Reims vs Chartres

Yes, Reims is doable just walking from Reims railway station. That station is close to the city centre. But note that there is another station, Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV, on the outskirts of Reims. That station is not withing walking distance of what you probably want to see. But there are trams from that station to central Reims.

Not to sway you either way, I'm sure Reims is lovely, and we will visit at some point. But, in addition to what you've planned, Chartres, also has a lovely historic town along the river below the cathedral. Also, there are lights on many of the buildings at night.

Chartres is the cathedral and the town. In 2017, we spent 3 nights there, and felt we could have stayed 1-2 more nights. The cathedral is of course fabulous. Touring it is a great experience.

After dark, MANY building in town and the cathedral get the "sonne-et-lumiere" treatment, where images are displayed on buildings. For the cathedral, the images are the fabulous colors that the exterior once had. There are many other buildings in town - bridges, the town hall, another older church - which get the same treatment. My wife and I tried to see all of the displays. It was great fun.

Also there are many good restaurants in Chartres.

Chartres is better for history. Reims is amazing if you want to drink Champagne. I preferred Reims 😀

I loved the light show in Chartres but it was late at night and I don't know if it's a summer thing.

Chartres was THE medieval cathedral I knew from Art History, and seeing it was one of the reasons for my first trip to Europe in 1972. Since then, I have stayed in Chartres 10 more times, once for two weeks.

I have been to Reims once. It's fine, but Chartres is the place I go anytime I am in France.
Train station is a short walk from city center and cathedral (less than a half mile), and the tourist office (for maps, restaurants, etc.) is next to the cathedral-at least it was the last time I was there.

Trains are very frequent from Gare Montparnasse, and take about an hour from there.
Chartres, for me, no question.

Here's what Rick says about Chartres:

"Chartres, about 50 miles southwest of Paris, gives travelers a pleasant break in a lively, midsize town with a thriving, pedestrian-friendly old center. But the big reason to come to Chartres is to see its famous cathedral — arguably Europe's best example of pure Gothic architecture."

We did both Chartres and Reims on our visit to Paris last month. We gave each city a full day’s visit. They’re both fantastic but I give the nod to Chartres. The cathedral there is just spectacular. It’s also a fool-proof walk easy walk from the train station to the cathedral and the main town area. Reims was also wonderful, but we did have to walk farther from the train station and it was a little more confusing - we had to use the GPS to make sure we didn’t get lost. We did the Surrender Museum there - which was the main reason for our visit. We also did a champagne house tour, which was gorgeous for just the architecture. It was quite a walk to the champagne houses though and then quite a walk back to the train station.

They’re both good day trips - but depending on your stamina level, Chartres is just easier for walking. And boy is that cathedral worth it.

Reims may be faster to get to on paper, but trains are much less frequent, so you might end up waiting longer. Also, ideally you'd need to buy tickets to Reims in advance, as same-day tickets exceed 60€ RT - they can get close to 80 even. No need to do so for Chartres.

I have been to both, for a first time visitor I would recommend Chartres mainly for the cathedral. Reims is fine, but more enjoyable as part of a champagne tour that includes vineyards and champagne houses...there are many tour operators who do guided minivan tours from Paris, they pick you up at your hotel - it is an all day thing. Not too sure I would go to Reims on a day trip without the champagne tour portion.

I've been to both, you can't go wrong. One more variable, if it matters to you: Chartres is the original medieval cathedral, built in stages over centuries a long time ago. I believe it's mostly intact from those days. The windows have been cleaned in recent years, a bonus for visitors today. Reims is beautiful and has more architectural unity, partly because it was damaged heavily in WWI and restored. The roof caught fire, similar to what happened to Notre Dame in 2019. Wikipedia has a good account of this.

When we visited Reims Cathedral about 25 years ago I remember seeing examples of where the lead roof melted and ran through the gargoyles.

The stained glass at Chartres is a wonder and it would be my first choice -- but if yoiu want to do a Champagne cellar tour -- also amazing, well then Reims.

The stained glass by Chagal at Reims Cathederal was very nice. It was different but we came to like it a lot. We did a day trip last year and liked reims a lot. Some of The champagne houses require reservations. Vuve Cliquot was fun. we could not tour the cellars but sat outside & enjoyed a glass. Pommeroy was walk in. the champagne was (bad) not to our taste. But the self guided tour of the cellar was great. Lots of art work in different areas of the cellar. Plus a big bench out front. We walked by a section of a Roman wall. And had a nice lunch at a restaurant we walked up on. We walked into town from the train station. It was a very fun day

hey hey Ellen
couple years ago, 4 of us friends went to venice, paris and amsterdam. my planned day was to drink champagne in reims.
bought our train tickets day before near our apartment at a shop., took cab to station and off we went. we either walked or took tram to city center where basilica is, got a snack and met our tour in back of church. used 2 cars, was wife, speaks great english, husband does not. we toured some of the city/town then off to the vineyards, stopped and saw the grapes, walked some fields then off to small villages and a private owned champagne cave with tasting. drove by the other more famous ones, parking was NO NO, places were very crowded with lines waiting. we wanted local champagne so went to cafedupalais.fr and took taxi to train station) gare de reims). had a chacuterie tray and a flight of 5 local champagnes which was all worth it, with many bubbles.
was a great day and train ride back to paris and our apartment
we booked a 2CV tour with: a-l-allurechampenoise.fr
click our offers and it translate to english. look at the tours that are offered, we either did #5 or #6
we all have different ideas to what places people enjoy and recommend to see and do. this is my opinion. like you said saw enough art/museums/artchitecture/churches/crowds, so getting away from hustle & bustle hit the spot
aloha