Champagne & Reims: Day Trip with Cellar Tastings & Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.78 (421 reviews) 90% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/35

Duration10h–12h

GroupUp to 24

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Champagne’s grand houses, Reims cathedral light, vineyard lunch

You’ll slip into cool Champagne cellars near Épernay, taste sparkling wines poured by local families, share stories over a vineyard lunch, and stand quietly inside Reims Cathedral where history echoes off ancient stones. Expect laughter, new flavors, and maybe one or two surprises you’ll think about long after you’re home.

10h–12h

Step-by-step itinerary

Champagne region and Reims tour

Pickup from hotel in Paris
Travel to Épernay in air-conditioned minivan
Guided tour of a grand champagne house
Stroll the prestigious road with champagne houses
Visit a local or family-owned champagne house
Learn about grape varietals in the vineyards
Enjoy panoramic vineyard views
Transfer to Reims city
Visit Reims Cathedral and learn its history
Enjoy a 3-course lunch at a local restaurant

The Experience

“You know, Dom Pérignon didn’t invent champagne—he just made it better,” our guide Marc grinned as we ducked into the chilly cellars outside Épernay. I pulled my jacket tighter (it’s really cold down there, even in June) and tried to listen past the echo of our footsteps. The air smelled faintly of yeast and stone. Marc tapped a bottle resting in its cradle—he called it “sleeping”—and told us how some of these bottles have been aging longer than I’ve been alive. I’m not sure what I expected from a Champagne day trip from Paris, but it wasn’t this odd hush underground or the way everyone started whispering without meaning to.

Back up in daylight, we drove along Avenue de Champagne—honestly, it feels like you’re passing mansions built for royalty. The sun hit the pale stone and all those gold-lettered gates. We stopped at a family-run place later (I can’t pronounce their name), where the owner’s daughter poured us a glass and laughed when I tried to say “merci beaucoup” with my mouth full of biscuit rose. She explained how their vines survive frost and why her father still checks every barrel himself. There was something about her hands—stained pink from grapes—that stuck with me.

Lunch was three courses at a restaurant that looked plain from outside but turned out to be all wood beams and quiet chatter inside. I remember the smell—some kind of sauce bubbling—and Marc translating the menu for us because I froze at “andouillette.” Afterward, we wandered through Hautvillers’ vineyards while he pointed out which grapes go into which blend (I nodded like I understood). The view over the hills was hazy green and gold; honestly, I just stood there for a minute doing nothing at all.

Reims Cathedral felt almost too big for words. Light slanted through stained glass onto old stones where kings were crowned and Joan of Arc once stood—I tried to picture that but mostly just felt small. On the way back to Paris, someone fell asleep in the van and someone else kept talking about flavors they’d tasted that morning. It’s strange what sticks with you after a day like this.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off from Paris, guided visits inside major champagne houses plus tastings at both grand estates and family-run producers, all entry fees covered, bottled water throughout the journey, an expert local guide sharing stories along the way, time exploring Hautvillers vineyards and Reims Cathedral—and a leisurely 3-course lunch at a regional restaurant before heading back to Paris in comfort.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Go Go Tours - Privat Segway Tours In Paris