Field trips out of Reims

Why not spend your time in the Reims region itself? Saves you a lot of travelling time and you'll see places which you otherwise wouldn't have thought of. The site of the regional tourist office might give some ideas.

The Reims tourist information office can help you book champagne tours outside the city, or you can book them directly.

It's not practical to visit the Normandy beaches on a day trip from Reims (and not even highly recommended within one day from Paris). Trains from Reims to Caen and Bayeux take 4 hours each way, or a little shorter to Rouen, but all requiring a change of stations in Paris by taxi or public transport.

Just to Paris is simpler at 45 minutes each way by direct TGV. Tickets for the faster (TGV) trains between Reims and Paris are sold for reserved dates and times only, about 45 euros each way on short notice or cheaper if booked in advance through SNCF or a ticket agent (Raileurope.com, trainline.eu).

Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it (but does not sell tickets in France).

Thank you for your replies. I welcome more. I am inclined to stay more local to Reims to explore areas I couldn't go to while participating in the conference.

Frank

Laon has an important cathedral, and Metz sounds interesting. Neither is Paris, though.

A day trip to Paris is very feasible.

If you are based in Reims for the conference, you are close to WW1 sites...Chateau Thierry, Meaux (the location of the big WW1 museum)

You could totally do Paris on a day trip, the train trip could be a little expensive but you can save by booking ahead I think. Another obvious one would be taking the train to Epernay, which from my research looks like a very appealing town (never been there though). It's only about half an hour away. I think Normandy is a bit far and would require a rental car, and even then seems like a hassle. Check the driving times on Google Maps, three hours each way to Rouen, for example. Way to far for a day trip. If you did want to get a rental car, the city of Troyes always looked interesting to me.

I'd probably rent a car and visit Troyes. That's still Champagne (about an hour and a half drive).

Alternatively, Dijon in Burgundy has a great medieval center (a little under a three hour drive). Beune is another 20 minutes.

I like the idea of driving to Troyes. I enjoyed the town a lot. Tons of half-timbered houses, some of them at least one bubble off plumb. The tourists there (there were quite a lot) seemed to be French. Never saw a tour bus.

Going from Reims to Troyes is great, can be done by train.

If you have a car, all the better since that sets you up for going to Brienne au Chateau, which is my real object for going out to Troyes, which is on the itinerary scheduled early in June. True, that you can see a lot more mobility wise in France in terms of the small towns with a rental car

Yes, you can get to Troyes by train, but it will take from 3-1/2 to 5 hours one way.