I am seeking recommendations on champagne house tours in Reims or Epernay. Also, is it recommended to have a guided tour of Reims Cathedral and rest of city, or can we manage on our own? We're strictly English speakers. Any restaurant recommendations in Reims?
Posted by
Braintree, MA
139 posts
I really like the tour of Moët and Chandon in Épernay. The tour was very interesting and informative. While in Épernay you may want to consider the restaurant de la cloche for lunch or dinner. I have eaten there several times ( although the last time was about 5 years ago). The food has always been good and reasonably priced. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15589 posts
You can definitely manage in English on your own. There is a small TI at the train station and a larger one at the cathedral. You can get city maps and help choosing and booking cave tours. It's a bit of a walk from the station to the cathedral so you may want to take the tram. If you're there in high season or weekends in shoulder season, you may need to book tours in advance. If this is a day trip, I think visiting Epernay is too much to cram in. If you are staying a least one night, it's well worth a few hours of your time and easy by train. There's a good TI just a few minutes' walk from the station. Then walk the length of the Avenue de Champagne and take the fun Mercier tour.
Back in Reims, I liked the basilica as much as the cathedral. It's quite near both Martel and Tattinger and I did tours at both of them as well. All 3 tours were interesting, and there wasn't much repetitiveness - a little about the method - but mostly about the history of the region and the founding families. Another interesting sight in Reims is the Museum of the Surrender.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I've only been to Reims and visited the Cathedral, some Roman sights and Mumm's. I chose Mumm's because the wine is the best in town. You need a reservation but that's easily accomplished, I had my hotel call but the TI works too. You could call yourself if you have a phone. They can book you for the next English tour, usually within a couple hours. All of this is walkable from the train station.
The Basilica would be walkable for me, but it might stretch the limits for some. They have trams in town. I didn't try but one might get you there and back easily.
I haven't been to Epernay, so can't give you any thoughts there.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
1980 posts
As Kathy I liked my visit to Moët & Chandon, already back in 2006. The outside of the building is not so attractive as it looks like a production facility, inside it is the opposite. It has a nice history, they produce and sell Dom Perignon too, with seriously high price tags. The place is an easy walk from the train station.
Posted by
17 posts
I just got back from a day trip from Paris to Remis. It's an easy train ride and easy to tour Remis on your own. Read the chapter in Rick's book that describes all of the transportation options. We used the electric shuttle. Very easy and got us within one block of the champagne house. We visited Tattinger. I liked the tour very much and the tasting. If you like WWII history, do not miss the museum of the surrender.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2304 posts
hi db
we are doing a tour with a-l-allure-champagne.fr. (click our offers, slide down 1/2 inch blue line says our offers click and english comes up) looked up what we wanted and emailed them as to which offers available and what we wanted. booked, pay day of tour in euros, looked at train schedule with trainline.eu booked them for early train to walk around plaza maybe lunch, then tour. there are tasting rooms around plaza, my friend interested in veuve cliquot and read you can walk in and taste. of course there are fees for tasting but i got my euros ready! and my DD to ride to paris. it will be a fun day for us. good luck and happy travels
aloha princess pupule