Champagne region - Reims or Epernay or ?

If you have a car then Epernay would be a great base and there are also lots of small champagne houses there. Reims is lovely and both the Basilica St. Remy and the Cathedral are must sees in the regions. And of course the big champagne houses are there. We toured the Taittinger cellar and really enjoyed the tour; I think they are all pretty similar.

Epernay is quieter, not so many tourists (or restaurants). It's the HQ for most of the champagne houses. According to wiki, the population is around 25,000. Reims is a city, with several interesting tourist sights, and a population of nearly 185,000. Many of the houses started there and the old caves are there, so that's where most of the tours are. I toured Tattinger and Martel in Reims and Mercier in Epernay. I thought they were all pretty interesting without much duplication. Mercier is the most fun. I'd recommend at least one full day in Reims without a car. It's an easy train ride between the two. If you are planning to do much tasting, bear in mind that each tasting is 1/2 glass and most tastings include 2-3 wines. The legal blood/alcohol limit in France is 0.5 (0.8 in the U.S.) and is strictly enforced.

My one disappointment was that we didn't really get a tasting at Taittinger; we got a generous glass of their bottom rung champagne, which was perfectly tasty. We ran into some guys who had done a tasting at Veuve Cliquot and that was more of a tasting with several different types of champagne. We had not been able to get a tour reservation at that house and didn't realize we could just walk in and do a tasting without the cellar tour. They were very complimentary about the experience and said the VQ was particularly gracious.

I went to Mumm's in Reims. It was good and there were a few tasting options when you check in.

Reims isn't a small town but the sights are walkable. The cathedral, roman sights, train station, Mumm's, and a nice, wide pedestrian street with lots of restaurants are all within reasonable walking.

The advantage of Reims is it's easy to get to by train.

Thank you!