Avenue de Champagne Houses in Épernay: Visits, Fees and Hours

The Avenue de Champagne houses in Épernay line a 1.5 km street a 5-minute walk from the train station. Moët & Chandon, Mercier, de Castellane, de Venoge and Boizel run guided visits here, and bars and boutiques along the avenue pour tastings without a booking.

The avenue has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, as part of the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars. Some 200 million bottles rest in the cellars and galleries dug into the chalk beneath it.

This page covers which houses take visitors, how each visit works, what it costs and how to walk the avenue from one address to the next. For the rest of the town, see Épernay.

Getting there

The direct train from Paris Gare de l'Est reaches Épernay in 80 minutes, and the avenue is a 5-minute walk from the station. By car, Paris to Épernay takes about 90 minutes on the A4.

An underground parking lot with 402 spaces serves the avenue, and the first hour is free. For train times, fares and changes, see Paris to Épernay by train, and for the trip from Reims, see Reims to Épernay.

When to go

Moët & Chandon opens daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mercier opens daily from April 6 to November 15, then Wednesday to Sunday from November 18 to December 27. It closes on December 25 and 31, opens on December 28 and 29, and shuts for its annual closure from the evening of December 30.

De Castellane opens every day from March 12 to December 22, from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Boizel opens every day from April 20 to December 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

De Venoge opens all week: 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sundays. Esterlin opens Monday to Friday only, and Perrier-Jouët closes on Tuesdays.

In July and August, and on the Habits de Lumière weekend in December, mornings and late afternoons are quieter for walk-in tastings. In low season, some places close between noon and 2 p.m.

The 26th Habits de Lumière runs December 11, 12 and 13, 2026. Illuminations, video-mapping and fireworks fill the avenue on the Friday and Saturday evenings, and a vintage vehicle parade runs on the Sunday. The Soirée Blanche takes place on the avenue on July 14.

Visiting the estates

Each house runs its own visits, from a tower climb at de Castellane to the 1837 Experience for up to 6 guests at de Venoge. Walk-in on the avenue means a tasting at a bar, boutique or caveau, not a cellar tour.

Moët & Chandon, 18 avenue de Champagne

Moët & Chandon, founded in 1743, has 28 km of underground cellars. The Imperial Moment is a 1 hour 30 minute cellar tour with Moët Imperial and Rosé Imperial, for €48 ($52). The house names Signature, at €65 ($70) with Moët Impérial and the current Grand Vintage, as its tour for first-timers.

Grand Vintage costs €85 ($92). Terroir Treasures, at €235 ($254) over 2 hours 30 minutes, adds the vineyards of the private Fort Chabrol site. Visits without a booking are possible, but places are limited, and the house recommends booking online. The cellars have a lift and a wheelchair entrance.

Mercier, 68 avenue de Champagne

Mercier's visitor center sits at the top of the avenue. Every tour includes a driverless train ride through part of its 18 km of cellars, 30 meters below ground, and a tasting. The Founder costs €25 ($27) with one glass.

The ambassador-guided Bubble Talk and Tell Me More About Vintage tours cost €45 ($49), in French or English, and audio-guided tours come in 10 languages. A Stroll by the Vineyards tour runs from May to October. A tasting at the visitor center without a tour needs no reservation.

Champagne de Castellane, 63 avenue de Champagne

De Castellane runs a guided tour of its tower: 66 meters, 8 floors and 237 steps, with a 360° view over Épernay and the vineyards, museum access and a glass of Brut Croix Rouge. It costs €20 ($22) for 60 minutes, or €30 ($32) for 75 minutes with two champagnes, for up to 10 guests.

The Heritage tour visits the label room, whose 7,000 drawers hold 10,000 labels and collars, and ends with two cuvées. It costs €60 ($65) for 1 hour 30 minutes, for up to 6 guests, with departures at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. from the entrance at 57 rue de Verdun. Book by email at visites@castellane.com or by phone on +33 3 26 51 19 11. Dogs are not allowed on tours.

Champagne de Venoge, 33 avenue de Champagne

De Venoge, founded in 1837, receives visitors in a 19th-century mansion. The Princes Experience takes up to 15 guests through the salons, garden, cellar and Vinothèque, then pours two Princes cuvées, for €65 ($70) over 1 hour 30 minutes.

The Louis XV Experience costs €95 ($103) for up to 12 guests, and the 2-hour 1837 Experience costs €220 ($238) for up to 6. All run in French and English, with the tasting at the L'Écurie champagne bar or on the terrace.

Champagne Boizel, 46 avenue de Champagne

Boizel has been in Épernay since 1834 and is run by the sixth generation of the family. Its Millésime visit covers the cellar, winery and UNESCO-listed historic cellars, then pours Brut Réserve and Grand Vintage 2019, for €40 ($43). Joyau de France costs €60 ($65).

Tours last about 1 hour 30 minutes for up to 12 people. Guided tours in English and French start at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Walking the avenue

Start at the tourist office at 7 avenue de Champagne, phone +33 3 26 53 33 00. Its Bulle Verte smartphone audio commentary covers the monuments along the avenue, which you can walk or cycle. Other addresses along the avenue:

• Les 3 Domaines, no. 1: champagnes from Patrick Boivin, Vincent Testulat and Janisson-Baradon. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Le 19, no. 19: a boutique and bar for champagnes from 100 winegrowers and cooperatives. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Esterlin, no. 25: the only cooperative on the avenue, with 200 members, founded in Mancy in 1948. Open 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Perrier-Jouët, no. 26: the Cellier Belle Epoque pours from 11:30 a.m. and serves food all day. The Maison Belle Epoque at no. 11 serves a gourmet lunch by reservation only.
• A. Bergère, nos. 38–40: open every day, with visits by appointment.
• Comtesse Lafond, no. 79: open daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Its tour takes in the cellar, the salons and the château cellar with 3 champagnes, with sabrage as an option.

The Musée du Vin de Champagne et d'Archéologie Régionale fills Château Perrier at 13 avenue de Champagne. From April 1 to October 31 it opens from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Tuesdays. From November 1 to March 31 it opens from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Its park is free.

Pol Roger, at 1 rue Winston Churchill, is not open for public visits.

What it costs

Entry-level guided visits with a tasting on the avenue cost €20–65 ($22–70), from the de Castellane tower tour to the de Venoge Princes Experience. In between, the Mercier Founder costs €25 ($27), the Boizel Millésime €40 ($43) and the Moët & Chandon Imperial Moment €48 ($52).

Tastings without a cellar visit cost €8–18 ($9–19) at A. Bergère and €12–35 ($13–38) at Boizel's Atelier 1834. Comtesse Lafond charges €15 ($16) for two flutes or €20 ($22) for three, and Perrier-Jouët €20–45 ($22–49).

At the top end, Moët Collection costs €190 ($205) and Haute Œnologie €220 ($238), each for 2 hours, and the 2-hour À la Volée costs €460 ($497).

At Mercier, teenagers aged 10 to 17 pay €12 ($13) and children under 10 go free. Boizel charges €15 ($16) for children, with a fruit juice. The wine museum costs €10 ($11), or €6.50 ($7) at the reduced rate, with an audioguide included. Entry is free for children under 13 and for everyone on the first Sunday of the month.

Before you go

• Book cellar visits at Moët & Chandon, Mercier, de Castellane, de Venoge and Boizel ahead of your trip, since slots are limited.
• De Castellane's cellars are temporarily closed to the public. Its tower and Heritage tours still run.
• Mercier does not sell same-day tours online. Call +33 3 26 51 22 22 for last-minute slots, and book every minor in your group.
• Bring warm clothing for the cellars. Mercier's stay at 10 to 12°C year-round.
• Spit or choose a designated driver if you are driving.

For more on reservations and cancellation rules, see Booking champagne house visits. For the wider region, see Champagne.