Three Nights, two days, in Reims - day tours recommendations for Reims and Epernay?

george,
I'm happy to hear you will visit Reims. With two full days you can enjoy the city. If it were me, I would allocate one full day to a tour of the vineyards/seeing Epernay/tasting champagne. The other full day is easily a walkable one, as most of what I would visit is doable on foot. We didn't use a guide and didn't feel we missed out because we had read up a bit on the history of Rheims ahead of time. Here's what you can do in a one day walkabout:
The cathedral is where almost all of the French kings were crowned. Loads iof history here and beautiful windows.
The Musee de Reddition where the Germans surrendered at the end of WWII. Impressive, not too large, worthwhile.
A tour of a champagne house. We walked to one and had a very good tour with tasting. Alas, it was in 2017 and I can't recall which one, but it was very enjoyable and worth the price.
Enjoy!

Thanks - so quick train over to Epernay for a guided tour, then next day stay Reims for self-guided?

George,
We had a car so I don't know about train times and tours, but I hear they are frequent and that there is a choice of tours. Yes, Reims is definitely doable on your own and without a car.
Have fun!

Hi george! We were just in Épernay/Reims a few months ago (a Thurs - Sunday) for the same amount of time. We chose to stay at a cute AirBnB in Épernay then day trip to Reims. In Épernay, we only booked one champagne house (Moët.) Everything else we visited was just by chance. There were lots of places to drop in and taste champagne or have a bite to eat. Épernay is so, so charming but not very big. Just meandering down Ave de Champagne is fun. Additionally, the train station is right in town, so it's easy to access a connection to Reims (or vice versa.)

In Reims, you will want to pre book any of the big champagne houses (with the exception of Veuve Clicquot, we just dropped in there.) We visited Pommery and Lanson with prebooked tours. Next time we'll visit Ruinart as I've heard that is a great tour. As another poster had mentioned, both the Cathedral and le Musée de la Reddition are not to be missed. The museum is not big and will not take long to visit. You will want to make sure you watch their 15-20 min film before you walk around museum (it adds a lot to the experience!)

Enjoy your visit!

KimberlySEA,

Could you recommend the B&B?

Our usual process is to stay in town close enough to gare to walk there and back - just makes everything easy.

I'd add the recommendation to visit a couple of grower Champagne houses to get a very different picture of the production of these delicious wines. Rilly-la-Montagne is a convenient town on the train line between Epernay and Reims, and there are several small houses there that welcome visitors.

In Epernay let me strongly recommend the Alfred Gratien tour. They're a bit off the Rue de Champagne, but it's definitely worth the walk. And in Reims, don't miss Vranken Pommery. We didn't drink any of their Champagne, but their front lawn is a hoot. I'll also recommend Lanson. If your budget permits, the most expensive tour (which really just entitles you to more expensive wine to taste at the end) is worth it, as you'll taste their extraordinary Cote de Lanson vintage Champagne.

We absolutely loved Reims. I'd recommend staying there rather than Epernay as there's a lot more to do that's not wine-related, and the many Art Deco buildings are very cool.

If you have any interest in old cars there's a automobile museum in Reims that's interesting. i found that talking to the guys in the tasting rooms always pays off. I've received invites to tasting events and musical concerts. Don't buy without tasting! Anything, to include Armagnac, etc. All of the sellers will have an open bottle.

You can go to Epernay with all the other tourists, but if you have a car you might consider driving down D980 to Passy-Grigny. you'll pass a number of smaller houses, and see some really pretty country. and over the next 6 weeks you'll be in the crush and se the pickers and smell the grapes. Just head down the Champagne route towards Chateau Thierry. And if you get that far, stop at the huge American WWI monument.

If you have any interest in old cars there's a automobile museum in Reims that's interesting.

Yes! Thanks for the reminder; it's great fun for anyone who likes cars or transportation history.

The other towns likely have interesting growers, but personally I wouldn't trust myself with a car in the Champagne region (and we had one, but took the train to Rilly-la-Montagne). My BAC was too high for driving by a wide margin by the end of the afternoon.

Hi George! We stayed at this apartment: https://www.petitvertepernay.com/ Very cute, central to everything and a 4 min walk from gare. There was a great boulangerie just down the street that also had good coffee (if that's your thing.) We also met up with friends who had a car and took us to Hautvilliers, which is a small village in the heart of the Champagne region (about a 8-10 min drive from Épernay.) This is the town where Dom Pérignon is buried and there are some wonderful, small, family-run champagne houses there. We really enjoyed Fernand Lemaire (https://champagne-fernand-lemaire.com/). If you have a car (or perhaps a taxi?) would be a fun addition. Whatever you chose, you will have a wonderful time!