Going to Reims if you have been to Chartres

Probably not.

If you have a car, I think you'd enjoy driving the "Route Touristique du Champagne". We drove it from Reims to Epernay and found it made for a very enjoyable day. The countryside is very beautiful. We particularly enjoyed the Moet et Chandon cellars in Epernay.

Would be nice, but we would be taking the train to Reims. Driving is France is not in our plans.

I'm liking the smaller cities in France. Reims cathedrals are quite beautiful, and quite different from the one in Chartres. Also, Reims is where the German surrender was signed, and there is a museum which has the war room as it was that night, with maps on the walls showing troop positions. There's also a film. I don't think a lot of English-speaking people go there, based on what the docent said to us when we were there. Also, there are a number of Roman sites there. It's a nice little city. So you go, see some sites, have a nice lunch and some great Champagne. What's bad about that?

Hi David, the Cathedral in Reims is one of the most spectacular churches in the entire world. Even if you never enter the Cathedral seeing the West Portal is worth the trip. Goodness, I'd GO! Emma

I loved the cathedral, and the surrounding medieval streets of the neighborhood. Some interesting walks and sights in a relatively compact area.

Hello, David from Walnut Creek. I am also David from Walnut Creek. In fact, David Drive half named after me. I have seen many cathedrals in Europe. Admittedly, when we saw Reims, the two that we had seen to date were Notre Dame and Chartres. Nevertheless, I would say that Reims and the cathedral are worth seeing. For our day, we trained to Reims, walked Reims, rented a car for the day and drove to Leon. The cathedral in Leon is high on a hill and wonderful. The two make a wonderful day trip. By the way, I agree with your assessment of winery/champagne tours. When you have seen several in the Napa area, no reason to see more.

David, I was in Reims in November of 2012 and it was a great day trip on the fast train from Paris. We planned a 3-4 day trip Eastward to Alsace Region ( Strassbourg specifically ) and we stopped on the way in Reims on our way through Champagne. It was well work our one day there. There are actually two beautiful catherdrals there -One if the orginal one where the Kings of France were coronated and then the other spectacular one -that one was like nothing I've even seen in intricate details and overall stunning architecture. It would depend on how much time you have available? We had 3 weeks in France last year so we stopped in Reims on our way to Strassbourg- made sense. In Reims although-I would passa on visiting their huge boulvedard of Disneyland type of shops in the city center.
I would see the two cathedrals although. Laura

Hi, David If you are not keen on cathedrals and champagne, how about doing something else for a day trip? Vaux-le-Vicomte, Fontainebleau, Giverny, etc.
As with everything when traveling, it comes down to personal taste. I'm in the ABC category, another bloody church.

We just came back from a trip to Reims a few months ago. We were spending a few days in Paris and wanted to spend one day outside of the city. We took the train in the morning, spent the day in Reims and took the train back at about 6:30pm to Paris. We also have been to a lot of Cathedrals as well as Napa but we still enjoyed Reims Cathedral as well as the Champagne caves. There is a lot of history in Reims. Especially if you are interested in WWII. You need no transportation in Reims as everything is easily walkable.

David - There's a 2011 book out by Ina Caro called, "Paris to the Past: Traveling through French history by train." The author's chapters on both Chartres and Reims might give you more information on which you can make your decision.