Champagne by Train Itinerary: Two Days in Reims and Épernay

Take an early TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est; the first leaves at 7:47 a.m. Make sure your ticket goes to Reims-Centre, in the city center, and not to Champagne-Ardenne TGV in Bezannes, which is linked to Reims by tram.

Notre-Dame Cathedral opens every day from 8 a.m., and entry is free. Its facades carry 2,303 sculpted figures. On Sundays until noon, you can enter only the narthex. The Reims Tourist Office is at 6 rue Rockefeller, on the corner of the cathedral square, and a tourist information point stands on the station forecourt.

Book a cellar visit for late morning. Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Ruinart and G.H. Martel stand on the Saint-Nicaise hill, and the Reims tourist office says booking guided visits with the houses is essential in high season.

Maison Pommery is 15 minutes from Reims-Centre station, and bus line C stops at Pommery. The 45-minute Brut Royal Visit, with one tasting, costs €30 ($32) with the audio app or €36 ($39) guided. The guided visit goes down 116 steps to Gallo-Roman chalk pits 30 meters underground, and the cellars stay at 10°C all year.

Taittinger, at 9 place Saint-Nicaise, is on bus no. 4 (stop Saint-Nicaise) or about 10 minutes by taxi from the central station. Its guided cellar tour and tasting lasts 35 to 55 minutes, and the Instant Rosé visit costs €40 ($43). Book online, by email or on +33 3 26 85 84 33.

G.H. Mumm, at 34 rue du Champ de Mars, is about 20 minutes on foot from the station, or take tram A or B to Schneiter. All its tours last 1 hour 30 minutes on foot, and the Cordon Rouge Experience, with one tasting, costs €30 ($32). From May 1 to October 31 it opens every day, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Zébullo, the city's self-service bike scheme, has over 290 electric bikes at more than 65 stations, and registration in its app is free. Tram line A's Gare Centre stop is across from Reims-Centre station.

In the afternoon, take the TER Ligne des Bulles from Reims-Centre to Épernay. Trains run about every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the ride takes 30 minutes. The line crosses the Montagne de Reims, and the vineyard hillsides appear after the Rilly-la-Montagne tunnel.

The train stops at Rilly-la-Montagne, Germaine, Avenay-Val-d'Or and Aÿ-Champagne, and it serves all three sites of the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars, on the UNESCO World Heritage list since July 4, 2015. To break the ride with a walk, get off at Germaine for Si Germaine m'était conté (5 km, 1 hour 30 minutes) or at Avenay-Val-d'Or for Si Avenay m'était conté (2.5 km, 1 hour). Both start from the station parking lot. Catch a later train on to Épernay.

In the evening, go straight out of Épernay station and cross the Parc de l'Hôtel de Ville to reach the tourist office. The Avenue de Champagne, 1.5 km long, is a 5-minute walk from the station, and from the town center its cellars and the western hillsides are less than 20 minutes on foot. For more on the line, see Reims to Épernay.

Spend the morning on the Avenue de Champagne. Most champagne houses require advance booking for guided tours and tastings, especially on weekends, public holidays and in summer.

Moët & Chandon, at 18 avenue de Champagne, opens every day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with tours throughout the day. The Imperial Moment lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and costs €48 ($52). You can visit without a booking, but places are limited and the house recommends booking online.

Mercier, at 68 avenue de Champagne, opens daily from April 6 to November 15. Every tour includes a driverless train through part of its 18 km of cellars and a tasting. The Founder lasts 45 minutes and costs €25 ($27). Same-day tours can't be booked online: call +33 3 26 51 22 22. The visitor center serves tastings without a tour and without a reservation.

Champagne de Castellane has closed its cellars to the public for now, but its guided tower tour runs from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The tower is 66 meters high, with 237 steps and a 360° view of Épernay and the vineyards. The 60-minute tour, for up to 10 guests, costs €20 ($22) with a glass of Brut Croix Rouge.

The wine museum at 13 avenue de Champagne opens from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from April 1 to October 31 and closes on Tuesdays. From November 1 to March 31 it opens 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is €10 ($11), and under-13s go free.

In the afternoon, leave Épernay by bike, taxi, shuttle, bus or train.

By bike. From May to September, Facil-e-Bike rents bikes at the tourist office, 7 avenue de Champagne. An electric bike costs €20 ($22) for a half-day or €35 ($38) a day, and a classic bike €15 ($16) or €25 ($27).

From Épernay, the Véloroute 52 runs toward Dormans, with a possible detour to Hautvillers, 6 km away, or toward Aÿ. The véloroute is built on the towpaths and is open to all non-motorized traffic, including bikes and pedestrians.

Standard bikes ride TER Fluo trains without a reservation in the designated spaces, subject to space, and may be refused when trains are busy. On the Paris – Châlons-en-Champagne – Strasbourg TER line, a bike reservation is mandatory, at €3 ($3) per trip.

By taxi or shuttle. Hautvillers has no train station, and a taxi from Épernay takes 10 minutes. From May 1 to October 31, 2026, the Esprit de Champagne minibus leaves the tourist office at 2:15 p.m. for a visit or tasting at a champagne house or wine-tourism activity that partners with the tourist office.

The shuttle costs €20 ($22) per adult and €6.50 ($7) for under-18s, round trip and visit included. The minibus seats 8. Book at the tourist office.

In Hautvillers, Dom Pérignon is buried in the choir of the abbey church of Saint-Sindulphe, which is free to enter. Until October 31, 2026, it opens 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. From November 1 it opens every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it closes on December 25 and January 1.

140 wrought-iron signs decorate the village's houses, and the Belvédère Dom Pérignon looks out over the Marne Valley. The Circuit des moines walk, 3 km and 1 hour, starts at the Jard Kiedrich parking lot.

Champagne G. Tribaut, at 88 rue d'Eguisheim, opens every day from 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. until December 31, 2026. A tasting of three samples costs €5–15 ($5–16), and a visit averages 30 minutes.

By bus or train to Aÿ. Mouvéo bus line 10 runs from Épernay bus station, less than 5 minutes from the train station, to Aÿ-Champagne and Mareuil between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Buses run every 30 minutes at rush hours (7 a.m. to 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and every hour off-peak.

A single ticket costs €1.10 ($1), sold only by the driver, and a day ticket costs €3 ($3).

You can also take the Ligne des Bulles to Aÿ-Champagne station, 10 minutes on foot from the village center. The Si Aÿ m'était conté walk (3 km, 1 hour 15 minutes) starts from the station parking lot.

Aÿ is home to Ayala, which receives visitors by reservation from Tuesday to Saturday. Its 30-minute Introduction to the AYALA style, a guided tasting of two champagnes without a cellar tour, costs €30 ($32). The 1-hour 30-minute AYALA Experience, with a cellar tour and three champagnes, costs €60 ($65).

In the evening, return to Épernay station for the train to Paris. The direct train takes 1 hour 20 minutes, and the last one leaves Épernay at 7:49 p.m. Seat reservation is mandatory on the TER Fluo trains of the Paris–Épernay–Châlons-en-Champagne–Strasbourg line. A seat is assigned free when you buy your ticket, and it is valid only for that train.

To go home through Reims instead, take the Ligne des Bulles back to Reims-Centre. On the October 26, 2026, timetable, the last TGV INOUI leaves Reims at 7 p.m. and reaches Paris Est at 7:45 p.m.

For walks and rides beyond this plan, see Champagne vineyard walks and Cycling the Champagne vineyards.