Best of Eastern France Tour

You will love this tour! I took the train from Paris to Reims and arrived a couple days early to spend extra time exploring the town and going to some of the champagne houses for their interesting tours. If your best flight options have you returning from Paris, there is a train from Aix en Provence that will get you back to Paris where you can spend some extra time or catch a flight home from there. I tend to prefer fewer connections these days on flights, and there seems to be more direct flights from CDG to the USA.

You can travel to Reims directly from CDG or from Paris Est. There are some direct trains but most involve 1 transfer.
Aix to Paris by rail is the fastest way to go. Direct trains go both to Gare de Lyon or with 1 transfer to CDG. You can also get direct trains to both from Marseille.
Marseille is an underrated tourist city. I hope you might be able to take 1 or 2 days there.

We did exactly what the first poster did, train to Reims from Paris and then train back to Paris from Aix-en-Provence. Extra days both before and after the tour made this one of our most favorite tours of the 8 we have taken. Enjoy!

We flew in and out of Paris for this tour, arriving a few days early to spend some time with family. We took the TGV (fast train) from Paris to Reims the day before the tour started and visited the Museum of Surrender as well as Tattinger’s champagne cellar and the nightly light show at the cathedral. The tour started in the late afternoon, so that gave us almost 2 full days in Reims on our own. It’s a college town, as well as a champagne hub, so it’s easy to navigate and they have a lovely bus system for getting around. However, we did most of it on foot.

Our flight back to the US was from Paris and again it was easy to take the TGV back from Aix en Provence to Paris. We did allow for an extra day in Paris before our flight. The TGV leaves from its own station, so make sure you book the correct station. It’s 15km outside the city. Our guide arranged a taxi for a group of us.

It’s a fabulous tour.

I chose to spend an extra day in Aix to see some Cezanne sites, then take the TGV from Aix directly to CDG for a flight home the next morning.

High speed train from Paris to Reims. Flew back from Marseille with a connection in Paris.

This is indeed a wonderful tour. I'm envious of anyone taking it.

We too took the TGV from Paris to Reims, arriving a couple of days before the tour began. And wished we had had even more time! We loved Reims.

When the tour ended in Aix, we moved to a funkier (cheaper) hotel, and spent several days more. Then we went by bus to the train station, then TGV to Paris.

All this was after completing the Paris and Heart of France tour, so we didn't spend more time in Paris post-tour. That was a great trip.

We took this tour and absolutely loved it. The train from Paris to Reims is easy, about 1 hour and drops you near the heart of town. At the end, we took a taxi from Aix to Marseilles to fly home via Heathrow. Tip: seriously consider an extra day in Aix or Marseilles if that's your plan, to give you flexibility if flights get changed. Our flight from Heathrow to the US was cancelled and they rebooked us a day earlier. We were unable to change our other flights so we had to leave the RS tour a day early, and spend the night at Heathrow before flying home.

I did this tour in 2019 and stayed in Paris for 5 days near Luxembourg Gardens. Then I took the high speed train to Reims. When the tour ended in Provence I took a FlxBus to Nice for 4 days. I flew from Nice to Paris to Chicago. It is a fabulous tour.

We’re taking this tour in May 2023. We’re flying from Boston to CDG arriving in Reims the day before the tour starts and leaving Aix the morning after the tour ends flying MRS -> CDG -> BOS with a 2 hour layover at CDG which hopefully will be enough time. Both segments are on Air France.

The train sounds interesting but I don’t want to have to stress about train strikes.

We’re flying from Boston to CDG arriving in Reims the day before the tour starts and leaving Aix the morning after the tour ends flying MRS -> CDG -> BOS with a 2 hour layover at CDG which hopefully will be enough time. Both segments are on Air France.

I regretted not having a longer layover at CDG at the end of May. I started watching the MRS flight in April and it was late to arrive at CDG much of the time. I tried to change our tickets to an earlier flight, but it would have been an extra $300. Even though we did depart about 45 minutes late, we make the connection, but our checked luggage didn't(:

We did this tour in 2014 so the flight options we had may no longer exist. We booked through KLM but were on flights operated by Air France and Delta. We flew AF from Boston into CDG and took the high speed train to Reims, switching to the local to get into the city center a day early. We flew from Marseille to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol the morning the tour ended on AF. We had a room at the airport and leaving at 9:30 got us to the Amsterdam city center at 11:30 using the train from the airport after dropping off our luggage. We returned to the airport from Amsterdam that night and left the next morning for Boston on Delta.

We had spent time in Paris before so though it was a short visit we chose to go through Schipol to be able to spend some time in Amsterdam.

Thanks for all the great info! CDG to Reims by train. Does train leave from CDG and what station inReims. Is best.

Without looking it up I cannot tell you the exact information but we took the high speed TGV directly from CDG to the station/platform outside of Reims to transfer to the local train. Here you cross to the other side of the platform for a short ride to the Reims Central Train Station. At the time it was only a short walk from the station, across the park, to the RS Tour hotel.

We were on this tour last May, flying from Denver to Paris. We took the fast train (TGV) from CDG to Reims (I think it’s the second Reims station stop but not positive) where we transferred to the local train to arrive within walking distance (a couple of blocks) of the tour hotel. Exactly the same process as Don who posted above. I think Rick gives fairly specific information either in the tour book or the tour information you will receive when you book the tour. We shared a car with other tour members from Aix-en-Provence to the Marseilles airport, flew to Munich and finally one last flight home to Denver. The tour is awesome, one of the best I’ve taken. I wholeheartedly agree that you should plan extra days on both ends of the tour, if you possibly can. Both Reims and Aix are so interesting and well, wonderfully welcoming small(er) towns.

Do you think it is reasonable to get a train back to Paris CDG from AIX on the last day of the tour in order to make a 3:25 PM flight back to the states?

vfbero
That would be way too nerve-racking for me. No.