Reims Champagne Tours FAQs
Prices, who pours, where the tours start, the train from Paris, children and the houses' own calendars. Ready for your Reims Champagne booking? The answers below settle most of what you need first.
One answer matters more than the rest: who pours. A big house gives you its cellars and its own guide. A family grower pours in its own cellar, in a village outside Reims. Some full days do one of each, and every tour card says which you get.
How much does a Reims Champagne tour cost?
From $51 for an hour's tasting in a Reims cellar to $848 per person for a private day at two famous houses. Half days with family growers run $140 to $183, shared full days from Reims $245 to $321, and days from Paris $262 to $848 per person.
Do you need a tour to visit the champagne houses in Reims?
Not for one house. Veuve Clicquot, Mumm, Pommery, Ruinart and Lanson all sell their own cellar tours, from EUR 30 at Mumm to EUR 90 at Ruinart. A tour earns its fare when you want the family growers in the villages, a house and a grower in one day, or a driver so nobody drives after tasting.
What is the difference between a champagne house and a grower?
A house (NM on the label, négociant-manipulant) buys grapes, musts or wines as well as growing its own. A grower (RM, récoltant-manipulant) makes champagne only from its own vines. On a tour, a house means a cellar tour with the house's guide, and a grower means the family pouring in its own cellar.
Which tours visit Veuve Clicquot?
France Intense's two private days from Reims (one adds Moët & Chandon), Royal Journey France's private day at two famous houses, and LinkParis' day from Paris by train. France Intense says the visit depends on the house's availability, and another house may take its place.
Can I do a Reims Champagne tour from Paris?
Yes. Some tours collect you from your Paris hotel or meet at a Paris café at 7 am and drive about one and a half to two hours each way, and one goes by train from Gare de l'Est with the tickets in the fare. Expect a day of 9 to 12 hours.
Where do Reims Champagne tours start?
Most shared tours from Reims start at the tourist information point on the Reims Centre station square, the Cour de la Gare, not at the main tourist office beside the cathedral. Private tours collect you from a hotel or station in Reims or Épernay.
How long is a Reims Champagne tour?
Half days run 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours 30 minutes, full days from Reims 7 to 9 hours, and days from Paris 9 to 12 hours. The tastings in town take one to two hours.
Is lunch included on a champagne tour?
On many full days from Reims it is, among them the Mumm day, Sparkling Tour's three-grower day and Royal Journey France's private days, and on the Veuve Clicquot day by train from Paris. The half days include no food, and several Paris days stop for a lunch you pay for yourself.
How many glasses do you taste on a tour?
Six on the half-day grower tours from the station square, seven on the Mumm day, and ten on Stéphane Demissy's private day and on the Veuve Clicquot day by train. The tasting in a city cellar pours three.
Is there a half-day champagne tour from Reims?
Yes. À La Française runs a morning tour at 9:20 am and an afternoon tour at 2:00 pm to two family growers, ABC Champagne Tour an afternoon from Reims station at 1:30 pm, and there is an afternoon on e-bikes in the vines near Aÿ. None of them visits a big house.
Can children come on a champagne tour?
On some. À La Française's shared tours take no one under 10, the e-bike afternoon needs riders of 16 or over, and nobody under 18 is served alcohol. Uncork's private Moët & Chandon day and the Coutant vineyard visit accept children and carry infant seats.
Can I cancel a booking?
Most tours refund in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. À La Française's private growers day with lunch and LinkParis' Veuve Clicquot day by train are non-refundable, and the Club Trésors tasting needs two days' notice. Each card states its own policy.
When is the best time for a Reims Champagne tour?
Late spring to early autumn, when the houses keep their longest hours: Mumm opens every day from 1 May to 31 October, and Veuve Clicquot every day from 29 June to 30 August. The harvest usually falls in September. Veuve Clicquot's visits were closed from 28 December 2025 until April.
Are the champagne houses in Reims open on Mondays?
Not all of them. Veuve Clicquot opens on Mondays only from 29 June to 30 August, and Mumm opens every day from May to October but closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in spring and late autumn. Check the house's own calendar before you plan a Monday.
How do I book a Reims Champagne tour?
Choose a tour, check your date and pay through the booking button on its card. Book a shared tour for your whole party in one booking, because a traveller on the morning tour found that separate bookings can be split across vans.
Is there an e-bike champagne tour?
Yes: an afternoon of about 15 km on e-bikes in the vines from Le Clos Corbier at Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, with transport from Reims if you choose it, a cellar visit and three glasses. Riders must be 16 or over, and in rain or storms it runs by people carrier.
Is there a tour that only visits family growers?
Yes. The half days from the station square visit family growers only, and so do Sparkling Tour's three-grower private day, À La Française's private growers day with lunch and Stéphane Demissy's private day. None of these goes into a big house's cellars.
Can I visit Épernay on a tour from Reims?
Yes. Most full days include the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, and the Mumm day and ABC Champagne Tour's afternoon can also start from Épernay. The jeep ride in the vines starts there too.
Do tours pick up from my hotel?
Private tours do, in Reims and Épernay: Uncork up to 30 minutes' drive from Reims, À La Française up to 40 km. The shared half days and day tours meet at the station square. Paris hotel pickup comes with the Paris tours, or as a EUR 750 option on Royal Journey France's private days.
Is the jeep tour priced per person?
No. The jeep tour from Épernay is priced per group of up to three, so one fare covers everyone in the jeep. Every other fare listed is per person.
What happens if I book a shared tour alone?
À La Française's shared tours need at least two people. A lone booking is moved to another date or refunded in full, so check before you build a trip around the date.
What is a Spécial Club champagne?
A vintage cuvée from a member of the Club Trésors de Champagne, which describes itself as an association of artisan growers founded in 1971. Its tasting in central Reims pours classic and Spécial Club cuvées, three, six or eight glasses by package.
Are the tours wheelchair accessible?
A few listings say so: Uncork's private Moët & Chandon day, À La Française's private growers day and the Coutant vineyard visit. Most others do not. At the houses, Veuve Clicquot takes wheelchairs down on request and Mumm's visit reaches only its first level.
What languages are the tours in?
English on all of them. French is offered on many, and a few also offer Portuguese or Spanish.
Does the price include tips?
No. No listing includes gratuities, and they are optional.
How far ahead should I book?
Early, for summer weekends and for the harvest in September. Shared vans take eight people at most, and Ruinart's own cellar visit takes 12, so the small slots fill first.
Is Reims Cathedral free to visit?
Yes. Reims Cathedral is free to enter and opens every day from 8:00; on Sunday until noon visitors may only use the narthex. The towers are a separate guided visit at EUR 9, booked online, from mid-February to mid-November.
Is the Palais du Tau open?
No. The Palais du Tau is closed for works and reopens in 2027; only its temporary bookshop is open, Tuesday to Sunday. No tour can take you inside before then.
How many kings were crowned in Reims?
Thirty-three, from Louis the Pious in 816 to Charles X in 1825, according to the cathedral parish's list. From Henri I in 1027 it was the coronation cathedral, and Charles VII was crowned there in 1429.
Did Dom Pérignon invent champagne?
No. The Comité Champagne says nobody invented champagne: Champagne was the first region to try to understand and control the second fermentation. Dom Pérignon was cellar master of the abbey at Hautvillers, which is why most tours stop there.
What are the crayères?
Chalk pits dug under Reims and later turned into champagne cellars. Ruinart's are about 40 metres deep, and Taittinger's include Gallo-Roman chalk quarries under the site of the former Saint-Nicaise Abbey.
How cold are the cellars?
Cold enough for a warm layer in every season. Mercier warns that its cellars are cold, and travellers on the Paris days advise a cardigan for the chilly cellars.
Is Champagne a UNESCO World Heritage site?
Yes. Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars was inscribed on 4 July 2015: the historic vineyards of Hautvillers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims, and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Épernay.
Which station do I arrive at from Paris?
Reims Centre station, beside the meeting point most shared tours use. Champagne-Ardenne TGV station is outside the centre: Veuve Clicquot puts it 10 minutes' drive from its visit centre, against 15 minutes from Reims Centre.
How long is the train from Paris to Reims?
About 45 minutes by TGV, as Lanson and Taittinger both put it. The direct train from Paris Gare de l'Est to Épernay takes about 80 minutes, according to Moët & Chandon.
When is the champagne harvest?
Usually in September, about 90 days after the vines flower; the start dates are set each year for each village and grape. Nearly 120,000 seasonal pickers work by hand, because the law requires whole bunches at the press.
What does brut mean on a champagne label?
Under 12 grams of sugar per litre. Extra-Brut is 0 to 6 grams, Brut Nature (also Pas Dosé or Dosage Zéro) under 3, and Demi-Sec 32 to 50.
Can I buy champagne from the growers?
Usually, at the end of the tasting. The Paris six-tastings day says you can pick up bottles at its family-run winery, and travellers bought bottles at the Coutant visit and on Wine Tours Paris' day. You carry them for the rest of the day.
What should I wear on a champagne tour?
Shoes with grip for the cellar stairs and the vines, and a warm layer for the cellars in every season. Travellers on the long Paris days also advise bringing a snack.
Still deciding? The tours sit side by side on Reims Champagne Tours, the practical detail is in the visitor guide, and what travellers made of each day is in the reviews.