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Champagne France Tours › Champagne France with Kids and Non-Drinkers: Age Rules and OptionsUpdated 2026-09-18

Champagne France with Kids and Non-Drinkers: Age Rules and Options

Hours, prices and access verified by the Champagne France Tours team — last checked 2026-09-18.

A bunch of white grapes hanging among green leaves

The short answer. Yes, on the right tour. The jeep in the vineyards and the open-top bus from Épernay take all ages, and Uncork's days from Reims take children but serve nobody under 18 any alcohol. Several operators set a floor of 4, 10, 16 or 18, and the grower half days and the e-bikes are adults only. Non-drinkers can join any tour and simply skip the glass.

Is a champagne tour worth it with children?

For a child over about ten, often yes: cellars cut into chalk, a little train under Épernay and a jeep in the vines are not wasted on a curious twelve-year-old. The catch is the rules, which differ by operator and are strict. Book the wrong day and you are turned away at the minivan. This post sets each rule out, so your Champagne France booking holds.

Each operator's age rule

Tour or formatYoungest allowedWhat under-18s get
The jeep in the Épernay vineyardsNo minimumThe ride through the vines
The open-top bus from ÉpernayNo minimumSoft drinks and snacks on board
Uncork's days from ReimsNo minimumNo alcohol for anyone under 18
À La Française's Veuve Clicquot day4The visits, without the glasses
My Winedays' day from Paris4The visits, without the glasses
À La Française's Mumm day and half days10The visits, without the glasses
GO GO Tours' day from Paris16Grape juice at the tastings
Sparkling Tour, the e-bike days, the Reims city tasting18Adults only
Important. Enter every child's age when you book, even on an all-ages tour, so the operator can hold the right seats. The age questions come up often on the FAQs.

What children will like most

  • Mercier's train. A driverless train carries you through 18 km of cellars 30 m down, and a lift takes wheelchairs. Tickets for 10 to 17-year-olds are EUR 12.
  • The chalk pits. Ruinart's crayères are about 40 m deep. Its two-hour visit is long for small children, but 7 to 17-year-olds pay EUR 50.
  • A free guided visit. Nicolas Feuillatte, near Épernay, lists its guided tour free for children under 12, who come with an adult.
  • The towers of Reims Cathedral. 249 steps on a booked guided climb, free for under-18s, closed from 16 November to 14 February.
  • The jeep. Two hours and a quarter on the vineyard tracks above Épernay.

Lanson prices children too: EUR 15 for 7 to 12-year-olds and EUR 20 for 13 to 17. Every house's calendar and price is on the champagne houses page.

What to prepare for

Cellars are cold, dark and stepped. They stay at 10 to 12 °C all year, so pack a jumper for everyone. Veuve Clicquot takes wheelchairs and strollers down on request; Mumm can show visitors with reduced mobility its first level only. Plan for the length of the day, too: a day from Paris runs nine to eleven hours, four of them on the road, which is a lot to ask of a ten-year-old.

Outside the cellars there is plenty that costs nothing. Reims Cathedral is free and opens from 8:00. The park of Château Perrier on the Avenue de Champagne is free every day, and its wine museum is free for under-13s. In December the Avenue's Habits de Lumière festival, on 11, 12 and 13 December 2026, puts on free shows in the street. More ideas are on things to do in Reims and Épernay.

A family day in Épernay

If you have one day with children, Épernay is the easier town. Start at Mercier, where you ride the train through the cellars; it opens daily from 6 April to 15 November 2026, and on Wednesdays to Sundays from 18 November to 27 December. Walk down the Avenue de Champagne to the park of Château Perrier, which is free, and let the children run before lunch.

In the afternoon, book the jeep. It is priced per jeep of up to three, so a family of three fits one, and a family of four or five needs two. You spend two hours and a quarter on the vineyard tracks through Chouilly, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, and you are back in town before dinner.

A family day in Reims

In Reims, begin at the cathedral, which you can enter free from 8:00. If your children are old enough for 249 steps, book the towers for 10:00 or 11:00: the climb is free for under-18s and runs Tuesday to Saturday, plus Sunday afternoons, outside the winter closure. Then give the afternoon to one of Uncork's days, which take children of any age and serve nobody under 18 any alcohol. You meet outside Reims-Centre station or at your hotel.

For non-drinkers and designated drivers

You can join any tour and skip the glass: the tastings are poured, not required. On the open-top bus there are soft drinks on board, and GO GO Tours offers grape juice to its under-18s. The simplest way to see the region without a designated driver is to let a tour do the driving, which is one reason people book one.

What a non-drinker gets from the day is the rest of it: the chalk cellars, the vines, the cathedral and, on the full days, lunch. On the e-bike days the riding comes before the glasses, though they are adults only and need a height of at least 155 cm.

Useful tip. Travelling as a family with teenagers? Pair a morning at Mercier or the cathedral towers with an afternoon jeep ride, and keep the grower half days for a day the adults go alone.

Best options by family

  • Young children: the jeep, the open-top bus, or an Uncork private day.
  • Children of 10 and over: À La Française's Mumm day or its half days from Reims station.
  • Teenagers of 16 and 17: add the day from Paris with lunch, where they are poured grape juice.
  • Adults only: the grower half day and the e-bike day from Épernay.

The weather matters more with children in tow; the weather page gives the monthly highs and the rain. For all the formats in one place, see Reims champagne tours and Épernay champagne tours.

Tours a family can join

Next: Plan a free morning around Reims Cathedral and the Avenue. Every fare sits side by side on Champagne France Tours.