Champagne region: Our favourites

Our Champagne favourites to take in the sights

For these first Champagne favourites, we’ve put together a list of places and tours you can’t miss! You won’t be able to take your eyes off the sights and feel that much appreciated WAOUH effect.

The Avenue de Champagne

We’ll tell you right away; you can’t pass through our Champagne region without treading the Avenue de Champagne. The Avenue radiates from the heart of Épernay and preserves the world’s greatest sparkling treasure underground the most magnificent houses.

Much more than a simple avenue, it is a road where the most beautiful and renowned Champagne Houses stand, with its private mansions displaying superb facades. Each town-house and hotel is more beautiful than the next.

Reims, city of the coronation

Let’s head for the other unofficial capital of Champagne for our second favourite Champagne city, Reims! During your stay in Reims, the city known as the “Cité des Sacres“, you must visit and tour the Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral, a true jewel of French architecture and a masterpiece of Gothic art.

As well as being impressive, Reims Cathedral is also a significant part of our historical heritage, having witnessed the baptism of Clovis and the coronation of many other Kings of France.

Much more than just a personal favourite, the magical town of Reims is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can see at a glance why it is so prestigious.

Hautvillers, the cradle of Champagne

This small authentic winegrowers’ village, two hours from Paris and nestled in the heart of the hillsides listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in the heart of the Champagne valley, is an absolute favourite trip and must-visit.

After strolling through the village’s narrow streets lined with old stone houses and hotels proudly displaying their period wrought-iron signs, you can follow in the footsteps of the famous Dom Pérignon, who now lies in the choir Saint-Sidulphe Church.

But Hautvillers is also a dream spot to spend some time relaxing, with your eyes riveted on the horizon, in search of the most beautiful sites in the Marne Valley, where you can also enjoy beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

Before leaving, a visit and tour to a small local winemaker is a must for a bubble tasting worthy of the name, and if you want to prolong the pleasure, we give you our best advice for a getaway in Hautvillers.

La Cave aux Coquillages

No, we are not suggesting you go and eat seafood with a glass of Champagne! We guide you to a place where shellfish replace the usual bottles of Champagne, unbelievable but true. La Cave aux Coquillage will amaze you just as much as the crayères.

Much more than a simple visit, La Cave aux Coquillages invites you to a journey through time, an immersion in the heart of the history of Champagne, more than 45 million years ago. For a moment, forget the vines covering the Champagne valley and imagine a vast tropical beach, a meeting place for prehistoric animals, now transformed into fossils.

We won’t tell you anymore. The secrets of this place will reveal themselves to you, but we can tell you that we won’t let you leave this hotel without a tasting of Legrand-Latour champagne.

• Address: 41 Rue du Bourg de Vesle, 51480 Fleury-la-Rivière, France
• Tel: 03.26.58.36.43

More info: https://www.geologie-oenologie.fr

An autumnal stay

The Champagne region is full of cathedrals, vineyards and monuments, each site more beautiful than the last.  However, coming to spend a few days visit in the Champagne Valley in the middle of autumn is also one of the most beautiful spectacles that nature offers us.

While wandering along the small country roads or from the top of the hills, you will have the opportunity to admire a superb patchwork of yellow, orange and red which tends towards the brown so characteristic of autumn leaves.

We love this time of year when the Champagne vineyards offer us their most beautiful colours before putting on their winter coat to prepare to offer the wine grapes that will make up the following year’s vintages.

Métamorph’eau’ses

We love this unique and unforgettable nocturnal activity, which promises an enchanting experience in the heart of Châlons-en-Champagne.

At nightfall, you will be invited to climb aboard the boat on which you will sail for an hour to contemplate the sound and light show offered to you on the most beautiful screen possible, the bridges and monuments of the city.

• Address: 3 Quai des Arts 51000 Châlons-en-Champagne, France
• Tel: 03.26.65.17.89
• More info: https://www.chalons-tourisme.com/decouvrir/chalons-en-10-incontournables/balade-en-barque-metamorpheauses/

Must-see spots to visit

Pick up a few Champagne specialities at our local market stalls before heading off to visit one of these 17 spots where you can sit down for a picnic.

And if you’re in the area on a sunny day, don’t forget to plan your visit in the early evening, as some places offer the most beautiful sunsets, which will be even more perfect accompanied by some champagne bubbles.

Our Champagne favourites : the unmissable events

Discover the moments of the year when you will appreciate the Champagne region from a different perspective, during which it is essential to come for a visit. 

Les Habits de Lumières

Special mention for this event which we love to go to every year, and which always leaves us wanting more, these moments can be magical. Between tradition, gourmet moments, and wonder, it is ideal to discover the Champagne region in a different light, with a festive and friendly atmosphere.

Once again, you will find yourself on the Avenue de Champagne to feast to the rhythm of the three-day programme, which promises to be sparkling. The retrospective of the 2019 edition of the Habits de Lumière will only make you want to come and spend the weekend in Épernay for these festive days coming up in December.

For more information, follow the news of the Habits de Lumière or contact the Epernay Tourist Office on +33 3 26 53 33 00.

The harvest period

Because the Champagne region is, above all, a wine region, coming here during the wine harvest period is one of the most beautiful ways to discover it because the Champagne valley will reveal itself to you in its most beautiful clothes.

The best way to enjoy this season is to visit and tour with a local winemaker who keeps his doors open during the harvest. You can see the grape presses in operation. The harvest period is the only opportunity during the year to see this wine making process, as the rest of the time, the machines are not running.

To top it all off, you’ll even be treated to a tasting of freshly pressed grape juice.

Your taste buds will be delighted in Champagne

Between tastings and Champagne dishes, discover these lively places where you can savour the exceptional products of the great Champagne region.

Tasting on the Avenue de Champagne

The Avenue de Champagne will amaze you with its beauty and charm, and it is also the place to taste the best local vintages while enjoying the atmosphere of the terraces of our Champagne Houses.

Of course, you can also visit one of its cellars and finish the immersion with a tasting in the company of passionate experts.

Reims is a delight

After you visit Reims Cathedral, lose yourself in the narrow streets of the pedestrianised centre to enjoy a moment strolling before reaching the beautiful Place Drouet-d’Erlon (called place d’Erlon by the locals) for a gourmet break with a view of the Fontaine de Subé.

Because it is nicknamed the largest terrace in France, your only concern will be to choose which table you will sit around, and you will be spoilt for choice, as there are so many brasseries and restaurants to choose from.

Discovering the natural heritage of Champagne

And if the Champagne region is one of the most beautiful in France, it also owes it to the natural spaces that allow you to take a breath of fresh air and recharge your batteries.

Sourdon Park

We love this wooded park located only a few minutes from Épernay, where you can enjoy a walk in the undergrowth, but also visit its superb waterfalls. Whether you are looking for a peaceful place to relax or a green spot for a picnic with the children, the Parc du Sourdon is the ideal family visit.

And what’s more? During the summer, you can enjoy a walk under the shade of the hundred-year-old plane trees, and you can even take a refreshing footbath in the stream.

• Address: Parc du Sourdon 51530 Saint-Martin-d’Ablois, France
• More info: https://www.tourisme-en-champagne.com/parc-du-sourdon/saint-martin-dablois/pnacha051fs0000g

Mount Bernon

The best way to enjoy a panoramic view of our region is undoubtedly to climb to the top of one of the hills in the Champagne valley, which is why we suggest a short trip to the top of Mount Bernon.

The more athletic will have the pleasure of reaching the summit with a short 25-minute walk from the centre of Épernay, but you can also park in the small car park before climbing the wooden staircase that leads to the highest point of Mount Bernon.

After taking a moment to admire the 360° panoramic view, you can take advantage of the wooden facilities set up for visitors, including a small balancing course that appeals to both adults and children—a great day trip for your family. 

• More info: https://www.epernay.fr/article/mont-bernon

Travel by bicycle

If you want to discover the region on two wheels, one of the best options is to take the greenway that runs through the Champagne valley. In addition to being accomplishable in all seasons, the kilometres to be covered are flat, making it accessible to all.

We really love this greenway because it passes through the most beautiful villages and towns in the area, allowing you to stop and visit the sites before setting off to conquer the next ones.

We also offer a cycling route halfway between the Marne and the Champagne vineyards, and we have electric bikes for hire.

Break in Mareuil sur Ay

Discover one of our favourite places for quiet moments with family or friends, all along the water’s edge, on foot or by bike, depending on the day’s mood.

While the children are playing in the playground, sit back and watch the boats sailing on the Marne, a moment of relaxation guaranteed.

The small bar on the square is waiting for you to enjoy an aperitif before taking to the roads of the Champagne region to discover the countless treasures that abound there.

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We can say that you are lucky because you now have in your hands the list of our favourite places in the Champagne region. And we’re sure of one thing: once you’ve visited them, these places will become your favourites too.

Because we love sharing moments with our guests, we welcome you with pleasure in our apartments in the heart of Épernay, only a few steps away from the Avenue de Champagne.

See you soon to create your own Champagne favourites!