Reims Champagne or Épernay: Where Should Your Trip Start?
The short answer. Start in Reims if you arrive by TGV, want the cathedral and the big crayère houses, and plan to join a shared tour: most of them leave from the Reims station square. Start in Épernay if you want to walk a single avenue of houses and be close to Hautvillers. The towns are 27 km apart, and the train between them takes about 30 minutes.
Épernay calls itself the capital of champagne; Reims has the cathedral and the big crayère houses. Both have a case. The real question is where you sleep and where your tour starts. Get that wrong and you spend an hour on a train before your day begins. Where to stay for a Reims Champagne tour covers the hotels; this post covers the choice itself.
Reims and Épernay side by side
| Reims | Épernay | |
|---|---|---|
| From Paris | About 45 minutes by TGV | About 1 hour 20, direct from Gare de l'Est |
| The houses | Spread across the city, several on Saint-Nicaise hill | Lined up on one avenue, five minutes from the station |
| Underground | 25 km of crayères under Saint-Nicaise hill | 110 km of cellars under the avenue |
| Big sight | The cathedral, free | The avenue itself, free to walk |
| To Hautvillers | 26 km | 6 km |
| Shared tours start | Mostly from the station square | Some, from the tourist office |
The case for Reims
Reims is where most shared tours begin. The half days with family growers and the Mumm day all meet outside the station tourist office, and the TGV from Paris gets you there in about 45 minutes. The city also has the sights: Reims Cathedral, where 33 kings were crowned, the Basilica of Saint-Remi, and houses such as Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, Ruinart, Taittinger and Mumm.
The houses here are spread out, though. Veuve Clicquot's visit centre is 30 minutes on foot from the centre. Plan on a taxi between two of them, or book a tour that drives. The Reims champagne houses lists each one.
The case for Épernay
Épernay puts its houses in a row. The Avenue de Champagne is 1.5 km long, five minutes on foot from the station, and inscribed with UNESCO since 2015. Moët & Chandon is at number 18, Mercier at 68, de Castellane's 66-metre tower at 63. Some 200 million bottles rest in the chalk beneath it. The tourist office is under ten minutes on foot from the station, so you can arrive, get a map and start walking.
Épernay is also close to the vines. Hautvillers, where Dom Pérignon is buried, is 6 km away; from Reims it is 26 km. A few tours start in Épernay: a jeep in the vines, and an afternoon with two growers that leaves from the tourist office.
Getting round the houses in each town
In Reims the houses are spread out. Veuve Clicquot's visit centre is 15 minutes by car from Reims Centre station. Mumm is on the rue du Champ de Mars, and Lanson on the rue de Courlancy, well away from Saint-Nicaise hill. You will want a taxi, or a tour that drives.
In Épernay they queue up along one street. Boizel, at number 46, has been run by six generations of one family since 1834. De Castellane, at 63, has a room of 7,000 label drawers. The Château Perrier, at 26, holds the Musée du vin de Champagne et d'Archéologie régionale. You can walk the whole avenue in an afternoon.
Where the cathedral fits
Only Reims has it. Reims Cathedral is free, opens every day at 8:00, and is where the kings of France were crowned. If you base yourself in Épernay, plan an hour in Reims on the way in or out, or book a day that stops there. The day trip from Paris gives it half an hour.
Events in each town
- Reims, September and October 2026: Regalia, a free light show on the cathedral front, runs on 18 and 19 September and 10 October at 22:45, for about ten minutes.
- Épernay, every 14 July: the Soirée Blanche on the Avenue de Champagne.
- Épernay, 11 to 13 December 2026: Habits de Lumière, a weekend of lights along the avenue.
When to visit Reims Champagne sets the events beside the harvest and the house calendars.
Doing both in one trip
You can. The TER "Ligne des Bulles" runs between Reims and Épernay about every 30 minutes, with four stops on the way, and takes about half an hour. The easy plan:
- Morning in Reims. The cathedral at 8:00, then a house cellar tour.
- Midday train. About 30 minutes to Épernay.
- Afternoon on the avenue. A second house, then the walk back to the station.
Two houses, one in each town, costs from about EUR 55 in entry, with Mumm's EUR 30 visit and Mercier's EUR 25. A tour that drives you between them adds the growers and Hautvillers. The Mumm day runs from the Reims station square, and an Épernay start is sold on the same booking.
Which base suits you
- First trip, arriving by TGV: Reims. Most tours start at its station.
- You want to walk between houses: Épernay, for the avenue.
- You want the growers: Reims, for the afternoon with two family growers.
- Day trip from Paris, no night: neither; take the day trip from Paris, or compare the champagne tours from Paris.
- Your own car and driver: either; the private days collect in both towns.
What to leave out if time is short
With one day, do not try to see every house in both towns. Pick the town your tour leaves from, give the cathedral an hour if that is Reims, and book one house or one tour. With two days, sleep one night in each town, or take the TER for the afternoon.
How to visit the Reims champagne houses covers booking a slot, and the Reims Champagne map shows both towns.
Days that start in Épernay or cover both towns
Jeep tour in the Champagne Vineyard with tasting
Two hours by jeep through the vines around Épernay, Aÿ, Chouilly and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, ending with champagne in the vines. One fare covers up to three.
From $234 per group, up to 3
Check Availability
Luxury Champagne Tour(All Included): 2 Famous Houses & Restaurant
A private chauffeur-guide for the day, two famous houses chosen by their availability, and lunch, collected in the Reims or Épernay area.
From $848 per person
Check Availability
From Reims/Epernay: Champagne half-day tour (small group)
Two independent growers and six tastings in an afternoon, starting from the Reims station at 1:30 pm or the Épernay tourist office at 2:00 pm.
From $183 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: choose the town your tour leaves from, and book your night there. Every fare sits side by side on Reims Champagne Tours.