Discover Champagne: Essential experiences to live

Explore Champagne and its cellars, its picturesque villages, its majestic castles, its historical monuments, and its vineyard landscapes... A weekend or more in the Champagne region promises beautiful discoveries. Here is a list of experiences not to be missed.

What to do, what to see, where to go to visit Champagne and plan your stay? Here are essential experiences that embody the essence of this unique Champagne region, located in the Marne department.

Exploring the vast Champagne cellars

A getaway to Champagne is not complete without exploring the famous Champagne cellars. They contain tens, if not hundreds of millions of bottles of champagne, carefully preserved from light and heat.

Two cities are home to remarkable sites:

The cellars of Reims, which extend over more than 120 kilometers of underground galleries, are world-renowned. Several large champagne houses are located on the slopes of the Saint-Nicaise hill, dug with galleries called "crayères". Among them:
Maison Ruinart (4 rue des Crayères, Reims) offers an exceptional tour of its Gallo-Roman chalk pits followed by a tasting of its great vintages;
Maison Taittinger (9 pl. St-Nicaise, Reims) houses 15 million bottles;
Maison Vranken-Pommery (5 impasse du Général-Gouraud, Reims) offers a tour of its 120 chalk pits linked by 18 kilometers of galleries, with the added bonus of a huge 75,000-liter barrel, equivalent to 100,000 bottles!

Further south, a visit to Épernay is a must. The city is renowned for being the "capital of Champagne", with around 110 kilometres of underground cellars and 130 kilometres of streets! In total, nearly 200 million bottles are stored in the chalk cellars of Épernay by famous houses such as Moët & Chandon, Mercier or De Castellane.

These vast galleries are currently used as a storage place for these precious bottles. However, it is interesting to note that they have also been used as shelters during periods of war due to their solidity. It should be noted that a major incident occurred: the collapse of the cellars of Maison Pol Roger in 1990, resulting in the burial of 1.5 million bottles.

Follow in the Footsteps of the Kings of France

If you remember your history lessons, you will surely remember that Reims was the city where the Kings of France were crowned for almost eight centuries, from 1223 to 1825. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims, one of the largest and most beautiful in France and the Christian world, represents the historical legacy of the city in our country. As a jewel of Gothic architecture, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for almost 25 years, the Cathedral impresses with its majestic dimensions (138 meters long, 38 meters high under the vault with towers culminating at 81 meters) and its graceful lines. Do not forget to admire the Smiling Angel, a famous statue located at the north portal of the west facade.
Next to the Cathedral is the Palais du Tau, also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is worth a visit. This 12th-century T-shaped palace, named after the Greek word tau, was the residence of the Archbishops of Reims and served as a place to stay for the king and his entourage during the coronation. Just let your imagination run wild to relive the coronations and the grandeur of the coronation ceremonies.

Improvise a picnic in the heart of the vineyards

Before being stored in the famous cellars mentioned above, Champagne wine comes from some 34,500 hectares of vineyards in the region.
In this setting, partially classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2015, magnificent vineyard landscapes are revealed to travelers.
What could be more normal than taking advantage of a unique setting to improvise a picnic and uncork a good bottle of champagne, in the middle of the vines?
To picnic in style, we go to the heights of Hautvillers, perhaps the most romantic spot, to the village of Grauves near Épernay to enjoy an exceptional panorama, passing by the inevitable Parc de Champagne in Reims (but without the vineyards...).

Visit the village of Dom Pérignon

Who has never dreamed of acquiring a bottle of Dom Pérignon, especially during the end-of-year holidays? For any champagne lover, the name Dom Pérignon evokes prestige and excellence. Why? Because Dom Pérignon is a vintage cuvée produced, during exceptional years, by the house of Moët & Chandon (LVMH group) and considered one of the best champagnes in the world.

Behind the fame of this emblematic wine, there is a man who left an indelible mark on the history of the most famous of sparkling wines. This is Dom Pérignon, a monk from the Benedictine abbey of Hautvillers, who, in 1670, introduced the practice of blending grapes to improve the quality of the wine. According to legend, he was the first to reinforce bottles to prevent the glass from exploding under the pressure of the bubbles, as well as to use a cork stopper held in place by hemp string soaked in oil to preserve the freshness and foam of the wine.

Visiting Hautvillers, a charming village perched at an altitude of over 200 metres on the southern slope of the Montagne de Reims, offers the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of this emblematic name in champagne by visiting the abbey church of Saint-Sindulphe, where it has rested since 1715. On a more modest note, the bar-bistro Au 36... is highly recommended for tasting excellent single-varietal champagnes at more affordable prices.

Dine in a three-star Michelin restaurant

When visiting the Champagne region, it is possible to enjoy an exceptional meal, one of those that remains etched in the memory, in one of the best restaurants in France, L'Assiette Champenoise. This gastronomic mecca, masterfully run by Arnaud Lallement, with three Michelin stars, the ultimate reward for any chef.

An elegant and modern setting, remarkably precise cuisine awaits the guests of this exceptional restaurant nestled in a magnificent bourgeois residence. As a bonus, a delicate selection of great champagne vintages to enhance these decidedly... very Champagne dishes!

Stock up on champagne

Winegrowers' champagnes

Louis Roederer, Ruinart, Veuve Cliquot. These champagne houses are renowned in France and around the world. However, champagne is not limited to the big brands with impeccable marketing strategies. According to Benjamin Cherrière, an expert in lesser-known champagnes in supermarkets, "At the same price, some offer more specialized products than the brands." Among the winegrowers' champagnes (more than 4,000 in total) for less than €30, a group of great French sommeliers recommends in particular the Diebolt-Vallois (Prestige cuvée, blanc de blancs), the Egly-Ouriet (Brut Tradition grand cru cuvée), the De Sousa (Réserve cuvée, blanc de blancs). And also the Emmanuel Brochet (cuvée Le Mont Benoît, premier cru), a champagne described by Antoine Pétrus, Meilleur Ouvrier de France en Sommellerie (2011) and former director of the great gastronomic restaurants Le Clarence and Taillevent in Paris, as “taut, chiseled, and carried by a powerful bubble”.

Young Champagne Talents

Since 2012, the Young Champagne Talents operation consists of a competition organized around five categories (Chardonnay, Pinot, Rosé, Harvester-Manipulator Blend and Cooperative Blend). Its objective is to highlight young winemakers who develop, bottle and market their own champagne, by recognizing their skills and the quality of their products.

The "Vignobles et Découvertes" Label

In the Champagne appellation area, eight territories bear the Vignobles & Découvertes label. Each of these territories offers a unique discovery of champagne thanks to the diversity of soils, climates and viticultural practices. In total, nearly 500 Champagne professionals spread across these territories are committed to respecting strict standards to ensure the quality of visitor reception. The award of the label is based on criteria such as passion for wine, the ability to welcome visitors in different languages, the desire to transmit, authenticity and openness to natural, cultural and human heritage.

Discover the historic Marne

Further east of the Reims-Épernay wine region, Champagne reveals remarkable historical sites. In Châlons-en-Champagne, the capital of Marne, known for its churches (Saint-Étienne Cathedral, the Notre-Dame-en-Vaux collegiate church, a 12th-century Gothic church listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the Way of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, as well as Saint-Alpin...) and its places of remembrance (former Gestapo headquarters, now a museum).

Further east, on the edge of the Champagne plains, the Pays d’Argonne was the center of attention during the First World War. The Butte de Vauquois was the scene of intense battles between the French and the Germans, with no clear victory. A mine war followed, leaving marks in the ground, including craters 30 meters deep.

Between Châlons and the Pays d’Argonne, the Marne 14-18 Interpretation Center in Suippes immerses history enthusiasts in the daily lives of soldiers and civilians of the First World War. A captivating experience, just like the one offered by the Valmy 1792 Historical Center (Valmy, fifteen minutes from Suippes), which uses new technologies to relive the stages of the legendary Battle of Valmy on September 20, 1792, the first decisive victory of the French army after the Revolution.