# Reims The cathedral of the coronations and the great champagne houses in Gallo-Roman crayères, 45 minutes from Paris by TGV. A day trip or a getaway. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/grand-est/reims · Revisado: 2026-11-12 ## How do you get there from Paris? By TGV from the Gare de l'Est: about 45 minutes to Reims centre station, ten minutes' walk from the cathedral. It is the easiest day trip from Paris, and you don't need a car: the cathedral, the cellars and the restaurants are walkable. By car it is an hour and a half on the A4. If you are flying from Spain, Charles de Gaulle is the best gateway: the RER B drops you at Gare du Nord, five minutes' walk from the Gare de l'Est. From Orly, metro line 14 to the centre and then the metro. If you arrive by car, Reims is the natural first stop on a trip towards Alsace. ## What to see in a day? In the morning, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, where the kings of France were crowned: the sculpted façade, the Smiling Angel and the Chagall windows. It is free. The Palais du Tau, the former archbishop's palace with the coronation treasure, is closed for works until 2027. Lunch in the centre and, in the afternoon, champagne. The big houses have their cellars in former chalk quarries, the crayères, dug since Gallo-Roman times: tunnels twenty or thirty metres underground where the temperature is stable all year. The Pommery cellars and those of Taittinger are on the Saint-Nicaise hill, to the south, near the Basilica of Saint-Remi. Those of Mumm are in the centre, next to the station: the ideal ones to do just before the return train. With two days, the second is for the vineyards: a chauffeur-driven excursion through the Montagne de Reims and Hautvillers, with visits to family cellars, without having to worry about driving after tasting. ## How much does it cost to visit a cellar? From €30 with a glass. At Pommery, the Brut Royal visit costs €30 with an audioguide and €36 with a guide; at Mumm, the Cordon Rouge Experience, €30, and there are two-glass options from €42. Visits last between 45 minutes and an hour and a half, and you need to book: at weekends and in high season they fill up. Mumm lets you request visits in Spanish; at the others, French, English or audioguide. The houses change their opening days in winter. Mumm, for example, opens Thursday to Monday in November and from 1 to 21 December, and only Thursday to Saturday from 15 January to 28 February. Check before fixing the date. Bring something warm: it is cool down below all year. At Mumm, under-18s may go down accompanied by an adult; at the others, ask when you book. ## Where to eat and sleep? For eating, the Brasserie du Boulingrin, from 1925, opposite the covered market, with oysters and a €25 set menu; closed on Sundays. La Grande Georgette, with a terrace facing the cathedral, opens every day. And for eating at any hour, the Continental restaurant, from 7:00 to midnight. For sleeping, La Caserne Chanzy, a five-star with a spa in the former fire station facing the cathedral, and the Continental Hôtel, a four-star from 1880 five minutes from the station. Both admit dogs. ## And Épernay? Épernay, the other champagne capital, with the Avenue de Champagne and its houses, is about 25 km to the south, in the Marne valley. The full-day excursion by Sparkling Tour goes there. If you have a car and two days, Reims and Épernay divide up well: one for the city and its cellars, another for the vineyards and the Avenue de Champagne. ## Dónde está - Zonas: Champagne Wines - Cerca: Épernay (a 24.4 km), Pierrefonds and Compiègne (a 88.8 km), Provins (a 94.3 km), Bouillon (a 95.4 km · Belgium) ## Qué hacer - **Reims Cathedral, the coronation cathedral** (1 h · All ages · Free): For centuries, the kings of France were crowned here. The Gothic cathedral of Reims has one of the most sculpted façades in Europe, with the famous Smiling Angel on the left portal, and inside, in the axial chapel, the blue windows by Marc Chagall. Since 1991 it has been a World Heritage Site together with Saint-Remi and the Palace of Tau. What you need to know Entry is free. The Palace of Tau, the former archbishop's palace where the coronation treasure was kept, is closed for building work and reopens in 2027. The tourist office is opposite, on Rue Rockefeller. - **The Pommery cellars, 30 metres underground** (1 h · Adults · Brut Royal visit €30 with audio guide, €36 with guide): Madame Pommery had the idea of linking the Gallo-Roman crayères (chalk pits) of the Saint-Nicaise hill with galleries to store her champagne thirty metres deep. Today there are 18 km of tunnels, with galleries named after cities of the world and bas-reliefs carved into the chalk. The visit You go down 116 steps. The Brut Royal visit, the shortest, goes through the galleries and the crayères with an audio guide or a guide, in French or English, and ends with a glass of Brut Royal: €30 self-guided, €36 with a guide. The crayères have also hosted contemporary art exhibitions since 2002. The longer options add the Villa Demoiselle, an Art Nouveau house on the estate, from €55. - **The Basilica of Saint-Remi** (45 min · All ages · Free): The abbey church that holds the tomb of Saint Remigius, the bishop who baptised Clovis, the first Frankish king. It is mostly Romanesque, long and bright, and much quieter than the cathedral. Next to it, the Musée Saint-Remi occupies the former abbey. How to fit it in It is in the Saint-Remi district, south of the centre, a ten-minute walk from the Pommery and Taittinger cellars. It is the natural stop between the cathedral in the morning and a cellar in the afternoon. - **The Mumm cellars, next to the station** (1 h 30 · Adults; minors with a responsible adult · Cordon Rouge €30 · Pinot Noir €42 · Vintage Grand Cru €60): The house of the Cordon Rouge has its cellars on Rue du Champ de Mars, a short walk from Reims station. It is the most convenient if you come by train from Paris and have only an afternoon. The visits All last an hour and a half: a tour of the cellars and a tasting. The Cordon Rouge Experience, with one glass, costs €30; the Pinot Noir Celebration, with Cordon Rouge and rosé, €42; and the Vintage Grand Cru, with two RSRV cuvées, €60. Booking is done on their website, which is in Spanish, and you can request the visit in Spanish by writing to guides@mumm.com. When it is open From May to October, every day; from November to 21 December and from March to April, Thursday to Monday; from 15 January to 28 February, Thursday to Saturday. Hours 10:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 18:00 (17:30 in winter). - **The Taittinger cellars and the crayères of Saint-Nicaise** (1 h 15 · Adults): Taittinger's cellars, on Place Saint-Nicaise, occupy Gallo-Roman crayères and the basements of the former Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, destroyed in the Revolution, eighteen metres underground. It is the visit that best combines champagne and history. The visit It runs all year and is booked online, choosing between four tastings. Prices and duration appear when you book. On the same site, Taittinger has a restaurant, Polychrome, with a guest chef each season. - **Champagne vineyards and Hautvillers tour, with family-run cellars** (4 h · Adults · Half day €105 · full day with lunch €210): The big houses are in Reims, but champagne is made in the vineyard villages: the Montagne de Reims, the Marne valley and the Côte des Blancs. A tour with a driver is the way to see them without worrying about driving after tasting. The day Sparkling Tour picks you up at Reims station or at your hotel and travels by road through the vineyards to the cru villages, with visits to family producers and their tastings. The full day, from 9:30 to 18:00, takes in Hautvillers, the village of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre where Dom Pérignon is buried, and lunch in Épernay; you taste about ten champagnes. They speak French and English. ## Dónde comer - **Brasserie du Boulingrin** (Restaurant, Reims · next to the Boulingrin market, €€). Qué pedir: Oysters from Marennes-Oléron or the dish of the day; the €25 all-inclusive formula - **La Grande Georgette** (Restaurant, Reims · opposite the cathedral, €€€). Qué pedir: market cooking by chef Julien Raphanel on the terrace facing the cathedral façade - **Restaurant at the Continental** (Restaurant, Reims · Place Drouet d'Erlon, €€). Qué pedir: a meal in the dining room overlooking the Square Colbert, between the station and the cathedral ## By plane: Fly to Paris and take the TGV to Reims Reims is done from Paris: you fly to Charles de Gaulle or Orly, with direct flights from the main Spanish cities, and the TGV from Gare de l'Est puts you in the centre of Reims in about 45 minutes. You don't need a car: the cellars and the cathedral are on foot, and you go to the vineyards on an excursion. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **La Caserne Chanzy** (Spa hotel): A 1926 Art Deco fire station, opposite the cathedral, turned in 2019 into a five-star hotel. The views of the façade of Notre-Dame, from the rooms and the rooftop, are what make it unique. The hotel Rooms and suites with views of the cathedral, a spa at 13 Rue Chanzy, a champagne bar and two restaurants: La Grande Georgette, with a terrace facing the cathedral, and La Little Georgette, a bistro. The buffet breakfast, from 6:30 to 10:00, costs €31 and can be taken on the courtyard terraces. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking It has private parking and valet service. On foot, Reims station is about fifteen minutes away, and the tourist office next to the cathedral. - **Continental Hôtel** (Hotel): A 19th-century mansion turned into a hotel in 1880, on Place Drouet d'Erlon, the pedestrianised square in the centre. From here you walk to the station in five minutes and to the cathedral in ten. The rooms 51 rooms renovated in 2018, three of them adapted, in the Collection, Intemporelle, Intimiste and Famille categories, and suites. Reception keeps the 1880 chandelier. The hotel offers massages and has a restaurant open from 7:00 to midnight, overlooking the Square Colbert. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking If you come by TGV from Paris, it is five minutes on foot. By car, there is a paid public car park nearby, with a preferential rate for hotel guests. ### Servicios - **Reims station (Reims centre)**: TGV from Paris Est · about 45 minutes · 10 minutes' walk from the cathedral - **From Charles de Gaulle or Orly to Reims**: To central Paris with the airport ticket and a TGV from Gare de l'Est · or hire car, 1 h 30 ## Car-free: Reims by train Reims is the easiest day trip by train from Paris: 45 minutes by TGV and everything on foot from the station. Only the vineyards call for a car, and for that there are excursions with a driver. Presupuesto orientativo: 110–220 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **La Caserne Chanzy** (Spa hotel): A 1926 Art Deco fire station, opposite the cathedral, turned in 2019 into a five-star hotel. The views of the façade of Notre-Dame, from the rooms and the rooftop, are what make it unique. The hotel Rooms and suites with views of the cathedral, a spa at 13 Rue Chanzy, a champagne bar and two restaurants: La Grande Georgette, with a terrace facing the cathedral, and La Little Georgette, a bistro. The buffet breakfast, from 6:30 to 10:00, costs €31 and can be taken on the courtyard terraces. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking It has private parking and valet service. On foot, Reims station is about fifteen minutes away, and the tourist office next to the cathedral. - **Continental Hôtel** (Hotel): A 19th-century mansion turned into a hotel in 1880, on Place Drouet d'Erlon, the pedestrianised square in the centre. From here you walk to the station in five minutes and to the cathedral in ten. The rooms 51 rooms renovated in 2018, three of them adapted, in the Collection, Intemporelle, Intimiste and Famille categories, and suites. Reception keeps the 1880 chandelier. The hotel offers massages and has a restaurant open from 7:00 to midnight, overlooking the Square Colbert. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking If you come by TGV from Paris, it is five minutes on foot. By car, there is a paid public car park nearby, with a preferential rate for hotel guests. ### Servicios - **Reims station (Reims centre)**: TGV from Paris Est · about 45 minutes · 10 minutes' walk from the cathedral ## By car: Reims and Champagne by car By car, Reims is an hour and a half from Paris on the A4 and is the gateway to the Champagne route: the Montagne de Reims, Hautvillers, Épernay and the Côte des Blancs. But every cellar pours glasses: if you are going to taste, have someone who doesn't drink drive, or leave the vineyards for an excursion. Presupuesto orientativo: 120–240 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir if you're driving - **La Caserne Chanzy** (Spa hotel): A 1926 Art Deco fire station, opposite the cathedral, turned in 2019 into a five-star hotel. The views of the façade of Notre-Dame, from the rooms and the rooftop, are what make it unique. The hotel Rooms and suites with views of the cathedral, a spa at 13 Rue Chanzy, a champagne bar and two restaurants: La Grande Georgette, with a terrace facing the cathedral, and La Little Georgette, a bistro. The buffet breakfast, from 6:30 to 10:00, costs €31 and can be taken on the courtyard terraces. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking It has private parking and valet service. On foot, Reims station is about fifteen minutes away, and the tourist office next to the cathedral. - **Continental Hôtel** (Hotel): A 19th-century mansion turned into a hotel in 1880, on Place Drouet d'Erlon, the pedestrianised square in the centre. From here you walk to the station in five minutes and to the cathedral in ten. The rooms 51 rooms renovated in 2018, three of them adapted, in the Collection, Intemporelle, Intimiste and Famille categories, and suites. Reception keeps the 1880 chandelier. The hotel offers massages and has a restaurant open from 7:00 to midnight, overlooking the Square Colbert. Animals are allowed. Getting there and parking If you come by TGV from Paris, it is five minutes on foot. By car, there is a paid public car park nearby, with a preferential rate for hotel guests. ## Consejos ### Book the cellars Weekends and high season fill up; in winter, some close for days. ### Mumm before the train It is next to the station: do the last visit of the day there. ### Don't drive after tasting For the vineyards, a chauffeur-driven excursion is better. ### A coat for the crayères Underground it is cool all year. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How do I get from Paris to Reims? By TGV from the Gare de l'Est, about 45 minutes to Reims centre. ### How much does it cost to visit a champagne cellar in Reims? From €30 with a glass, at Pommery or Mumm. ### Are there visits in Spanish? Mumm lets you request them by writing to guides@mumm.com; Pommery, in French, English or with an audioguide. ### Can I enter Reims cathedral for free? Yes, admission is free. ### Can children go to the cellars? At Mumm, yes, with a responsible adult. At the others, ask when you book. ### How many days do I need? One day for the cathedral and one or two cellars; two if you want the vineyards.