Champagne is first of all a famous vineyard, but also cathedrals, abbeys, lakes and villages. This itinerary offers three days between the Marne and the Aube.
The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne are World Heritage listed. The vineyard stretches over hills around Reims, Épernay and the Côte des Bar. The cellars, dug into chalk, shelter millions of bottles at constant temperature.
Visiting a Champagne house lets you understand the stages of production, from the harvest to bottling and ageing. Smaller estates offer more intimate visits.
Reims, the city of coronations, keeps a major Gothic cathedral, as well as other monuments and museums. Troyes charms with its half-timbered old centre and its churches. Épernay is the capital of Champagne, with an avenue lined with great houses.
These towns are explored on foot. They preserve the memory of the medieval Champagne fairs, which drew merchants from all over Europe.
Beyond the vineyard, the region has forest and lake landscapes, such as Lac du Der, much appreciated by birdwatchers, especially for the crane migration. Half-timbered villages, churches and small museums complete the discovery.
Champagne is also a land of remembrance: several sites recall the battles of the Marne and the fighting of the First World War.
Three days let you visit the vineyard, a few towns and a lake. Group visits by area: Reims and the Montagne de Reims, Épernay and the Marne valley, Troyes and the Aube.
The itinerary below groups the best-rated sites in the catalogue by proximity. Leave time for tastings and meals: Champagne is as much to be tasted as to be visited.
The map shows the numbered stops in visiting order, with one colour per day. The line follows the roads where available; otherwise it joins the stops as the crow flies. Distances and times are approximate (by car, without traffic).
This day brings together 6 sites close to each other: museums, castles and religious sites. It passes through Reims. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
This magnificent château overlooking the Marne valley, said to be inspired by Chambord, was built in 1845 by Madame Ponsardin, Widow Clicquot. It has 365 openings, windows and doors, one for each day of the year!
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Adjoining the Basilica of Saint-Rémi, in the former Benedictine royal abbey, the Musée Saint-Rémi sets out, through its collections, to make known the town's past, from prehistory to the Second World War.
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The exceptional handling of the new architectural techniques of the thirteenth century and the harmonious marriage of sculpted decoration with architectural elements have made Reims's Notre-Dame cathedral one of the masterpieces of Gothic art.
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City of the coronation of the kings of France beyond its famous cathedral, enlivened by Place Drouet-d'Erlon and its monumental gilded Subé fountain.
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The Musée de la Reddition is a listed Historic Monument. The unconditional surrender of the German armies was signed on 7 May 1945 in a room of this museum, left as it was.
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The Faux de Verzy, or twisted beeches (Fagus sylvatica var. tortuosa), are trees found in the Verzy forest, between Reims and Épernay.
View full page →This day brings together 3 sites close to each other: towns and cities and museums. It passes through Troyes and Épernay. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
This sculpture museum is devoted not only to the work of Camille Claudel but also to nineteenth-century French sculpture, and in particular to the work of artists who lived and worked in Nogent-sur-Seine and/or were closely or distantly linked to Camille Claudel.
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Historic capital of Champagne, famous for its colourful half-timbered houses and its old centre shaped like a champagne cork.
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World capital of champagne, whose Avenue de Champagne lines up the prestigious headquarters of the great houses above kilometres of cellars carved in chalk.
View full page →This day brings together 3 sites close to each other: lakes. It passes through Mesnil-Saint-Père. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
Driving for the day: about 67.9 km, or 1 h 27 behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
The third largest artificial lake in France, heart of the Forêt d'Orient Regional Nature Park.
View full page →↓ 26.7 km · about 35 min by car to the next stop
In the east, in the Aube, in the Orient, on the margins of the Paris Basin and south of Champagne, stretches a vast mysterious land where water, earth and forest have given birth to a singular territory, fruit of nature and of people.
View full page →↓ 41.2 km · about 52 min by car to the next stop
Lac du Der in Champagne is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe: 4,800 hectares of water, 80 km of shores.
View full page →Spring and autumn are the most pleasant, especially for the vineyards. Summer is busier. The grape harvest, at the end of summer, is a highlight, but some cellars are then less available for visits.
A car is practical for driving the Champagne tourist route, but trains serve Reims, Épernay and Troyes. For tastings, nominate a driver. Towns are explored on foot.
Near Nogent-sur-Seine, the château de La Motte-Tilly, a remarkable witness of eighteenth-century classical architecture, unfolds its harmonious façades in the heart of a vast park.
A high place of the 1914–1918 war, listed as a historic monument, Fort de la Pompelle houses a museum showing collections of uniforms, helmets, weapons, utensils of the soldier's daily life, objects made by soldiers in their leisure time, and artillery pieces.
Réveillon was built between 1607 and 1617 by Claude d'Ancienville, lord of Réveillon, in place of a thirteenth-century medieval castle, ruined by the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion.
Overlooking one of the most prestigious slopes of the Montagne de Reims, the Verzenay Lighthouse and its Vine Museum invite you to explore the fascinating world of the Champagne vineyard.
It was by inheritance that the castle became the property of the La Rochefoucauld family.
Set on the former Champagne front, the Marne 14–18 Interpretation Centre is at the crossroads of the Verdun and Chemin des Dames sites.