Champagne France Tours FAQs
Prices, the town you start in, who pours, the train from Paris, children and the houses' own calendars. Ready for your Champagne France booking? The answers below settle most of what you need first.
Two answers matter more than the rest. First, where your day starts: a Paris hotel, the Reims station square or the Épernay tourist office. Then who pours: a big house gives you its cellars and its own guide, while a family grower pours in its own cellar in a village. Some full days do one of each, and every tour card says which you get.
How much does a Champagne France tour cost?
From $51 for an hour's tasting in a Reims cellar and $105 for the Épernay open-top bus, to $140-$152 for a grower half day from Reims. Shared full days run $228-$386, small-group days from Paris $263-$400, and private days $525-$848 a head. A private car for up to four is $1,990.
Do you need a tour to visit the champagne houses?
Not for one house. Veuve Clicquot, Mumm, Pommery, Ruinart, Lanson, Moët & Chandon and Mercier all sell their own visits, from EUR 25 at Mercier to EUR 90 at Ruinart. A tour earns its fare for the family growers in the villages, a house and a grower in one day, or a driver so nobody drives after tasting.
Should you start a Champagne France tour in Reims or Épernay?
Reims has the cathedral, the houses on the Saint-Nicaise hill and the grower half days from the station square. Épernay has the Avenue de Champagne with Moët & Chandon and Mercier, and the short formats: the e-bike, the jeep, the open-top bus and private half days. Pick the town you will sleep in or arrive at.
Can you do a Champagne France tour from Paris?
Yes. Day trips collect you from a Paris hotel or leave a Paris café at 7 am, drive about two hours each way and last 9 to 11 hours. Or take the train: about 45 minutes by TGV to Reims, or 80 minutes direct to Épernay, and join a tour there.
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, and shows you its cellars with a house guide. A grower (RM, récoltant-manipulant) makes champagne only from its own vines, and often pours it in the family's own cellar.
Where do Reims champagne tours start?
Most shared tours meet at the tourist information point on the Reims Centre station square (Cour de la Gare), not the main tourist office by the cathedral. Private tours collect you from a hotel or station in Reims or Épernay.
Where do Épernay tours start?
In front of the Épernay tourist office at 7 avenue de Champagne, at Épernay station, or at your hotel if it is within 6 km of Épernay. The houses walk starts at the Moët & Chandon front desk.
Is lunch included on Champagne France tours?
On most full days: À La Française's Veuve Clicquot and Mumm days, Sparkling Tour's growers day, both e-bike days, and the My Winedays and GO GO Tours days from Paris. The half days, the bus, the jeep and the city tasting include no meal.
How many glasses do you taste on a champagne tour?
Six on the grower half days from Reims, seven on the Mumm day and the Épernay houses walk, and nine on the Veuve Clicquot day. The e-bike days pour four: two champagnes, a red and a ratafia. The city tasting pours three.
Is there an e-bike champagne tour?
Yes, from Reims (a 7-hour day from the station tourist office at 9 am) and from Épernay (5 hours 30 from the tourist office at 9:35 am), both with an estate visit and lunch at Le Clos Corbier. Riders need good fitness, and in bad weather the day runs by minibus.
When is the champagne harvest?
In 2026 the Comité Champagne set picking to open between 8 and 22 August, village by village. The date moves every year with the flowering, so check the year's dates before you plan around it.
Can children come on a champagne tour?
On some. The jeep and the open-top bus take all ages, and Uncork takes children but serves no alcohol under 18. À La Française's shared tours take no one under 10, and Sparkling Tour's days, the e-bikes and the city tasting are adults only.
What is the cancellation policy for Champagne France tours?
Most refund in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. À La Française's private growers day and the Épernay houses walk are non-refundable, and each card says which policy its fare carries.
Which tours visit Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon?
Veuve Clicquot: À La Française's full day from Reims or Épernay, Uncork's private day and Royal Journey's private day. Moët & Chandon: Uncork's and France Intense's private days, the Épernay houses walk, and GO GO Tours' Paris day (or a similar house). Several say subject to availability.
Are the champagne houses open in winter?
Not all of them. Veuve Clicquot closed from 28 December 2025 to 6 April 2026 and opens Wednesday to Sunday from 4 November 2026. Mumm opens only some days outside May to October, and Mercier goes to Wednesday to Sunday from 18 November.
Is Reims Cathedral free?
Yes. Entry is free and the cathedral opens every day from 8:00. The towers are a separate guided visit, EUR 9 and booked online, and they close from 16 November to 14 February.
Is the Palais du Tau open?
No. It is closed for works until 2027, and only its temporary shop is open. The cathedral beside it stays open every day.
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. Reims became the coronation cathedral from Henri I in 1027.
Did Dom Pérignon invent champagne?
No. The Comité Champagne says nobody invented champagne; the region was the first to try to understand and control the second fermentation. Dom Pérignon managed the Hautvillers abbey's property for 47 years and is buried in the church of Saint-Sindulphe there.
Can you visit Hautvillers Abbey?
Not the abbey buildings: they belong to Moët & Chandon and are not open to visitors. Tours stop in the village and at the church where Dom Pérignon is buried.
What are the crayères?
Chalk pits dug under Reims and used as cellars. Ruinart's go down about 40 m, and Taittinger's cellars sit in Gallo-Roman chalk quarries under the former Saint-Nicaise Abbey.
How cold are the champagne cellars?
10-12 °C in every season, with 90-100% humidity, according to champagne.fr. Bring a warm layer even in August.
Is Champagne a UNESCO World Heritage site?
Yes, since 2015: the hillsides of Hautvillers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, the Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims, and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Épernay. Reims Cathedral, the former abbey of Saint-Remi and the Palais du Tau were listed in 1991.
Is there a jeep tour in the vineyards?
Yes, from Épernay: 2 hours 15 minutes by jeep through the vineyards of Épernay, Chouilly, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, with a tasting in the vines. It is $234 per jeep of up to three.
What is the open-top bus tour?
L'impériale de Marie Antoinette's bus leaves the Épernay tourist office for 1 hour 30 or 2 hours 15 on the Champagne tourist route. It pours three tastings, with soft drinks and snacks on board, and visits no producer.
Do champagne tours pick up from your hotel?
Private tours do, in the Reims-Épernay area: within 6 km of Épernay, 30 minutes of Reims or 40 km, depending on the operator. Shared tours meet at a station square or tourist office, and the Paris days collect you in Paris.
Which station do you arrive at from Paris?
Reims-Centre for the Reims meeting point; Champagne-Ardenne TGV lies outside the centre, linked by tram. For Épernay, the station is five minutes' walk from the Avenue de Champagne.
Are champagne tours wheelchair accessible?
Uncork's Pommery, Moët and Veuve Clicquot days, À La Française's private growers day and the Épernay open-top bus say so; most others do not. At the houses, Veuve Clicquot takes wheelchairs down on request, Mercier has a lift, and Mumm reaches only its first level.
What does brut mean on a champagne label?
Under 12 grams of sugar per litre. Extra-Brut is 0-6 g, Brut Nature under 3 g, and Demi-Sec 32-50 g.
What languages are champagne tours in?
English on every tour listed. About half also run in French, and a few offer Spanish or Portuguese.
Is the price per person or per group?
Per person on almost every tour, private ones included, and most private days need two people. The Épernay jeep is priced per jeep of up to three ($234), and Royal Journey's private LOVER tour per car of up to four ($1,990).
Does the price include tips?
No listing includes gratuities, and they are optional. Some listings exclude water too, so carry a bottle on the e-bike day.
What happens if you book a shared tour alone?
À La Française's shared tours need two people to run. A lone booking is moved to another date or refunded in full.
Can you buy champagne at the growers?
Yes. Travellers buy bottles at the growers on the half days, and Sparkling Tour's growers ship to the US, Australia and Europe. You carry anything else for the rest of the day.
What should you wear on a champagne tour?
Layers for the cellars and shoes with grip for the vines and the cellar stairs. On an e-bike, dress for the weather: À La Française advises gloves in cold months and sun cream in summer.
Still deciding? The tours sit side by side on Champagne France Tours, the practical detail is in the visitor guide, and what travellers made of each day is in the reviews.