to Laruns crosses the Basque hills and the Col de Marie-Blanque. On 24 July, the last stage before Paris runs from Maubourguet to Libourne, on the doorstep of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol.
Our insider tip: on a mountain stage, roads to the climbs close hours before the riders pass, often the evening before. Watching the Libourne finish is far easier: arrive from a Saint-Émilion estate in the morning, with lunch reserved nearby.
A day on a Pyrenean climb to see the Tour pass, then the Basque coast for the evening, with a pelota match or a table in a cider house. Built on request around the Tour dates and your group's pace.
September is when the vineyards of Bordeaux are at their most alive: grapes coming in, cellar doors open late, and one weekend when the whole Médoc runs in fancy dress.
The Marathon du Médoc starts and finishes on the quays of Pauillac and runs 42.195 km through the vineyards of Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estèphe, past châteaux that rarely open their gates to the public. Created in 1985, it is known worldwide for its wine stops along the course, its costumes (each year has a theme; the 40th edition in 2026 was the 1980s) and a full weekend of events around the race. The 2027 date is not yet official; the race is traditionally held on the first or second Saturday of September.
The catch is access. Entries are capped at 8,500 and in 2025 every bib went in about an hour when registration opened in March. Packages with accommodation are released separately, and hotels near Pauillac are few. Decanter has followed how the Médoc inspired a whole family of wine-and-running races since; Jancis Robinson's account of a Médoc race weekend, also published in the Financial Times, captures the atmosphere.
The rest of September belongs to the harvest. In Saint-Émilion, the Jurade traditionally proclaims the Ban des Vendanges from the top of the King's Tower, a ceremony that opens the picking season.
Our insider tip: non-runners have the better seat. Watch from a terrace in Saint-Julien in the morning, then visit the estates of Margaux on the Sunday, when the crowds have gone home and winemakers have time to talk about the harvest.
The race or the cheering on Saturday, then a slow Sunday on a luxury private wine tour in Pauillac and Margaux: a private tasting in a cru classé, time to meet the winemaker, and lunch among the vines. Built on request for runners' groups, friends and families, depending on availability.
November in Southwest France is golden vineyards, the first fires in the châteaux and, now, two marathons a week apart.
The Marathon de Bordeaux AG2R La Mondiale came back on 8 November 2026 after seven years of absence, organised by A.S.O., the company behind the Tour de France and the Paris Marathon, with the Stade Bordelais athletics club. It offers a marathon, a half marathon and a 10 km on a flat course through the heart of the city, from the Place de la Bourse to the Cité du Vin and along the quays. The 2026 half marathon and 10 km sold out. The 2027 date has not been published yet; the 2026 edition was held on the second Sunday of November.
Created in 2002, the Marathon du Cognac starts on the banks of the Charente in Jarnac and loops through the cognac vineyards, past ageing cellars and distilleries, back to the town. There are four races, from 5 km to the full marathon, and a weekend of festivities around them; a record 4,700 runners took part in 2025. The 2026 edition is on 14 November, and 2027 should follow the same mid-November pattern, with the date still to be confirmed.
Our insider tip: the two races sit about a week apart, so a runner can take on Bordeaux and treat Cognac as a lap of honour on the shorter distance, or the other way round. In between, the Charente is quiet, distillation is under way and the cognac houses have time for visitors.
A recovery day in the Grande Champagne: a cellar visit with a cellar master, a blending session and a long lunch by the Charente. Built on request for runners and the friends who came to cheer them.
Between the crowds, Southwest France offers another kind of event: anniversaries, writers' houses and châteaux that open their doors for a few weeks a year.
For three weeks each spring, more than 100 châteaux, manors and country houses of the Dordogne open their gates with visits, concerts, tastings and family activities, many of them in places usually closed to the public. The 2027 edition is the seventh, from 10 April to 2 May. It is the most generous way to discover the Périgord before the summer crowds.
On 28 June 2007, UNESCO inscribed “Bordeaux, Port de la Lune” on the World Heritage List, recognising the 18th-century city along the curve of the Garonne. June 2027 marks the 20th anniversary, a few days before the tall ships arrive on those same quays. The celebration programme has not been announced yet.
The region's great writers left houses that can still be visited, each with its own landscape.
At Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, on the edge of the Dordogne a short drive east of Saint-Émilion, the tower where Michel de Montaigne wrote the Essays still stands, its library beams carved with the Latin sentences he lived by.
In the Graves, about twenty kilometres south of Bordeaux, the Château de La Brède is the moated Gothic castle where Montesquieu was born in 1689 and wrote much of The Spirit of the Laws. It stayed in his family until 2004; the interior is seen on guided visits, and the park still bears his design.
Above the Garonne valley, around 50 km south-east of Bordeaux, the Domaine de Malagar was the family home of François Mauriac. The writer received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952, so 2027 marks its 75th anniversary. The Centre François Mauriac runs a cultural season there from May to October, with exhibitions, concerts and literary evenings, and the regional Prix François Mauriac is awarded on the estate each October.
Our insider tip: Montesquieu and Mauriac fit into one unhurried day south of Bordeaux, with lunch in the Graves or Sauternes between the two houses. Montaigne pairs naturally with a day in Saint-Émilion.
A day following Montesquieu and Mauriac through the Graves and the Garonne valley, or Montaigne on the Dordogne side, with a private visit, a reading in the places where the books were written and a winemaker's table to end the day. Built on request for small groups and curious travellers, depending on availability.
A big event is a wonderful anchor for a stay, as long as it does not swallow the whole trip. The formula we recommend is simple: one day for the event, one day away from it.
Prefer to travel privately, or with a few friends? We design each day around your pace, with a dedicated driver, hotels chosen for their location on event days and estate visits booked for the quiet days in between.
Planning an incentive trip to Bordeaux in 2027? As a destination management company based in Bordeaux, we secure hospitality seats, private château dinners, venues and transport for corporate groups and incentive teams, and shape a bespoke itinerary in Southwest France around the event you choose, with one point of contact from the first brief to the farewell dinner.
Here is the shape we give to a three-day stay for an incentive group or a group of friends coming for one of the big moments of 2027.
Day 1: the event of the day. The happening sets the tone. Depending on your dates, it is Bordeaux Fête le Vin and the tall ships on the quays, or a day in the stands for the Rugby Sevens World Championship at the Stade Atlantique. We take care of the logistics around it, so the group arrives together, enjoys it together and gets back without a thought for traffic or trams.
Day 2: a day made to measure in a château. The heart of the stay. The group spends the day at a wine estate with its owner-winemaker, a true meet-the-winemaker day: the owner opens the vines and the cellar and talks about the work behind each bottle. Lunch is a barbecue among the vines, made for conviviality and exchange, with a live band setting the mood. The group travels to and from the estate in classic cars, which turns the road through the vineyards into part of the day.
Day 3: a slow day on the Bassin d'Arcachon. After two full days, the pace drops. The Bassin is about an hour from Bordeaux. The group cycles along the water, then boards a boat for a tour of the Bassin with an oyster tasting, straight from the oyster farmers' waters, before heading home.
The event, the estate and the activities can be adapted to the size of the group and to the season.
Let's plan your 2027 event stay. This is one way to live the events in Southwest France in 2027; yours will be built around the event you choose, your dates and the people travelling with you. Tell us who is coming and when, and we will come back with a first itinerary. Message us on WhatsApp at +33 5 23 53 15 15 or write to contact@mpfrenchtravel.com. My Private French Travel designs and runs private stays, small group trips, groups and incentives in Southwest France, from our office in Bordeaux, with one point of contact from the first message to the last evening. Agencies and event planners: we work as your on-the-ground partner in Southwest France for 2027.
The headline is the start of the Tall Ships Races in Bordeaux, combined with Bordeaux Fête le Vin, from 7 to 11 July 2027. Sport adds the Rugby Sevens World Championship finale (28–30 May) and the Top 14 semi-finals (18–19 June) at the Stade Atlantique, the Tour de France in the Pyrenees and Libourne (21–24 July), the Marathon du Médoc in September and the Bordeaux and Cognac marathons in November.
The tall ships are expected in Bordeaux on Wednesday 7 July 2027 and leave on Sunday 11 July for the first leg of the race, towards A Coruña in Spain. The ships berth along the quays of the Port de la Lune and can be visited during the stopover, which coincides with Bordeaux Fête le Vin on the same quays.
Yes, and earlier than most travellers expect. On event days, streets in central Bordeaux close, trams are full and taxis become scarce, while ride-hailing is almost absent in the vineyards, especially in the evening. The best estates receive visitors by appointment only, often weeks ahead. Booking your driver, hotel and visits together keeps the day fluid.
Not yet, but the window is narrowing. Around a million visitors are expected in Bordeaux over five days, and central hotels within walking distance of the quays will be the first to fill. Booking in the coming months secures the right location and leaves time to reserve château visits and dinners for the days around the festival.
Three to four nights is a comfortable minimum around a single event: one day for the event itself, one or two for the vineyards of the Médoc, Saint-Émilion or Pessac-Léognan, and a slower day in the city. To add Cognac, the Basque coast or the Pyrenees, plan five to seven nights.
Written by the My Private French Travel team, Bordeaux-based destination specialists for private, small group, group and incentive travel in Southwest France.
Last updated: November 2026