Welcome to Épernay
Prosperous Épernay, the self-proclaimed capitale du Champagne and home to many of the world’s most celebrated Champagne houses, is the best place for touring cellars and sampling bubbly. The town also makes an excellent base for exploring the Champagne Routes.
Top experiences in Épernay
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Épernay activities
Champagne Region Tour from Paris: Wineries, Reims Cathedral
Visit the sacred town of Reims, known for its role in consecrating the kings of France as well as its importance to the Champagne region’s sparkling wines. In Reims, your guide will take you on a tour of the city’s famous Gothic cathedral, followed by a trip to the world-renowned Mumm champagne cellars for a tour and tasting of Mumm House’s Cordon Rouge champagne. After your visit at Mumm Cellars, the tour provides you with an opportunity for lunch ( On Mondays, Tatttinger will replace Mumm Cellars until end of February 2019).In the afternoon, your tour continues on through the picturesque landscape of vineyards and rolling hills to the town of Epernay, the main entrepôt for the region’s sparkling wines. Here, you’ll visit the prestigious wine cellars of Mercier ( or similar cellars) for another tasting session. After your trip to Epernay, your coach will return you to central Paris.Please note: The schedule and cellars visited are subject to change without notice, dependent on the season.
Small-Group Champagne Day Trip with Moet et Chandon visit and Lunch included
Your tour begins at Reims Cathedral. A magnificent Gothic church acclaimed for its striking stained glass windows, you'll see where the kings of France were once crowned.The rest of the morning is spent near Epernay where you will visit a traditional vine grower. Depending on the season, you will get the chance to see the grapes being pressed or the wine blended. Whatever the season you'll get to taste the finished product with a glass of the vineyard's own Champagne.Stop for lunch at a traditional restaurant in the center of Reims, featuring the cuisine of the Champagne region. In the afternoon the tour continues to a guided visit at Moet and Chandon cellars. A wine maker will share insights into the production of Champagne while you tour the cellars and enjoy a tasting session.Please note: The schedule and cellars visited are subject to change without notice, depending on the season. Please check itinerary.
Moët et Chandon, Taittinger with Champagne Tasting from Reims
Meet your driver-guide at the Tourist Office of Reims, France in front of the train station of Reims centre. Transportation in a comfortable and full option 8-seats minivan.You will start your day with a nice 30 minutes drive toward Epernay. Guided tour and tasting at a Grande Maison de Champagne in Epernay: Moët & Chandon* (visit and tasting fees included). King Edwards VII’s coronation, Cannes Film Festival, the 120th anniversary of the Liberty Statue, etc…the world famous Moet and Chandon, producer of the Dom Perignon, is linked with most of the important events of the history. It is probably now the most famous Champagne brand around the world! You will end the tour with a glass of Champagne.Stroll along the Avenue de Champagne in the town of Epernay, known as the "Capital of Champagne". Its main street is like an exhibition of opulent mansions housing the most illustrious Maisons de Champagne: Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouet, Mercier, etc. Their cellar caves would represent 100km of tunnels under the pavement!On the way to Reims, we take you to the Marne Valley on a journey through the vineyard to meet with another prestigious figure: Dom Pérignon who finalized the process to elaborate Champagne. He highly contributed to the fame of Champagne and is now buried in the church of the former Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers.Lunch at your leisure upon your guide's recommendations (not included).Sightseeing of Reims. Reims is known for its important history and also thanks to the famous Grandes Maison de Champagne it welcomes. You will enjoy the sight of Veuve Cliquot, Taittinger, Pommery, etc., many names that contributed to make Champagne the most festive wine of the world! Tour and Champagne tasting at Taittinger*. Located in the great regions of wine-growing Champagne, the Champagne Taittinger vines cover 288 hectares evenly distributed over 34 different vineyards, which include some of the appellation’s finest. With varietals consisting of 50% Pinot Noir, 15% Pinot Meunier and 35% Chardonnay, the Taittinger vineyard is an unsurpassed example of that House’s own style of wine , in which Chardonnay plays such a significant role. *Subject to availability: Taittinger could be replaced by Mumm or Pommery, and Moët & Chandon could be replaced by Mercier or De Castellane. Tastings included.Return around 4:30pm.
Champagne Tour from Paris
Leave Paris behind and head off with your expert guide to the prestigious Moet and Chandon Champagne house in Epernay, near Reims. Easily boasting the largest Champagne cellars in the world, this luxury Champagne house is home to some 17 miles (28 km) of underground tunnels where their world-famous sparkling wine matures. As you tour this incredible labyrinth of chalk cellars with your guide, learn about the magical process of turning standard white wine into something fizzy! Hear about humidity levels and temperature control, and see for yourself how the bubbles get into each bottle. At the end of your 1-hour walking tour around the cellars, sample a glass of Moet Champagne and discuss its complex creation with the fellow Champagne lovers in your group.From Epernay, hop back on board your air-conditioned minivan and travel through Reims Mountain National Park, home to Grand Cru vineyards, before reaching Hautvillers with your guide. Known as ‘the birthplace of Champagne,’ this charming village is best-known for its most famous ex-resident, Dom Pérignon, the innovative Benedictine monk who dedicated most of his life to producing and perfecting Champagne.Reims is the last stop of your day, and in this city rich with tradition and culture, visit the must-see House of Mumm Champagne cellars. As a sommelier guide shows you around, discover the main stages involved in the production of Mumm’s famous Champagne and learn how Champagne has different levels of sweetness -- termed sec or demi-sec. End your tour on a high note, with a glass of highly regarded GH Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne, before returning to Paris.Important Note: Tour schedule and wine cellars visited are subject to last minute changes without notice, depending on the period of the year as well as depending on Supplier availability. The order of the houses visited can also be modified accordingly.
Wine Day Trip from Paris to Champagne
Your driver guide picks you up in a comfortable minivan in Paris for the roughly 1.5-hour drive to Champagne, the region where the famous French bubbles are produced. On your way to the vineyards, enjoy croissants while your guide tells you about the amazing world of Champagne.Begin with the visit to a prestigious Champagne house such as Moët and Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, or Mumm (depending on availability). Check out beautiful chalk cellars full of bottles, get lost in a maze of galleries, and enjoy a Champagne tasting at the end of your tour, by which time the mysterious méthode Champenoise will no longer be a secret to you.Continue your day trip with a drive through the vineyards of the Montagne de Reims, Cote des Blancs, and Vallée de la Marne, between Reims, Ay, and Epernay. While you admire the scenic views, learn more about the three different Champagne grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. Your next stop is a family-run winery where you'll have lunch (upon availability). Meet the winemaker and enjoy a meal of traditional food paired with a Champagne tasting.After lunch, head to Hautvillers to visit its abbey and soak up the atmosphere of a typical French village, where Benedictine monk Dom Perignon made sparkling Champagne for the first time more than 300 years ago. Then visit a middle sized winery, and see a sabrage or a dégorgement à la volée (depending on availability). Enjoy a tasting of authentic Champagnes that you don't get the chance to enjoy outside of France.Throughout your day trip, you'll listen to plenty of information about how Champagne is made. Hear about Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs. Find out how Champagne rosé is made. Discover if Grands Crus and Premiers Crus exist in Champagne. Find out if there is a specific Champagne terroir. Hear about the history of the Champagne region and how the coronation of French kings used to take place in Reims' Gothic cathedral.Following your third tasting, your guide drives you back and drops you off in central Paris (Hôtel de Ville)
Epernay Avenue de Champagne Tour and Tastings from Reims
Visit a world famous Champagne house and Epernay’s region Meet your guide, get in your mini-van and start the day with a full tour of the prestigious Champagne House Moët & Chandon, as a first introduction to the Champagne making process. Enjoy a nice morning Champagne glass and prepare your palate for 10 Champagne wines tasted during the day ! Wander through the vineyards of La Montagne de Reims while your guide explains the particularities of the region, from the grape varieties to the vine growing and winemaking process. Drive through the beautiful Champagne avenue in Epernay and hop off the mini-van to explore the picturesque historical village of Hautvillers, cradle of Champagne where the Monk Dom Perignon lived during 47 years and is now buried. Have a walk through the alleys of the beautiful church where the first Champagne bubbles are known to have come to life and enjoy one of the most exquisite panoramic view on the Champagne vineyard. Lunch and tasting class The trip continues through the Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards of Ay and Mareuil/Ay. Enter the gates of a restored Champagne house and enjoy a traditional aperitif followed by a local lunch with paired wines and Champagnes in a fun and familial atmosphere. Get introduced to local products like baguette, Reims’s ham, regional cheeses, pink biscuit, ratafia. When you are full and ready, participate in an introduction to the fascinating Champagne making process, economy and sparkling history. Discover how the delicate effervescent elixir goes from grape to bottle and improve your tasting skills with an aroma discovery and a comparison of different Champagne blends. Discover an authentic Champagne boutique winery Back to the mini-van, appreciate the nice hillsides of Champagne and peek-behind-the-scenes of a family run boutique winery. Visit the traditional press,vat room and cellar of an authentic Champagne grower. Stroll down the cool cellar corridors and glance at the immense quantity of bottles slowly maturing. Enjoy several tastings of their best–seller “cuvees” and find the best values of Champagne !Your effervescent tour ends as your guide drives you back to Reims to conclude your full day tour.