Champagne, France Travel
Nestled amidst the rolling hills of northeastern France lies a region synonymous with luxury, celebration, and centuries of craftsmanship: Champagne. Beyond its effervescent reputation, this historic province boasts a rich tapestry of culture, from its prestigious vineyards that yield the world's most celebrated sparkling wine to its charming towns steeped in medieval charm. Join me on a journey through the heart of Champagne, where every cork popped tells a story of tradition, innovation, and the pursuit of perfection.
How to get to Champagne, France
The Champagne region of France is only a 30 minute high speed train ride from the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport getting off at the Champagne-Ardenne destination. You can book tickets on the SNCF website. Once off at the train station, there are plenty of taxis lined up that you can take to your hotel.
Where to Stay - Champagne France Hotels
La Caserne Chanzy Hotel & Spa, Reims, France
As the Champagne Region is made up of all different towns and cities, where to stay really depends on what town you want to be in. The easiest and most common location to stay in is the city of Reims. Reims is the largest city in the region, easy to walk around and find restaurants, and houses some of the largest Champagne houses in France such as Veuve Clicquot and Ruinart. Also, the train goes through most of the smaller towns you will want to visit so just because you are staying in Reims that will not keep you from enjoying Epernay and all of the smaller villages.
La Caserne Chanzy Hotel & Spa - Reims, France - The La Caserne Chanzy Hotel & Spa is a fantastic hotel in the heart of Reims with the most fantastic view of the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims (not to be confused with the one in Paris). As you can see in the image above, the view from our room was impeccable. They hand you a glass of Veuve Clicquot when you check in so you know you are in for a luxurious stay. The hotel rooms are stylish, comfortable, and actually quite large for a European hotel room. Also, this is a Marriott Bonvoy Autograph Collection hotel, so this is an added bonus to all the fellow Marriott Bonvoy members out there if you are looking to use points!
Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa - Champillon, France - We didn’t stay at the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, but we dined at their Le Bellevue Restaurant and Terrace. Let me tell you, this hotel is the epitome of luxury with the most opulent ambience and breathtaking views of the vineyards. If you are looking for a high end 5-star luxury stay, then this is the hotel for you!
Domain Les Crayeres - This is another hotel we did not stay at, but we did dine at. This high end luxury hotel in the heart of Reims has a romantic ambience and is the hotel you picture yourself staying in when you dream of going to Champagne, France.
Where to Eat - Restaurants in Champagne, France
Le Bellevue Restaurant & Terrace
Le Bellevue Restaurant & Terrace - Indulge in exquisite dishes served with impeccable elegance in a setting that radiance and charm. With crystals dazzling above you and the best view in Champagne in front of you, be prepared to savor every bit of the ambience as much as the food. This restaurant was my favorite of the trip and the one you won’t want to miss!
Le Parc at Les Crayeres - Le Parc is a fine dining gastronomic experience for the seasoned foodie. Be prepared to be wowed by the presentations and harmonious culinary pairings. Make sure to make reservations for this place far in advance.
La Rotonde Bar at Les Crayeres - The La Rotonde Bar at Les Crayeres is a great option for lunch and if you want to dine in at Les Crayeres without having to do the full fine dining tasting menu experience.
Racine -Admittedly, we did not eat here so I can’t give my first hand experience. I really wanted to, but I waited to long to make reservations and they were fully booked. I have heard so many amazing things about this place, so don’t make the same mistake I did and book this restaurant far in advance. I would love to hear from anyone that has gone and can share their experience!
Gabrielle - If staying at La Caserne Chanzy Hotel and looking for a restaurant close by, this one is right down the block. It has a chic, swanky vibe with view of the Cathedral and a delicious steak.
Nonna - In the mood for Italian food? Nonna is one of the best Italian restaurants in Reims. You will relax in it’s chic elegant vibe with a plate for of delicious homemade pasta to satisfy your craving!
Things to do in Champagne, France
Veuve Clicquot in Reims
Telling you what to do in Champagne almost seems silly since it is so obvious. Drink lots of Champagne!
Champagne Tastings! - There both large and small Champagne houses all through the cities and villages of Champagne. There are some you may want to make reservations at so you don’t miss out, but for the most part you can just walk in a lot of them. Word of advice is don’t just do the larger well known brands. A lot of the smaller family owned Champagne houses will delight you with how delicious their champagne is and they typically offer a more quaint and charming experience! As we went to so many Champagne houses on our trip, I will do a full write of of all of our experiences in a future article.
Champagne Cellar Tours - You don’t need to do a tour at every champagne house. For the most part, they all give you the same information on how champagne is made, but there are some great tours you won’t want to miss. Here were my two favorites.
The Veuve Clicquot tour was the best tour in Reims and my favorite tour overall. It was very visually stimulating and had history on the brand and Madame Clicquot. One part of the tour there was also an olfactory experience where they emitted the different scents of the grapes used to make champagne (Pinot Nior, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonay) into the air. The tasting was also held in the caves which was really cool, and not done at a lot of the other Champagne houses.
We did the “Only One Quality, The Finest” tour which was $75 a person. There are less expensive tours, but as an regular Veuve drinker I was not going to Champagne France to taste their standard Brut I drink all the time. On this tour we tasted the Brut Carte Jaune, the Extra Dry, Extra Old, a 2015 Vintage, and a 2015 Rose. If you care more about seeing the caves and less about trying their different Champagnes, you can also do a tour with their standard Champagne for $35.
This was my favorite tour in Epernay and the most informative. Also, note that theses cellars house both Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon. Our tour guide was fantastic and I learned more about Champagne on this tour that any other. Walking through their cellars and seeing the mass quantity of bottles in the caves was a site to see alone. In just one small section you would be standing in front of over 20,000 bottles of Dom Perignon.
At this Champagne house we did the Grand Vintage tour and tasting which was $80 a person, but you can other tours for as low as $40 a person. On the Grand Vintage tour we tasted a 2015 Vintage and a 2015 Vintage Rose. At the time of our visit, I did not see any tours that included a Dom Perignon tasting.
Spend the day on the Avenue of Champagne in Epernay - In the city of a Epernay there is a road called the Avenue of Champagne which is lined with Champagne houses end to end from some of the largest in the world such as Moet & Chandon, Pol Roger, and Perrier-Jouet to smaller family owned Champagne houses. You can spend the day hopping from champagne house to champagne house sipping some of the finest champagne in the world. Think of it like a pub crawl but classy and much fancier!
We made reservations for tours at Moet & Chandon, Mercier, and a tasting at Comtesse Lafond, but the rest of the places we were able to just walk in and do tastings. Note that not all of the Champagne houses such as Pol Roger are open to the public and unfortunately Perrier Jouet was closed for renovations when we were there. It is something to look forward to next trip!
I enjoyed Epernay so much we went back a second day to seek out all of the champagne houses we missed. I would say I enjoyed Epernay more than the city of Reims, although I would still reccomend staying in Reims for it’s convenience. To get to Epernay from Reims, you can take the train or an Uber if you prefer.
Visit the tomb of Dom Perignon in Hautvillers - Hautvillers is the most charming quintessential French village and was the home of monk Dom Perignon the founder of the bubbly drink we all know and love today. It does not cost anything to visit the tomb of Dom Perignon. His tomb is located in a very old church that you can walk into at the top of the town.
You can not take a train to Hautvillers so you have to take a taxi or Uber. Being one of the most charming towns in Champagne, you won’t want to miss it. If dropped off at the base of the town, to find the tomb just walk up the hill you see in front of you, and then at the top turn to the left. Walk down that road until you see the church and you found it! The town is very small so don’t worry. We had no idea where the tomb was and found it pretty easily by walking around town.
Seeing the tomb does not take long so you can spend time after exploring the charming town and stopping in the small Champagne houses for some bubbly!
Take the train through the small Champagne villages - Don’t spend your entire trip in Reims and Epernay if you have the time! There are so many small charming French villages to explore known for their delicious champagne and will be recognized by Champagne lovers! The train line will take you through most of them and it is easy to hop off and on spending a day exploring the smaller towns such a Rilly-la-Montane and Ay-Champagne.
Just don’t make the one big mistake we did! Don’t do this on a Sunday! We were originally going to spend the last night (a Sunday) in Paris to be closer to the airport. Once we saw how fast and easy it was to travel between the airport and Champagne, we decided to stay in Champagne to spend more time exploring the small villages. The problem was we didn’t think to check what was was open on a Sunday. We got off at the first stop at Rilly-la-Montane and found ourselves in a ghost town with everything closed up tight. We still enjoyed time exploring the charming little town, but took the next train back to Reims where places were open. We ended up checking out the tasting room at Ruinart and enjoying lunch at Les Crayeres instead. I was dissapointed I never made it to a lot of the smaller towns, but I try not to get too upset about things like this because it is always good to save something for the next trip!
Me enjoying the tasting room at Ruinart, not exploring small towns in Champagne.
Visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims - Lucky for us we got to enjoy the beautiful view of this cathedral while staying at the La Chanzy Hotel, but it is worth the trip to visit regardless of where you stay.
Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims
Travelers Tip for a Trip to Champagne
One thing my husband and I always do when traveling to any wine region is to bring an empty hard case suitcase so we can bring home all of our favorite bottles. We bring plastic wine bottle protector bags which you can purchase on Amazon prior to your trip. When traveling from France back to the US, you typically can’t bring back more than 12 bottles without getting flagged by customs. A carry on size bag is fine, but you will need to check it on the way home. We have never had a bottle break on us during travel!
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