Car or Train for Day Trip to Epernay or Reims

I'm not sure what source you're using for train ticket prices. It shouldn't cost nearly that much if you buy your tickets shortly after your preferred date goes on sale (check rules for alteration and cancelation). Tickets for June aren't on sale yet, so I'm guessing you may just have used tomorrow's date, which usually gets you the highest possible fare. Go to the SNCF website and check fares for mid-April to see what I mean. There are fares of 71.50 euros for all four of you. < Edit: I now think that was a one-way fare for the family, not a round-trip fare.> I gather that you are allowed to hold the 3-year-old on your lap if you want to. If you opt to do that, he/she will not need a ticket, which would bring the cost down a bit.

Thank you for your reply, I used trainline.com and a March date for estimates. I am aware of the fluid pricing. Did you do the return trip as well? We also picked realistic travel times, there where cheaper prices but these where at 6am which is not what we want to be doing. We would also need a ticket for our 3 yr as that’s too far for a lap ride.

I checked the SNCF website, for 2 adults, a 3 yr old and 6 yr old leaving at 8:30am it’s €71.50. Return is then €43 (special) at 4:30pm. So €114.50 plus the 8 Metro tickets (George V - Chatelet - Gare de l’Est and return).

It is however, now coming out at 1hr 25min compared to a 2 hour car trip. TBH it’s more about convenience than cost. Is there any issues with parking in Reims or Epernay?

I always take the train and find it quite easy. Parking is readily available in both towns. Another downside to having a car is that one of you would have to be the designated driver and would not be able to enjoy the tastings.
Have you reserved tours at any of the champagne houses? I am not sure if they would be able to accommodate a stroller down in the caves on a tour. You might have to carry the younger child.
One caution about the caves - make sure the children resist the urge to touch the bottles. They will explode.
Epernay is my favorite if only going for champagne . It’s a very small town.
If you are interested, Reims has the cathedral and Museum of Surrender.

And don't forget to pack a jacket - those caves get quite chilly!!

I believe strollers are not allowed in the caves - I remember seeing them parked outside the entry.

I priced the round-trip to Reims. I'm sorry I forgot to mention in my earlier post that it was Reims I checked rather than Epernay. Trainline shouldn't be too much more expensive than SNCF, but it now has a service charge. And if it's feeding you prices in dollars, I guess it's possible they're using a poor exchange rate. RailEurope used to do that.

I did include a ticket for the 3-year-old.

Edited to add: I now think I saw a one-way fare for the four of you and thought it was the round-trip fare. But fares are highly date- and time-specific. Until tickets for your travel date go on sale, it's difficult to say what sort of deal you can get. Assuming you're not traveling around the time of a holiday, you should be able to get a fairly good idea by looking at prices for the latest-available tickets on the same day of the week.

I can now see fares on SNCF through May 7.

Reims has multiple train stations. "Reims" is the main station in the city, not far from the Museum of the Surrender. "Champagne-Ardennes TGV" is about 5 miles from Reims; that's where a lot of the TGVs stop, so you sometimes have to transfer (or take a taxi) to get into town. Pay attention to the entire travel time, because sometimes the connection involves quite a long wait out at the TGV station, but you still have to pay for the pricey TGV ticket.

I'm sorry for the inaccurate original reply.

Thank you all for the replies. I am still leaning towards a car. Frankly, even if it was more expensive the convenience might outweigh the hassle of 2 metros and the train trip. I’m yet to see a big downside to driving?

Only one of us will be doing the tasting regardless. It’s more for the novelty of “drinking Champagne in Champagne” then actually being appreciative of the drink. We are not big drinkers!

Thank your for the jacket tip.

Honestly, we tend to be car people. At least so far unless we are doing a "city" based trip like Amsterdam we tend to want a car for the freedom. If you are going to the champagne experience. I would pick Epernay over Reims where you can stroll the Avenue de Champagne with the strollers no problem. It is a beautiful walk. Parking is pretty easy in Epernay as well.

Honestly and truly not meaning to be snarky but why would you want to spend all that money and shlep 2 little kids just for the "experience" of one person drinking champagne in Champagne? It doesn't sound like the kids will be interested in much of anything in Epernay or Reims. The interesting tours of the caves are almost all in Reims, along with a cathedral and a basilica.

I visited both. Reims is a city, lots of people and tons of tourists. Epernay was pretty quiet, not much there but all the champagne facilities (large bottling and shipping, warehouses). I believe some of the houses have cafes and offer champagne by the glass. Mercier has tours. The kids might enjoy that, it's by tram through the caves, but it may be crowded, especially on a weekend.

Personally, I would take the car. I don't find driving in France that difficult (other than some of their maddening roundabouts). Reims is a city, whereas Epernay is a town and easily walkable. Reims has the cathedral and some historic attractions, however I think your children would probably be too young to be very interested. The only tour that I have taken that I would think is appropriate for 3 to 6 year old children is Mercier (Epernay) because there is limited walking and most of the tour of the caves is by an electric tram with recorded information. Normal cave tours would be too much for that age group as they involve lots of walking and listening to talks for 1 to 2 hours. Unless you are planning to spend the night in the Champagne area, you will have driven at least four hours in order to drink a glass of champagne in Champagne. The countryside is quite picturesque, the food is quite reasonable (and good), and, of course, there is the champagne to taste. I would at least spend the night in Epernay so you can both say you have had champagne in Champagne and then drive to Chambord by way of Troyes (and avoid Paris).

Troyes I loved. Nary a foreign in tourist in sight except for me. Historic center full of higgledy-piggledy half-timbered buildings.

Unless you are planning to spend the night in the Champagne area, you will have driven at least four hours in order to drink a glass of champagne in Champagne.

This is an excellent point. With two small children who won’t enjoy it either! And only one person drinking Champagne. This is a day of your vacation for one person out of four as far as I can tell. Of course, every vacation is about compromising on what you invest your time and money in seeing and doing (even if you are traveling solo, and even more if traveling with other people).

I haven't visited Epernay but have been to Reims by train. It's pretty easy except you have to get off the main train and catch a local train into the station in town. From there virtually everything is walkable for a day trip (there is also a tram).

I visited Mumm's because their wine is the best of the choices. I think most of the tours are essentially identical. Book a tour at the TI when you arrive at the train station, depending on your timing you can either go straight there or walk to the Cathedral first then Mumm's. There's a nice area with restaurants that starts across from the front of the train station and some Roman ruins inside that triangle.