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Paris / Champagne / Alsace

Posted by on

Hi everyone!

I am looking for guidance on a trip I am planning for me and my husband in the late April to early May time frame (a celebration for our 5th wedding anniversary and my 40th birthday). While we have traveled in France before, we have never visited Paris or onward to Champagne and Alsace. Considering all of this, we are traveling for a fairly short time - 10 days.

Our travel style is extremely laid back. We are not looking to stand in line for many major tourist attractions. We are more looking for to casually walk around, find something that looks intriguing, pop in for a bite to eat, a drink or two and basically see what we run into. Considering the time of year we really want to spend our time outdoors exploring. Additionally, while we love city life we know that we only have so much time and actually prefer to get out into the country side. The initial thought is to spend maybe 2 days in Paris (and possibly 1 more day before we fly home), take a train out to Reims, rent a car and head out towards Alsace. Once out towards Alsace I would prefer to find a good base where we can travel around on the wine trail for a few days. We will fly round trip to/from CDG.

Any suggestions or other information is greatly appreciated!!

Posted by
15798 posts

I recommend 1.5 days in Reims. That could be 1 or 2 nights, depending on the trains. That gives you 1/2 day in Epernay (take the TER train) and a full day in Reims. Then take the TER for the short ride to Champagne-Ardenne and TGV to Strasbourg. Pick up the car there and spend 3-4 nights in one of the villages near Colmar. I loved staying in tiny Equisheim. Strasbourg is worth a full day but you don't need a car there. However, there are several rental companies in STrasbourg, near the train station. There's only one in Colmar and not in a convenient location. Drop the car in Strasbourg and take the TGV to Paris. If you don't want to stay overnight in Strasbourg, drop the car first thing in the morning and store your bags at the train station for the day.

You can go right to Reims from CDG. There are frequent trains to Champagne-Ardenne, then an easy transfer to the TER to Reims. That saves you one hotel change. If you do this, you will definitely want 2 nights in Reims.

Posted by
16 posts

Lindsay, We are planning the same exact trip for our 10 year anniversary! Our travel style sounds similar.

We are planning to spend 4 days in Paris and then 2 in Reims and 3 in Colmar. Have you looked into Colmar? It looks like a dream and I am sure it will be beautiful in Spring (we go in May). I have also been reading about the Wine Route. We will likely do that.

I am following your thread for advice too.

Happy Anniversary.

Posted by
10 posts

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all of the info so far! Coming back to this thread now that airfare has been purchased and the Paris portion of the trip has been confirmed. We leave Paris on Monday, April 29 to head towards Champagne/Alsace and then fly back to the States from CDG at 1pm on Saturday, May 4. Can you comment on the following plan:

Mon. 4/29 take the train from Paris to Strasbourg, rent a car and explore the area.

Fri. 5/3 take an early train to Champagne/Reims, spend the night.

Sat. 5/4 take an early morning train from Champagne/Reims straight to the airport (aim to arrive no later than 10am).

Does this seem too much / too tight? Any suggestions are appreciated!

Posted by
1 posts

Hello, I'd love to hear how your trip went? We're planning to celebrate my birthday in France as well and are heading from Paris to Alsace, and then down to Provence for another week. If you have anything to report back, I'd love to hear about your experience! Did you visit any of the champagne houses in Reims?

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