This plan covers three days in Champagne: the cellars of Reims, the villages of the Montagne de Reims, and Épernay with the chardonnay villages of the Côte des Blancs to its south. The direct TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est reaches Reims-Centre in 45 minutes, and the direct train from Épernay back to Paris Gare de l'Est takes 1 hour 20 minutes.
Sleep in Reims on the first night and in Épernay on the second. By car, Paris to Reims takes 1 hour 30 minutes. Part of Reims is a Low Emission Zone, and drivers there need a Crit'Air sticker.
Day 1
Reims cathedral and the Saint-Nicaise cellars
Book your train to Reims-Centre, in the city center. The city's second station, Champagne-Ardenne TGV in Bezannes, is linked to Reims by streetcar.
Start the morning at Notre-Dame Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its facades carry 2,303 sculpted figures.
Spend the afternoon on the Saint-Nicaise hill, part of the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars, added to the UNESCO list on July 4, 2015. The houses here keep their wine in crayères, former chalk quarries that supplied stone for building Reims. They became champagne cellars from the 18th century, and some are over 30 meters high.
Taittinger, at 9 place Saint-Nicaise, runs a guided cellar tour and tasting of 35 to 55 minutes. The Instant Rosé visit costs €40 ($43). Its cellars lie 18 meters underground, among the remains of the former Saint-Nicaise Abbey.
Pommery, at 5 Place du Général Gouraud, sells the 45-minute Brut Royal Visit with one tasting for €30 ($32) with its audio app or €36 ($39) guided. The guided visit goes down 116 steps to Gallo-Roman chalk pits 30 meters underground.
G.H. Mumm, at 34 rue du Champ de Mars, is about 20 minutes on foot from the station. All its tours last 1 hour 30 minutes, and the Cordon Rouge Experience costs €30 ($32). It opens every day from May 1 to October 31 and Thursday to Monday from November 1 to December 21, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Book each house ahead: the Reims tourist office calls advance booking essential in high season. Bring a warm layer, because Taittinger keeps its cellars between 8 and 12°C and Pommery's stay at 10°C all year. More houses are in Reims champagne house cellar tours.
Spend the evening and night in Reims.
Day 2
Montagne de Reims villages to Hautvillers
Drive into the Montagne de Reims in the morning. In Verzenay, the Phare de Verzenay on rue du Phare is a lighthouse with 101 steps to a 360° viewpoint, plus a museum of the vine, a panoramic garden and a tasting area. Adults pay €3 ($3) for the lighthouse, €8 ($9) for the museum or €9 ($10) for both.
From November 4, the lighthouse and panoramic garden close for improvement works. The museum and tasting area stay open.
Verzy has nearly 800 Faux, twisted beech trees. The Balade des Faux is an easy 3 km loop from the free Parking des Faux, suitable for strollers and people with reduced mobility. Stay behind the barriers: the roots lie close to the surface. Opposite the parking lot, the Mont Sinaï observatory stands at 286 meters, a listed historic monument.
In Trépail, a Premier cru village, Stéphanie and Christophe Varlot show their cellars and vineyards with a free visit and tasting for individuals. They open daily from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday by appointment. The Sentier des Loges de Vigne in Trépail is an easy 5.2 km loop of 1 hour 45 minutes past the shelters winegrowers once used to store their tools.
In the afternoon, continue to Bouzy, where Champagne Alfred Tritant makes Grand Cru champagnes from Bouzy and Ambonnay. Book online. The 1-hour Discovery Visit costs €12 ($13) for three champagnes or €24 ($26) for six, and the 1 hour 30 minutes Immersion Visit with a cellar tour costs €18 ($19) or €30 ($32). The estate closes Wednesday afternoons, Sundays and public holidays.
Mutigny, some 240 meters above sea level, is Champagne's highest cru. Its Sentier du Vigneron is a guided 1 hour 30 minutes vineyard walk on vine work, chalk and grape varieties, ending with the village's champagne: €18 ($19) with one tasting, €22 ($24) with two, €25 ($27) with three. It opens daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from March 1 to October 31, and Monday to Friday from November 1 to December 22. Booking is recommended.
End the day in Hautvillers. The abbey church of Saint-Sindulphe holds the tomb of Dom Pierre Pérignon and is free to enter. It opens every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Wednesday to 4:15 p.m.) until October 31, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November 1.
Park free at the Jard Kiedrich. The village houses carry 140 wrought-iron signs, and the Belvédère Dom Pérignon looks over the Marne Valley. For the abbey's history, see Dom Pérignon Hautvillers Abbey.
In the evening, drive the 6 km from Hautvillers to Épernay for the night. Choose a designated driver or spit at each tasting.
Without a car, take the TER Ligne des Bulles from Reims-Centre. It reaches Épernay in 30 minutes, runs every 30 minutes and stops at Rilly-la-Montagne, Germaine, Avenay-Val-d'Or and Aÿ-Champagne. Rilly-la-Montagne's village center is 5 minutes on foot from its station, and Champagne Roger Manceaux there runs a tour and tasting for €20 ($22) on request, Monday to Friday.
Hautvillers has no train station. A taxi from Épernay takes 10 minutes. See Champagne without a car for buses and bikes.
Day 3
Épernay and the Côte des Blancs
In the morning, walk 5 minutes from the station to the Avenue de Champagne. The avenue is 1.5 km long and part of the UNESCO listing, and some 200 million bottles are stored in the cellars beneath it.
Moët & Chandon, at 18 avenue de Champagne, opens from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Imperial Moment is a 1 hour 30 minutes cellar tour with Moët Impérial and Rosé Impérial for €48 ($52). Places without a booking are limited, and the house recommends booking online.
Mercier, at 68 avenue de Champagne, takes every visitor through part of its 18 km of cellars, about 30 meters underground, on a driverless train. The Founder, a 45-minute audio-guided tour with one champagne, costs €25 ($27). Bubble Talk, 1 hour 30 minutes with an ambassador guide, costs €45 ($49).
Mercier opens daily from April 6 to November 15, then Wednesday to Sunday from November 18 to December 27. Same-day tours can't be booked online: call +33 (0)3 26 51 22 22. The other houses are in Avenue de Champagne houses in Épernay.
In the afternoon, drive south into the Côte des Blancs on the Comité Champagne's trail through Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Bergères-lès-Vertus. Chouilly, a grand cru village, has over 500 hectares of chardonnay.
Cramant marks its entrance with an 8.60-meter champagne bottle and has a viewpoint at the edge of the vineyards and the forest. The Cramant belvedere has panels, an orientation table and a telescope.
In Avize, the Gonet family has grown chardonnay for eight generations. Champagne Michel Gonet's tour and tasting costs from €55 ($59) by appointment, every day from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. from January 3 to December 30, 2026.
At Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, the Clos Saint-Vincent vineyard has a garden of aromas planted with the Champagne grape varieties. Farther south, Mont Aimé in Bergères-lès-Vertus rises to 240 meters, with an orientation table over the Champagne plain.
Vertus is 20 km south of Épernay. Champagne Charles Pougeoise, a 9-hectare Premier cru estate there, gives free tastings to individuals and guided tours on request. From September 2 to December 23, it opens Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Circuit La Vertusienne, a 13 km marked loop from the Porte Baudet, runs through the chardonnay vines.
Without a car, the Esprit de Champagne minibus leaves the Épernay tourist office at 2:15 p.m. from May 1 to October 31 for a partner house or activity. It seats 8 and costs €20 ($22) per adult, with transport and the visit included. Facil-e-Bike rents bikes at the tourist office from May to September, at €35 ($38) a day for an electric bike or €25 ($27) for a classic bike.
In the evening, take the direct train from Épernay to Paris Gare de l'Est, which takes 1 hour 20 minutes. For grower visits in more villages, see Visiting grower Champagne producers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do three days in Champagne without a car?
Trains cover the main links. The TGV reaches Reims-Centre from Paris Gare de l'Est in 45 minutes, and the Ligne des Bulles links Reims and Épernay in 30 minutes. For the Côte des Blancs, the Esprit de Champagne shuttle runs from May to October, and the Épernay tourist office rents bikes from May to September.
Do I need to book the champagne houses?
Book the large houses ahead. The Reims tourist office calls advance booking essential in high season, and Moët & Chandon keeps only limited places for visitors without a booking. In Trépail, Christophe Varlot gives individuals a free visit and tasting during opening hours.
Can I visit the abbey in Hautvillers?
Only the abbey church of Saint-Sindulphe, with Dom Pérignon's tomb, is open to visitors, and entry is free. The former abbey of Saint-Pierre is private property and cannot be visited. The church closes on December 25 and January 1.
What should I wear for the cellar visits?
Bring a warm layer and comfortable shoes. Mumm asks visitors to dress warmly, Mercier's cellars lie about 30 meters underground, and the guided Pommery visit goes down 116 steps into chalk pits.
