If you’re planning a day trip to Champagne but agonizing over how to go there or choosing the best cellar among the hundreds available, you’ve come to the right place. With my tips, you’ll know everything about the must-see landmarks, the local dishes, and all the entertainment opportunities in the area.
1) Pick the Right Place to Visit
One day isn’t enough for an exhaustive tour of the Champagne region. It’s one of the largest regions of the Marne’s department, and there is too much area to cover. You need to have a precise destination in mind.
I recommend going to Reims and Épernay, two cities where you can find the most famous champagne houses in the area. There is also Troyes, an old medieval town and, nowadays, the factory-shopping capital of Europe.
Best of all: They all have a direct railway connection to Paris.
You’ll also have the chance to visit Hautvillier, the rumored birthplace of champagne. Legend has it that the Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon invented the process behind the sparkling wine here.
2) Choose the Best Time to Go
The vineyards of Champagne with the seasons, and each has its unique charm. Still, if you’re fond of outdoor strolls, the warm days of spring and summer are the best time to explore the region.
July and August are the warmest months, with an average temperature of 21°. It rains a lot in September, and towards the end of the month, Many vineyards close due to the grape harvest.
Therefore, while July and August remain solid options, you may prefer the relative coolness of May and June (18°). You would also avoid the tourist rush.
3) Leave Paris Early
Champagne is a large region; if you want to make the most of your trip, an early start in the morning is your best bet.
The first trains leave Paris at 5 a.m. Taking one at 7 a.m. should be early enough, considering their average travel time (45 minutes to 1:30). That gives you good odds of reaching your destination at 8 or 9 a.m.
It will leave you plenty of time to calmly explore the region, and to visit a cellar before or after lunchtime.
4) Take the Train for a Painless Journey
It takes between 46 min and 1h30 to reach Champagne from Paris, depending on your destination.
Take the train to avoid unnecessary hassle about parking or traffic.
- TGV (high-speed train) Paris-East – Reims Train Station: 46 min.
- TGV or TER Paris – Épernay: 1:24
- TER (local express line): Paris -Troyes: 1:29
Once in Champagne, you also have a TER line at your disposal. The so-called bubbly line connects Reims to Epernay and is an excellent way to explore both cities in one day.
5) Book a Visit to Your Favorite Champagne House
The most famous cellars are often crowded. If you don’t want to miss out, I recommend booking a place early. Most of them have websites where you can buy a ticket in advance. I’ve listed them below.
6) Choose the Right Clothes
Whether to visit the champagne houses or the vineyards of local wineries, good walking shoes are paramount.
If you’re sensitive to cold temperatures, take some warm clothes during your tour of the local wine cellars. They remain at low temperatures for the sake of their cuvée.
7) Pick the Right Cellar
Here’s a list of the best champagne houses in the region.
In and Around Reims
➡️ The Vranken-Pommery Champagne House
Access: 39 min walk from Reims train station
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The Pommery House and its 50-hectare estate offer a singular sight to visitors: an authentic Elizabethan-style castle in the middle of the city.
Inside its famous cellars, you’ll learn all about winemaking along an 18 km long and 30 m high network of ornamented Gallo-Roman chalk pits.
Don’t miss the Villa Demoiselle, an architectural gem from the 20th entirely restored by master workers. Many Art Nouveau art pieces are displayed here.
Various tours are offered (starting from €26) on their website.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The cellars’ artistic touch: The chalk pits contain splendid modern artwork
- The Villa Demoiselle and the castle
➡️ At the Table of Thibaud IV With Taittinger Champagne
Access: 10 min walk from Reims train station
Following the closure of their domain’s cellars on Saint-Nicaise Hill for renovation, Taittinger decided to innovate.
Visitors can now discover the Counts of Champagne’s residence in the historical center of Reims through two events (bookable online).
A theatrical reenactment of a medieval feast organized around Thibault IV, with a wine-tasting session. (Available in French and English, €60 per person.)
A wine-tasting session following a guided tour (available in French and English, €37 per person).
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The beautiful residence of the Counts of Champagne and its Gothic architecture
- The medieval feast reenactment stands out from the usual wine-tasting formula
➡️ Chalk Pits of Veuve Clicquot
Access: 36 min walk from Reims train station
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The Veuve Clicquot champagne house is one of the most extensive wineries in Reims’region.
It boasts 24 km of chalk pits 20 m under the Saint-Nicaise’s hill.
In the cellars’ estate, visitors can discover the story of the widow Clicquot, the first woman to take over a champagne house.
Veuve Clicquot offers various guided tours and wine tastings on its website.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The tour of the magnificent chalk pits
- The bar and terrace are perfect for a drink of Rich Rosé, a cocktail version of a champagne glass.
➡️ Ruinart Champagne House
Access: 41 min walk from Reims train station
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Forty meters under the ground, you’ll find the immaculate white walls of the Ruinart House’s cellars, typical of old chalk quarries.
Visitors daring enough to explore them will enjoy light shows played on their walls and the artworks permanently exposed there.
The Ruinart House offers diverse guided tours in small groups (12 persons max) with wine-tasting sessions of their precious bottles (€75 per person).
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The permanent exhibit of modern artworks
- The delicious week-end brunches
➡️ Lanson Champagne House
Access: 28 min walk from Reims train station
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The Clos Lanson is the only vineyard remaining inside the city walls of Reims. It stands above the cellars of the house and their bottles of 1904 vintage wine. Both are open to visits.
Guests are welcome to discover the house’s wooden vat and the fermenting room. They’ll also have an in-depth explanation of the fermenting, blending, and maturing processes. A lesson closed by a wine-tasting session, of course.
Prices range from €26 to €85.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The thorough explanation of the winemaking process.
- The Clos Lanson, the unique urban vineyard in the area
➡️ G.H. Mumm Champagne House
Access: 15 min walk from Reims train station
Located in the heart of Reims, the 25 km long cellars of House Mumm are explorable through guided tours, and you can try their emblematic vintages during wine-tasting sessions of the famous Mum’s cordon rouge.
During your visit, you’ll have the opportunity to discover the galleries and old cellars, kept in their original shape. A guide will instruct you on the process leading to the creation of the bottles stocked here, from the thorny issues of grape harvest to the riddling.
Beyond the “cordon rouge experience” at €26, the Mumm house offers various guided tours up to €75.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The outdoor terrace used for the wine-tasting session.
In and Around Epernay
➡️ Moët & Chandon
Access: 5 min walk from Epernay train station
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The Moët & Chandon Champagne House owns the largest vineyard in the region.
It covers 150 hectares of rich limestone soil, and its cellars stretch for 28 km under the cobblestones of the Avenue of Champagne.
The house offers several types of guided tours and tastings at different prices, ranging from € 40 to € 75 for an adult (€ 13 for a teen).
More exclusive experiences are available at higher prices (€100-€500).
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The wonderful Moët garden
➡️ House Mercier
Access: 17 min walk from Epernay train station
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The 18 km long network of the Mercier estate’s quarries runs 30 m underground in the chalky soil of Epernay. Inside, visitors can enjoy the bas-relief carved by Gustave Navlet.
With the guided tour aboard the tourist train (11 languages are available), the house organizes wine-tasting sessions.
The tours are affordable and range from €20 to €40 per adult.
Heads up: The cellars have an elevator and an access point reserved for disabled persons.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The budget-friendly tours.
- The entertaining train ride through the cellars.
➡️ House Lafont
Access: 17 min walk from Epernay train station
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Beyond the cedar-lined park enclosing the brick-red structure of Comtesse Lafond’s castle and its twin towers, wine-tasting salons await visitors.
Guests can either sample the Lafond vintages or explore the cellar.
Special mention for the class on the art of sabrage in the Napoleon style—an exceptional experience.
Prices range from €20 to €60.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The budget-friendly tours.
- The beautiful castle
➡️ Castlellane Champagne House
Access: 12 min walk from Epernay train station
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The lofty frame of House Castellane’s 66m tower dominates Epernay’s ‘skyline.
Home to the Museum of Champagne Tradition, it is an ideal observation deck offering a 360° view of the city and the surrounding knolls.
Under the imposing brick-red buildings of the champagne house, 6 km of chalk pits stretch along the railway Paris-Strasbourg.
Guided tour prices range from €20 to €50. Each includes a wine-tasting session.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- Budget-friendly tours,
- Castellane Tower offers a splendid view of the Champagne countryside.
➡️ House Boizel
Access: 12 min walk from Epernay train station
From the 46 Avenue Champagne, the Boizel champagne house welcomes visitors in its cellars to discover their wooden casks, coopered oak vats, and the impressive stainless steel barrels in its fermenting room.
The icing on the cake is the chalk pits classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
The house offers three guided tours ranging from €40 to €240. The most expansive offers a glimpse of the Boizel Treasure, their best bottles from the 19th and 20th. Even the legendary 1834 vintage is featured.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The availability of wine-tasting sessions
- The beautiful chalk pits of the estate.
➡️ House Charles Mignon
Access: 15 min walk from Epernay train station
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The Charles Mignon champagne house is a family venture offering affordable guided tours of its cellar and fermenting room.
They organize a movie screening about winemaking and a tasting session of their award-winning vintages.
The guided tours are available in French and English, and the prices range from €14 to €23 per adult.
I recommend this Champagne House for:
- The budget-friendly prices
- The movie screening on winemaking
8) Discover Champagne Cultural and Historical Heritage
Reims
Reims’s beautiful cathedral hosted so many French kings’ crowning ceremonies that it was dubbed Coronation City.
It is also the home of several UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
- The Palace of Tau was the residence of the kings during their coronations.
- The Roman-Gothic Basilica of Saint-Remi
- The Saint-Remi Abbey transformed into a museum on Reims’s heritage and history.
Pedestrians can also enjoy leisure strolls on multicolored cobblestones of the photogenic Tambours street.
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Epernay
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Epernay is best known for the famous Champagne Avenue, where residences dating back to the 19th stretch along more than 1 km, each one sheltering a champagne house such as Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Perrier-Jouët, Castellane, or Pol Roger.
It is also home to the Museum of Champagne Wine and Regional Archaeology, nestled in the park of the Chateau Perrier. An institution whose exhibits showcase Champagne’s history and heritage since it opened in 2021.
The city boasts splendid churches like Saint-Pierre Church, Notre Dame or Saint-Sindulphe.
Troyes
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The peculiar shape of Troyes’ downtown area, as seen from the sky, has led its inhabitants to call it the “champagne cork.” But the view is no less impressive from the ground.
Visitors are often wonderstruck by Troyes’ architecture. The multicolored timber-framed houses, the 16th mansions, and the splendid churches never cease to amaze.
Talking about those churches, their stained-glass windows are a living testimony to the brilliant work of the master glassmakers of the city.
The City of Stained Glass dedicates 3,000 m2 to the work of those craftspeople if you are interested.
9) Taste the Local Food
If you have a sweet tooth, you must try the famous pink biscuits of Reims, with their delicious mix of crunchy and melting textures.
Their creators, Maison Fossier, organize gourmet tours of their factory.
- Children’s rates: €3.50 (from 7 to 18s)
- Group rates: €4.50 per person
- Individual rate: €5.50
If salty and spicy flavors are more your alley, why not bring back some Clovis mustard from your trip?
Clovis House offers mustard and vinegar made with disgorged wine of three varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pino Meunier) typical of the region’s champagne houses.
Reims is full of delicious dining spots, and at least four restaurants boast Michelin stars in the surrounding area.
There is the Assiette Champenoise of Arnaud Lallement, a three-time recipient of the coveted award. Or the Racine, owned by the two-star French and Japanese chef Kazuyuki Tanaka.
The sparkling Epernay is bursting with champagne bars, like the unusual C la Nautique, a drinking spot near the city center offering boat rides on the Marne River.
Visitors to the city can also enjoy a delicious traveling cake made with a Marc de Champagne brandy, almond powder, and pink biscuits.
The andouillette of Troyes doesn’t need any presentations, and most restaurants in the city have it on their menus.
I recommend Chef Yannick Desno Le Jardin (website in French).
This bistro chic located in the pedestrian neighborhood of the historical part of town focuses on local cuisine and never disappoints.
Its charming terrace lined with wisterias is also quite pleasant when they are blooming.
10) Go Shopping in the Paradise of Factory Shops
Factory shops were born in Troyes during the ‘60s. Since then, the city has become a hub of ex-brand shopping in Europe, with a high concentration of stores sure to please fashionistas.
The core of this celebration of fashion is Pont-Sainte-Marie, a small town right on the border of Troyes. There, you can find the 110 outlets of the Mc Arthur Glen Center or the 20 shops of Marques City (website in French), with more than 150 brands.
11) Learn the Secrets of Stained Glass From Troyes’ Glassmakers
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The City of Stained Glass is at the heart of Troyes, in the west wing of the Hôtel-Dieu-le-Comte, a historical monument rebuilt in the 18th.
It offers chronological and thematic guided tours on stained glass history, starting from €2.
You can also find one of the last apothecary offices in France, harking back to the pharmacology of the 18th. Inside, a collection of 319 painted boxes bear the names of the medicinal drugs and ingredients they contained at the time.
The city offers family-friendly workshops on glassmaking (starting from 6 years old) for €15 to discover the technique of cold glass painting.
Information and booking (website in French)
12) Get a Bird’s Eye View of the Hills and Vineyards of Champagne
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How about a new angle on the region? From the center of Epernay, board an aerostat and take off to enjoy a 360° view of the knolls surrounding the city.
Each balloon flight lasts around 10 minutes and can include up to 29 people.
13) Avoid Any Hassle With an All-Inclusive Tour
If you prefer an all-inclusive tour with every step outlined in advance, no problem. Here are some options:
- If you like exercise and wish to roam freely in the vineyards and hills of the Champagne region, try this: an electric biking trip with a local English-speaking guide in the area ending with a lunch in the Clos Corbier from Epernay. The tour price starts from €171.00. For more information and booking.
- A one-day trip in a small group from Reims to two champagne houses, Moët & Chandon and Taittinger, with assorted wine-tasting sessions. Another tasting in the Pommery House and a tour of Hautvillers and Dom Perignon’s abbey. Starting from €256. Information and booking.
- A day trip starting from Reims with a visit to Veuve Clicquot & lunch (in English). The trip includes four tastings (one at Clos Corbier) and a tour of the village of Hautvillers. Starting from € 295. Information and booking
- From Paris: Day trip to Champagne in a small group with six tastings. Exploration of the Champagne House Nicolas Feuillatte with departure (and return) by Minibus from Paris. Visit of Hautvillers and the cathedral of Reims. Starting from €230. Information and booking.
14) Find a Family-Friendly Activity
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The Pommery pressing center in Aÿ-Champagne offers immersive and interactive tours to all visitors, alone or with families, to uncover the secrets of champagne and wine!
Discover the different wine varieties, and the secret of chalk creation, and enjoy an excellent wine-tasting session.
€ 18 for an adult.
€ 45 for families (a couple and two children).
Aÿ-Champagne is a few minutes away from Epernay by the TER “bubbles” line leading to Reims.
15) Enjoy a Small Breakaway in Châlon-En-Champagne
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Located only 50 minutes from Reims and 15 minutes from Epernay in TER, Châlon is famous for its canals.
If you want a cruise in the bubbly Venice of Champagne, look for l’Eau’dyssée. They offer boat rides for € 11 (€ 5,50 for children between 4 and 10).
On land, the city streets welcome visitors with beautiful sights such as timber-framed houses and monuments like Saint-Etienne Cathedral or Notre-Dame-en-Vaux.
Don’t miss Châlon’s garden either. They are on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
- There is the little Jard and its hundred plant species, where you can admire the Market Castle, an old fortified bridge rehabilitated at the end of the 19th.
- There is the very symmetrical Great Jard, with its musical pavilion.
- And finally, the English Jard, full of twisting alleys lined with horse chestnuts.
I aim to share my tips and recommendations for the beautiful country of France. My goal is to help you plan your next adventure, whether it’s a weekend getaway or a once-in-a-lifetime trip. From finding the best hotels and restaurants, to discovering unique activities and sights, I’ve got you covered!
