Day Trip To Champagne With Cellar Visits & Tastings
The day begins when your driver picks you up at your Paris address and whisks you away in a comfortable Eurovan to the magic Land of Bubbly. Drive through rolling hills and vineyards to the capital of Champagne country, Reims, where you will discover how the grapes are grown, how the wine is made, and taste the most famous product of the region.
This visit to the Champagne region includes visits to three producers, exploration of the cellars, and multiple guided tastings to help you discover the subtleties of champagne, plus a 3-course lunch with a change pairing at a family-run Champagne estate. Before you are returned to central Paris, the day concludes with a champagne Masterclass conducted by your expert guide. All in all, a day you’re going to remember for years to come.
An excellent tour, from the moment our guide picked us up with fresh croissants in the early morning hours to the easy drop off at the end of the trip. We especially loved seeing the variety of production methods between the big houses and the smaller local producers, and of course tasting all the differences in each location. An absolute blast.” 5-Star Review
Where To Stay When Visiting The Champagne Region
The two most obvious places to stay when visiting Champagne are Reims and Epernay.
Reims is the largest city in the region and Epernay is the town with the famous Champagne Avenue .
Both have a train station and can therefore be reached relatively easily by public transport.
Why Stay in Reims When Visiting Champagne?
Reims is the perfect place to stay if you are looking for a more lively location with more things to do.
Youll find famous champagne houses here to visit, but also museums, nightlife, etc.
Its not the prettiest French city but its a convenient base and offers the most facilities.
If you choose to stay in Reims, Hotel Cecyl is a good budget hotel option with a very central location. Dont expect anything luxurious, but its a comfortable option.
For a more high-end hotel option in Reims Les Berceaux de la Cathedrale is a gorgeous place right in the city center. Or, if you really want to splurge, check out Domaine les Crayeres, a luxury 5-star mansion on the edge of the city.
Why Stay in Epernay When Visiting Champagne?
Epernay is where you go to visit the Avenue de Champagne. This is the beautiful street lined with some of the most famous champagne brands, or champagne houses as they call them.
Epernay is a cute French town. It doesnt have as many facilities as Reims, but its a great place to stay if you want to soak up that typical small-town French vibe for a few days.
Why You Shouldnt Stay in Either Reims or Epernay
Best Vineyards In Champagne France To Visit
- Veuve Clicquot 2-hr or 1.5-hr tours booked in advance, offered Tuesday through Saturday.
- Moet & Chandon 1-hr tours & access to their 28 miles of caves. Open to the public, although booking is required.
- Larmandier-Bernier A unique opportunity to visit a family producer, Larmandier welcomes visitors Monday to Saturday, by appointment.
- Pommery 1-hr tours offered through the caves of Pommery, or chose the tour the Villa Demoiselle, sister producer to Pommery and architectural landmark of Reims. Advanced booking is required.
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What Are You Paying For On This Champagne Day Trip From Paris
Price includes
- Round trip transportation in a comfortable minivan
- Pick up at your hotel , drop off in central Paris
- Delicious freshly baked French Croissants on your way to Champagne, and bottled water
- The services of an English speaking & wine expert guide
- Visit of a world famous Champagne house + 1 tasting
- Authentic Masterclass through the tasting of one special Champagne led by your wine expert guide in the vines
- Gourmet French lunch at the table of the winemaker + Champagne pairing at a family-run Champagne estate
- Visit of a Champagne cooperative + 3 tastings
- Drop-off in central Paris
- Individual Drop off
Why You Should Visit The Champagne Region From Paris
The first reason to visit the Champagne region is obviously to taste Champagne. Even though its fairly common to refer to all sorts of sparkling as Champagne, its fundamentally wrong.
Only sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region, made from regional grapes and ages in the miles-long underground cave system, can legally be called Champagne. By visiting the Champagne, youre basically at the source of everything that is good.
Wait, you are more into wine? Take a day trip to Bordeaux instead!
But the Champagne is also historically a very interesting destination. The biggest city of the new Grand Est region, Reims, had already been a major city in the Roman Empire. Some ruins got preserved until today!
Reims also has one of the most important cathedrals in France! Between the 12th and the 19th century, most french kings got crowned there. Located relatively close to the German border, many battlegrounds of WWI were located in the Champagne region and can be visited today.
And to get back to the fun stuff: you can taste champagne!
Champagne is a sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot noir or Pinot Meunier grapes. Even though the term Champagne is for many a generic label for any kind of sparkling wine, legally ONLY those coming from the region can be called Champagne.
What you can expect in Reims
a beautiful cathedral
the Palais du Tau
Roman ruins, for example, the Mars Gate
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Champagne Tours From Paris: Booking The Perfect Champagne Day Trip
Megan Starr This site uses affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I recently went on a Champagne tour in France and it was one of the coolest experiences I have had in a long time. This guide will show you the best Champagne tours from Paris and how to book your perfect Champagne day trip from the French capital city.
Are you planning your trip to Paris last minute?
Be sure to book your accommodation and champagne tours in/from Paris ahead of time to ensure availability!
Here are our top recommendations for tours in/from Paris:
Did we miss anything in this guide that youʻd like to know? Let us know in the comments. Thanks!
In this post…
A Day Trip To Champagne From Paris
France is synonymous with luxury, and theres hardly anything as le luxe as sipping a glass of bubbly. Were speaking of champagne, if you hadnt already guessed, the French product most obviously associated with luxury. Walks, one of our favorite small group tour operators, makes it easy to live out your champagne wishes and caviar dreams on a day trip to Champagne from Paris.
Located just a little over an hour from Paris, the French wine producing region of Champagne is an easy trip to make from the French capital and we thought it was about high time we did just that. While our years of living in Bordeaux have been like attending a mega WSET focused solely on the 65 appellations of the World Capital of Wine, we knew very little about champagne. But with Walks expert guides, we knew wed be in for a bubbly-filled day learning all about the worlds most famous sparkling wine.
Our Walks day trip from Paris to Champagne took us to the birthplace of champagne where Dom Pérignon lived and worked, before introducing us to both ends of the spectrum when it comes to champagne producers. Visits to a small fifth generation family-run producer and the worlds largest champagne house were punctuated with five glasses of different champagnes, making for a fabulous jaunt outside of Paris and an excellent introduction to the world of champagne.
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Moet & Chandon Champagne Excursion
“I am drinking stars,” exclaimed Dom Pérignon, the legendary monk who may have discovered champagne. On this lively day tour from Paris, you visit Moët & Chandon to learn about the growing, harvesting, making, and tasting of champagne. You’ll also visit the monk’s final resting spot, set amongst the vineyards. Finally, you’ll stop at a small, family champagne house to taste even more bubbles!
Champagne Tours From Paris To Epernay
Champagne tours from Paris to Epernay are the most comfortable way to visit the region, plus you can drink that verre de plus without being a danger on the road for anyone. Learn all about one of the most famous drinks in France and the whole world with a knowledgeable guide.
The classic tours from Paris to Epernay include a visit to the Abbey of Hautvillers and a tour of a champagne house with tastings.
Thischampagne small-group tour with an English-speaking guide always has excellent reviews and visits Epernay, Hautvillers, and the cellars of Moët & Chandon for wine tastings. This champagne tour from Paris also includes a visit to Reims Cathedral, where the French Kings were crowned
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Visiting Hautvillers From Epernay
At the recommendation of the people working at the Epernay Information Center , they recommended I visit the town of Hautvillers to actually visit the vineyards and champagne taste with views. I was envisioning of going from vineyard to vineyard like when I was wine tasting in Stellenbosch, and Hautvillers is as good as its gonna get without my own car. From Epernay, I had the visitor center call a taxi to take me to Hautvillers . The cost was 15 euros one way.
Hautvillers was honestly more what I was envisioning when I decided to come here. Situated in the heart of the Reims Mountain vineyards, this quaint and rustic little village is the cradle of champagne making. It is here that the the monk Dom Perignon discovered the art of champagne wine-making. The main street of the town is aptly named Rue Dom Perignon and the Saint-Sindulphe abbey church still houses his tomb to this day.
We had lunch here at Le 36 restaurant. They had a champagne tasting menu of their own as well as tasty French cuisine with plenty of bread and cream sauces.
Paris To Epernay By Car
Time: 1,5 hours
This is a good option for a day trip from Paris to Champagne and the option that allows you to stop and enjoy the landscapes of Champagne whenever you want.
This is an easy, 141-kilometer scenic drive, but finding a parking place in Epernay can be challenging.
The downside of driving to Champagne from Paris is that car + champagne wine was never a good combination. Get a taste of champagne during lunch and buy your favorite bottles for when you are back at your hotel in Paris.
Dont you have a car? Use DiscoverCars.com to find the best deals. The site covers the major and local brands and makes a price comparison for you. This helps to ensure that you get a great price
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Visiting The Les Grandes Marques
If visiting Reims with an organized tour is not really your cup of tea, you can certainly visit the headquarters and cellars of the big Champagne Houses, Les Grandes Marques, on your own.
The big houses are offering guided visits that you simply can sign up for online. Below I put together a list of the most popular ones. Just keep in mind that they are not necessarily in the center of Reims and you need to organize your own transportation. There are busses and trams circulating in Reims, or you just get a taxi.
Or you walk from the center to Veuve Clicquot, its around 40min on foot.
The Historical Sites Of Reims
You can get a taste of the region in two days by spending your time wisely. In between tastings or in the evenings, take a moment to soak in the history of the region. The area was destroyed during World War I and rebuilt shortly after, giving it a touch of art deco finesse, which can be seen at the Carnegie Library, which was built through the generous donations of American steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie. Joan of Arc liberated the Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral during the Hundred Years War, which allowed Kings to be coronated there. The site of the German surrender after World War II is in Reims, and the actual room where it happened is a museum for visitors called Musée de la Reddition. Throughout French history, the region of Champagne was an instrumental and strategic location, and you can get a better understanding of the rise and fall of France over many years by simply walking the streets of Reims.
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Prestige Champagne Tours From Paris
A Prestige Champagne, or Cuvee, is a producerâs top-quality Champagne. These often are the most expensive ones, as well.
You can take a tour that focuses only on Prestige Champagne if youâre into the high-quality stuff.
It also pairs with some incredible food and experiences during the day. To find out more, see the Prestige Champagne tour from Paris below:
Tips Before Your Champagne Day Trip From Paris
- Wine cellars are usually quite cold and damp : do not forget to bring warm clothes with you.
- Some visits include a lot of stairs and no elevator to access the underground galleries.
- Please note that the schedule and the wineries visited are subject to minor changes depending on the season and on supplier availability.
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at the time of the booking
- There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. Wine Passport reserves the right to cancel any tour where the minimum number is not reached . In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
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Champagne Tasting In Hautvillers
After lunch, I visited the Champagne G. Tribault vineyard which had fantastic views of the vines and was exactly what I was looking for followed by a visit to Fedyk Olivier which had delicious rose and brut. There are many more champagne houses here but many of them are closed on Mondays.
I took a taxi back to Epernay at 16:30 for a final champagne tasting on Avenue De Champagne before taking the train back to Paris at 18:30.
We got back to Paris around 20:00, which was more than enough time to get dinner in the city, visit the Eiffel Tower for the sunset and enjoying some champagne that we had bought during the day!
I think if we came back, we would most definitely spend a night or two in Hautvillers or Epernay so we could visit more of the wineries in the region. We saw so many cute little bed and breakfasts that would be perfect for a side trip out of Paris. Here is a list of amazing bed and breakfasts which are definitely the way to do it in the French wine country!
Johnny
Wine Tasting And Shopping At The Small Producers
Not all winegrowers have big names or big budgets for marketing, but this does not mean that they dont produce good champagne wines. Quite the opposite!
Because they work on smaller parcels, at a human scale, the Champagne winegrowers are more successful in respecting the vines and, therefore, in harvesting grapes at the proper maturity. They generally use less of the various chemicals found in viticulture and produce vintages without makeup.
Be adventurous and go beyond the main marquees. Chat with the winegrowers, and do some tastings. Only good surprises are guaranteed.
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How Long To Stay In Champagne
One thing to bear in mind when traveling by public transport is that the vineyards are often not near train or bus stations, you’ll often need a car. But cars need designated drivers, and who wants to visit a vineyard and not drink?!
As a result, if you want to visit as a day trip, I would recommend a guided tour.
Smaller Producers & Others
Champagne is a diverse region with producers of all sizes from small family-owned operations, like Champagne Apollonis by Michel Loriot, which has a small basement operation in the tiny village of Festigny, to the large cooperative Nicolas Fiuellatte, which pumps out 15-20 million bottles a year in their massive state-of-the-art facility near Épernay. Not all Champagne Houses are open to the public and accept visitors, but if there is one you want to visit, its always a good idea to contact them directly beforehand to see if a tour is possible.
In order to see all that the Champagne region has to offer, you would have to spend much more than two days. However, in this amount of time, you can have an enchanted experience in one of the most iconic wine regions and the only place in the world that produces true Champagne.
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