Reims or Épernay: Which Town for a Paris Champagne Day?

Most people planning champagne tours from paris face the same question: which town? Both sit on the UNESCO list, and both are built on chalk cellars. The real tension is time. You have one day, the train reaches Reims faster, and Épernay is where the famous avenue is. Here is how the two compare, and how to see both without wasting the day.

Reims and Épernay side by side

The case for Reims

Reims is the easy day. The train is short, the station is in the town, and you can walk to the cathedral, which is free and open from 8:00. France crowned 33 kings there, and the stained glass alone is worth the trip. The houses are in the city too: Veuve Clicquot's cheapest visit is €36, G.H. Mumm's €30, Lanson's €32, Pommery's €48 and Ruinart's €90.

Reims is also where the tours start if you do not want a full day from Paris. The Reims afternoon with two family growers leaves the station at 2:00 pm, for $152. Book a house for the morning and you see both kinds of producer in one day. Reims has the houses, the station meeting points and the Christmas market.

The case for Épernay

Épernay is the champagne town. Its main street, the Avenue de Champagne, has 110 km of cellars beneath it and the houses along it, with Moët & Chandon at number 18. Moët's cheapest visit costs €48, and Mercier's €25 with a mini-train through its cellars. The Musée du Vin de Champagne, in the Château Perrier, costs €10 and is free on the first Sunday of the month.

The catch is getting there. No tour we list starts in Épernay, so you arrive by train or on a day tour, and most people take the tour, which stops on the avenue for anything from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. Épernay and the avenue sets out each house.

Getting around each town

Reims Centre station is in the town, and the tourist office stands on the cathedral square, at 6 rue Rockefeller. If your TGV stops at Champagne-Ardenne TGV instead, the tram brings you into the centre. For the Basilica of Saint-Remi, buses 4, 6, 11 and 40 stop at "St Remi". Book your house visit times first, then fit the cathedral and the basilica around them, because the houses run to fixed slots and the churches do not.

Épernay's centre is its avenue. The tourist office is at 7 avenue de Champagne, Moët & Chandon at number 18, and the wine museum is in the Château Perrier on the same street. From 1 April to 31 October the museum opens 11:00 to 19:00 and closes on Tuesdays. From November to March it opens 13:30 to 18:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 18:00 at weekends, and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Last entry is an hour before closing all year.

Which town in winter?

The season can decide it for you. Veuve Clicquot, in Reims, closed from 28 December 2025 to 7 April 2026, and from 4 November 2026 it opens Wednesday to Sunday only. The cathedral stays open and free all winter, but its guided tower climbs, €9 the rest of the year, stop from 16 November to 14 February. Reims held its 2025 Christmas market a minute from Reims Centre station; the 2026 dates are not published yet.

Épernay's big winter date is Habits de Lumière in December. Moët & Chandon's own page gives daily hours from 9:30 to 17:00 and names no winter closure, yet one private day offers other houses in its place in January and February. Whichever town you pick in winter, confirm your date with the house before you book the train. When to visit has every month.

Doing both in one day

You can, and most tours from Paris do. By train, the regional "Ligne des Bulles" runs between Reims and Épernay. By tour it is simpler. The private Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot day visits a house in each town, with Hautvillers and the cathedral in between. The cellars and vineyards day from Reims meets at the cathedral at 9:30 and ends about 5 pm on the Avenue de Champagne. If time is short, keep the cathedral and one house in Reims, and let the avenue go.

• Morning: Reims, for the cathedral and a house.
• Midday: Hautvillers, for Dom Pérignon's church and the view.
• Afternoon: Épernay, for the avenue and a second house.

Which to choose, by the kind of traveller you are

• You are going by train, alone or as a couple: Reims.
• You want Moët & Chandon: Épernay, or a tour that books it.
• You want growers: start in Reims; the growers' days leave from its station.
• You have children: Épernay, for Mercier's train and the free museum for under-13s; see the family post.
• You want both, with no planning: a day tour from Paris.

The villages between the two towns are in the village-by-village route, and things to do in Champagne covers the sights in both.

Days from Reims and Épernay

Champagne Private Tour Veuve Clicquot Tasting from Reims Epernay

A private driver-guide from your Reims hotel or the station: the cathedral, Veuve Clicquot when it has room, and a family estate. Lunch is a paid option.

From $631 per person

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Moet et Chandon Champagne Private Half Day Trip from Paris

Sold as a half day, timed at 7 to 9 hours by its own listing: a private car from Paris to Moët & Chandon, Hautvillers and an hour and a half in Épernay.

From $550 per person

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