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Travel guide
Champagne
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, and September to October
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Welcome
Champagne, in a few days
Less than an hour from Paris by train, Champagne lines up neatly combed slopes, winegrowers' villages with carriage gateways and, beneath your feet, hundreds of kilometres of cellars dug into the chalk.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 3 things
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Reims Cathedral · about 1 hWhere 25 French kings were crowned, from Louis VIII to Charles X; over 2,300 statues outside, including the Smiling Angel, and Chagall windows inside.
- Afternoon · Verzenay Lighthouse · about 1 hA lighthouse among the vines, built in 1909 as a publicity stunt, with a museum of the winegrower's year and 101 steps to the lantern.
- Late afternoon · Faux de Verzy free · about 1 hA state forest with the world's largest concentration of twisted dwarf beeches, their contorted branches drooping like umbrellas; some are over 300 years old.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Jean Moët ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€160 a night
D2
Day 2
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Hautvillers free · 2 to 3 hThe village where the monk Dom Pérignon refined Champagne blending; his tomb lies in the abbey church, and wrought-iron signs line the lanes.
- Afternoon · Moët & Chandon cellars · about 1 h 30Some 28 km of chalk galleries dug since 1743; the guided tour covers bottle fermentation, riddling and disgorging, and ends with a tasting.
- Late afternoon · Avenue de Champagne, Épernay free · about 1 hA kilometre of 19th-century mansions housing the great Champagne houses, above around a hundred kilometres of cellars holding millions of bottles.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Jean Moët ↗€160 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lac du Der-Chantecoq free · half a dayA 4,800-hectare reservoir built in 1974 to control floods on the Marne; the church of the drowned village of Champaubert still stands on a peninsula.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Jean Moët ↗€160 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Troyes free · half a dayAn old centre shaped like a Champagne cork, packed with leaning half-timbered houses, nine churches and the Cité du Vitrail stained-glass centre.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €120 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, and September to October
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/champagne
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.