Loire/Champagne Itinerary Help, 2 or 3 nights?

We stayed in the Champagne region for a few days. We are somewhat "into" wine, but don't love Champagne. We did drive the Champagne Wine route which was lovely and went to some of the wineries along the way. We found Hautvillers charming and visited the church where Dome Perignon is interred. We tasted at a winery with an exceptional view https://www.champagne-tribaut-hautvillers.com/en/home/?v=82a9e4d26595. I think Mom would likely enjoy the area even if she doesn't care for champagne

Though we stayed in a smaller town, we spent about a day and a half in Reims. The cathedral is beautiful and historic. The TI close by was very helpful and gave us a map for a walking tour of the city. We tasted at a wine shop by the train station. Staff constructed an educational tasting at quite a reasonable price, and we felt we learned a lot. (Trésors de Champagne) If you stayed in Reims, maybe mom could spend some time on her own in Reims, there's the cathedral and the gorgeous Carnegie library. There are a few wineries in Reims listed in the RS guide.

Thank you for the advice, this is very helpful!! Did you like the small town you stayed in? And while she isn't into wine in the same way we are, my mother-in-law loves the idea of champagne and always says, "I hope there's champagne in heaven". So I think she'll get a kick out of the overall experience and just spending time together! And I think we can scratch her WWII itch with the history in Reims and perhaps countryside?

Hi Marissa, I’ve visited both Reims, Epernay and the Loire Valley.

Epernay is where Moet & Chandon over a century ago began bottling its “Dom Perignon” champagne—named after the monk who created a fermentation and blending process that contributed to the development of what ultimately became known as “champagne.”
There also are other Houses of Champagne in Epernay— Pol Roger, Comite, Jacquenet & Fils, Mercer, Michel Gonet— to name just a few of them.

Epernay is much smaller (about 20K residents) than Reims (180K residents) and if you want the atmosphere of a smaller town rather than a bustling city— Epernay is where I would stay. There are several Houses of Champagne in central Epernay that you can visit to taste champagne and you can easily walk to them. So, there’s no need to stay in Reims which is the bustling “big city” service center for much of the champagne region. You might want to visit Reims cathedral from Epernay as it’s just a 30-minute train ride away. Reims cathedral is where all the Kings of France were crowned and has windows created by artist Marc Chagall.

For the Loire, Amboise makes a good base. It’s just six miles to Chateau de Chenonceau and Amboise has a chateau of its own, in addition to Clos de Luce, the chateau where Leonardo da Vinci spent his retirement years.

The chateaux of Chenonceau . Chambord, Cheverny and Blois are ones I would recommend. With a car, you’ll also be driving past many others on the route these four are on.

With five nights, I would stay two nights in Epernay and three in Amboise. There is only so much champagne you can sample and an infinite number of chateaux to see in the Loire Valley!

Marissa, We stayed in Aÿ-Champagne. It was a tiny town. It was fine because we had free parking, but there was very little in the town. I think I meant to stay in Aÿ, which is about 15 minutes away.

You might be better off staying in Loire the whole time, especially if you think you'd like the Chateau. As for wine, we especially liked tasting in Vouvray (which also does a fair amount of sparkling wine), which is close to Amboise. We stayed once in Amboise and once in Saumar. I think for a first trip to Loire, I'd stay in Amboise.

It is at least 3.5 hours by car between Amboise and Reims. If you do want to split your time, I'd do 3 in Loire and 2 in Champagne.

I hate to be considered a nit picker, but Dome Perignon was the cellar master in Hautvillier at the abbey. Hautvillier is a smaller village and near Epernay.

I believe his name was “Dom Perignon.”

Kenko, you are absolutely correct. Spelling never my strong suit, although I think autocorrect was the issue.

Marissa,
I would choose 3 nights in the Loire and 2 in Reims (or Epernay). Definitely spend a day in Reims. The cathedral is where nearly every king of France was crowned, going back over a millennium. And it is lovely inside and out. You can walk from there if you choose, to the Musee de la Reddition, where Germany signed the surrender for WWII, a fitting cap to your DDay visits. There are champagne house tours available in the city as well, plus some Roman ruins. Coming from the Loire Valley, (about 3 1/2-4 hours drive) you could stop at one or two champagne wineries near Epernay, then stay the night there. Next mornng spend an hour (all that is needed) at Hautvillers to pay homage to Dom Perignon and enjoy the garden. Next head to Reims for the day. It isn't far from Epernay, so not a long drive back to your lodging.
Three nights in the Loire Valley (2 full days) will give you time for leisurely visits to 4 chateaux at 2 a day. You could possibly see three in a day. I would be "chateauxed" out after 3, but I have been there 3 times, so have seen my fill. However, the Loire area isn't just chateaux. There are troglodyte caves/villages, mushroom caves (near Saumur) and, of course, wineries. So 3 nights there, plus the latter part of arrival day gives you 2 1/2 days that can be easily filled. After 3 nights head to Epernay.
Lodging suggestions have been mentioned on the forum. I would put "Loire Valley lodging" in the search bar and then filter "forum", and "one year or less". Scroll through what comes up and you should have quite a few to investigate. Best of luck! Have fun!

Like Judy says, I would give three nights go the Loire, and two to Champagne.