EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The super-efficient tourist office on place des Créneaux by the belfry (daily: July & Aug 9.30am-8pm; rest of year 9.30am-12.30pm & 1.45-6/6.30pm; tel 05.57.55.28.28, fax 05.57.55.28.29, st-emilion.tourisme@wanadoo.fr ) is a good source of information and organizes bilingual (French and English) vineyard tours in season (May-Sept; 51F/¬7.77). They also have bikes for rent.

If you're short of funds or without your own transport, St-Émilion is best seen as a day-trip from Bordeaux, as there's a chronic shortage of budget accommodation within the town. However, the tourist office can furnish you with an extensive list of chambres d'hôte in the area, many of which are very reasonably priced. Within the town itself, the two-star Auberge de la Commanderie on rue des Cordeliers (tel 05.57.24.70.19, fax 05.57.74.44.53; 300F/¬46-500F/¬76; closed mid-Jan to mid-Feb) offers the cheapest option. Three kilometres northwest in the village of Montagne, there's a fantastic three-star campsite, La Barbanne (tel 05.57.24.75.80; closed mid-Oct to March), with its own swimming pool.

You should try the town's speciality while you're here: macaroons were devised here by the Ursuline sisters in 1620, and the one authentic place to buy them is at Blanchez, 9 rue Gaudet, where the tiny melt-in-the-mouth biscuits are baked to the original recipe. A good place for a meal is the relaxed contemporary-style bistro L'Envers du Décor (closed Sun Nov-April) on rue du Clocher, with plats du jour for 65F/¬9.91 and local wine by the glass, which you can accompany with omelettes, cheese, salads and other light snacks.