Pauillac (French pronunciation: [pojak]; Occitan: Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe.

The town is situated on the famous "Route des châteaux" or road "D2" which runs through the centre of the prestigious wine appellations. It stretches from Blanquefort in the South (close to Bordeaux) to the northern tip of the Médoc.

The Pauillac railway station stands on the line from Bordeaux-Ravezies to the Pointe de Grave. It is served by the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional rail network and operated by the French national railway company SNCF.

In 1872, one of the first sailing clubs in France, still active today, was created in Pauillac, followed by the International UCPA sailing school.

In 1896, the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique built a terminal at Pauillac, Trompeloup, on which four cruise ships could dock at a time. A direct connection allowed passengers to join the railway line running between Bordeaux and Soulac. Many companies used this Port for their cruise ships crossing the Atlantic to South America and the Antilles until the mid-20th century.

After WWII, the Port was converted into a petroleum terminal and today it is a transfer point for plane parts of the Airbus A380. The parts are manufactured in Broughton in the UK, and Germany. The barges take them through Bordeaux to a dock at Langon and then by oversize road convoy to the assembly plant at Blagnac, Toulouse.

A new cruise terminal, the "Terminal Médoc", will be built in Trompeloup and should be operational in 2021, allowing cruise ships carrying up to 6,000 passengers. The marina La Fayette was built in 1977 2,300 m (7,500 ft) south of this. It has a fisherman pontoon and moorings for about 150 boats. Many services are available including masting and demasting. Sailors and boaters may have to wait for a couple of hours before entering or leaving the port due to the tide and its high coefficients. A closed and secured area with video surveillance is available for long term parking of boats and trailers. The marina is also home to the lifeboat Pichon Baron from the Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM), a French voluntary organisation founded in 1967 to save lives at sea around the French coast, "so that salt water never taste of tears."

In 1777, Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer, arrived in Bordeaux and set sail from Pauillac to America. There, his role was decisive in the American War of Independence, commanding American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown. To commemorate his legacy, a bronze stele representing his ship La Victoire is erected on the edge of the marina on the Plaza La Fayette. On the stele can be read in French: "From here on March 25, 1777, embarked Marie Joseph Paul Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, with the hope of joining the Americas." After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830, also known as the Second French Revolution.