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All images by Kateryna Topol.

Getting around

If you have a designated driver, renting a car would allow you to see more of the region and make casual scenic stops. If, however, you intend to enjoy all the samples and beyond or simply just don’t want to drive, there are many options for chauffeured transport. You can hire a car with a guide, with an English-speaking driver, or simply someone to just chauffeur you around with minimal expectations. 

A quick search will pull up plenty of options. Mydriverinparis.com seems to have good options, and you can send them a WhatsApp message for an instant reply. This is a popular region so booking well in advance is strongly recommended. You will also see options to hire cars with Viator or Get Your Guide, which can be better deals, but make sure to do a search for the exact company. 

Day One: A laid-back arrival

There is a direct train from Paris to Gare de Champagne Ardenne station and it takes under an hour ($58+ CA per person). For day one, we recommend starting slow at a scenic wine country hotel, Château de Sacy. The hotel is located in the heart of the Sacy commune, surrounded by vineyards on all sides. You can go for a walk through the greenery, explore the small town centre, and then take full advantage of the hotel spa. Your stay includes access to the outdoor loungers and barrel tubs with a phenomenal sunset view. A glass of champagne is optional but highly recommended. 

The restaurant at Château de Sacy is a local favourite. The terrace looks over the vineyards while the interior creates an atmosphere of royal luxury. The menu features a selection of classic French dishes, a range of proteins, and shareable mains [make reservations]. In the morning, guests are invited to enjoy a buffet-style breakfast. Your options include an impressive selection of fresh cheeses, baked goods, small savoury snacks, and much more.

An even more luxurious scenic alternative is the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa. Set between Reims and Épernay the hotel is surrounded by stunning views. This is a fairly large property with a Spa and Wellness centre which includes an outdoor pool. Dining options include The Bellevue Restaurant & Terrace with a 180-degree panoramic view, The Royal restaurant (1 star in the 2025 Michelin guide), and Abyss, Bar & Terrace. The hotel team can help you plan and organise your excursions, champagne or otherwise.

Day Two: Let there be bubbly!

Make sure to check the tour schedules for all Champagne houses beforehand and book in advance. They might sell out, some champagne houses are closed on odd days, some have off hours, and English tours can book up pretty quickly. Having made all the reservations in advance, we begin our Champagne tour. 

Champagne Veuve Clicquot

Veuve Clicquot offers a few tours from one to four hours in duration. Each tour includes a cellar visit and tasting; you choose which wines. The cellars are impressive and the story of Maison Veuve Clicquot is certainly one worth knowing. This woman was a pioneer in winemaking at a time when women were not even allowed to have bank accounts. The tour can be made private at an additional cost. 

Reservations: veuveclicquot.com

Champagne Taittinger

Taittinger is one of the largest and most respectable champagne producers in the world. You might recognise their silver box packaging with red bubbles on the box. This visit will also include a cellar tour, but the cellars are a bit different from those you saw at Veuve. The tour will conclude in the tasting room where you can explore their champagne lineup at your own pace. 

Reservations: taittinger.com

Images above and below of Lunch at Le Jardin at the Château Les Crayères, Reims.

Lunch at Château Les Crayères, Reims

Another stunning hotel with an exceptional culinary team. There are two restaurants and one bar, we opted for a three-course lunch at Le Jardin. Nestled at the back of the hotel grounds, the restaurant is shaded by greenery and nature. Guests can make an a la carte selection or opt for a coursed lunch. 

Reservations: lescrayeres.com

Alternatively, have a look at lunch options at Couvert de Vignes or one of the award-winning restaurants at the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa.

Champagne Ruinart

This visit is unique in more ways than one. The property itself feels like an armoury, once you are past the gates, you are greeted by a mansion that houses not just wine but an impressive art collection (Ruin-art). These small group tours are informative and entertaining (at least our guide was). As you navigate through these oddly shaped cellars, you will continually cross various unique, often custom-made pieces of art. The tour ends back in the tasting room with a guided tasting.

Reservations: ruinart.com

Domaine Vranken-Pommery

If time permits, spend a few hours at Vranken-Pommery. Another female-led classic champagne house with a wealth of history. From first glance, Domaine Vranken-Pommery looks different, almost like an amusement park destination. Colourful architecture is paired with interactive installations and various art corners throughout the property. The guided tour skips through quite a few of them, a self-guided tour might be a better option if to like to stop and take pictures or explore the art.

Reservations: vrankenpommery.com

Day Three: With a casual strolling pace

A short scenic drive will take us to Avenue de Champagne in Epernay. The street is just about a kilometre long so you can walk it at all with a leisurely stroll, which makes it perfect for an overnight stay. But first, champagne! Some of the houses can only be visited with a tour, some you will notice have open terraces that welcome walk-ins. 

Check in at Épernay or on Avenue de Champagne

The idea is to stay directly on Avenue de Champagne so we can have dinner and a nightcap without having to call a car. 

Unpack at La Villa Eugene, a 19th-century Mercer family hotel. There are only 15 rooms, a lovely pool, and a classy little bar. Le 25bis by Leclerc Briant is a boutique hotel option with classic decor and clawfoot tubs. The BB Suites, Champagne Besserat de Bellefon might have the most spacious suites in the area if space and luxury is what you are looking for. And then, of course, there is Hotel Jean Moët, located at the top of the avenue with a short walk to Épernay centre.

Champagne Moët & Chandon

Moët & Chandon is a champagne powerhouse and needs no introduction. The shape of the cellars varies based on location, and the ones that run under Avenue de Champagne are quite different. The tours are 1.5 hours, and there is an option for a small group 2-hour Tasting Workshop or a 2-hour Grand Vintage Collection tasting. Moët & Chandon also have an interior restaurant and a garden terrace with a great menu so you can visit it without a tour [reservations strongly recommended].

Reservations: moet.com

Champagne Mercier

A champagne house founded by a twenty-year-old Eugène Mercier, who was on a mission to make champagne available to the casual folk. The tour takes you through 18km of cellars on a driverless train and includes a stop at the working production site. The range of tours includes one, two, or three glasses of wine. The caves tour is done on an open train car, which curves through the cellars while a guide talks you through the house’s story. Some of the tours also include a vineyard visit before the tasting.

Reserations: champagnemercier.com

Atelier 1834, Champagne Boizel

Another historic mansion and home to a long generation of winemakers, founded by a young couple in 1834. There are three different tours available, all of which include a journey through the Boizel House from the cellars to the stainless-steel vats. The difference, of course, is in the champagnes you taste. Boizel also has a courtyard terrace open to walk-ins if you are opting out of the tour.

Reservations: boizel.com

Sips between the tours

Perrier Jouët Champagne House has a spectacular garden terrace with a lovely menu. They do not offer tasting flights, but you can taste their collection one glass at a time. Nearby is Champagne de Vignerons, a syndicate of smaller regional champagne makers producing interesting and often sustainable wines. The shop has a selection of 100 wines for purchase and those interested in sitting down for a tasting can choose 3 of 6 wines of the day to try.

Épernay dining options

There are quite a lot, and your eye might be drawn to specific places based on your personal interest. A common practice in the region is set 3+ course meals with some predetermined options. La Table Kobus, La Grillade Gourmande, and La Cave à Champagne are all good options in Épernay. Moët & Chandon Bar and Maison de Champagne Perrier-Jouët are great options on Champagne Avenue [reservations recommended].

There are also a few farmers’ market options and various bakeries and charcuterie shops. Halle Saint Thibault is open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Here you will find local fruits, vegetables, and fully cooked meals to pack a picnic basket with.

Above: Lunch at La Table Kobus, Épernay. Below: Musée du vin de Champagne et d’Archéologie régionale.

Would rather go on a planned tour? Here are some options

Find a place to stay in Champagne

The post Three day self-guided Champagne itinerary appeared first on Paths to Travel.

We are all strangers right now, masked, hesitant, and a little afraid. There is something about coming out into society after 18 months of isolation that makes us all a little jumpy and somewhat feral. But that all will change in a couple of hours.

After a brief introduction and a small history lesson on the spiral development of Parisian neighbourhoods (if you follow the numbers, you’ll see a snail shell), the small bits of history became an ongoing part of the tour but in a very unique way through culinary influences. Each country that invaded (or attempted to invade) France has introduced something new. Whether it be cheese or a cooking technique, many of these ‘gifts’ became staple dishes of France. Like, did you know that foie gras is originally Egyptian? It’s a fun story about fat flying ducks, but it’s a story you’ll have to hear from Stéphane, or me if you meet me in person and we share enough wine.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here. 
The experience was gifted to me by Tinggly. 

Montmartre is a neighbourhood that was originally beyond the city wall. As such it was a neighbourhood of the people, where cultures mixed and everything was cheaper than in Paris ‘proper’. We went up the hill towards Sacré-Cœur Basilica and curved around it to the left starting our tour with freshly baked madeleines that our guide brought from his favourite bakery followed by a tasting stop at the Christophe Roussel macaron and chocolate shop. “French macarons are made with almond powder, unlike American which uses coconut,” pointed out Stéphane. Historic fun fact: macarons originally came from Persia. Down another colourful street, packed with cafes decorated with bushy flowers we stopped at the smallest Crêperie in Paris – La Crêperie Monami. Our guide spoke about the different flavors placing orders on our behalf and then ducked away to pick up fresh baguettes while we gleefully ate our warm crepes. 

Before heading to our final, secret spot, the group stopped by a Butcherie and a nearby cheese shop. The shop associate patiently walked us through the different types of cheeses, the craftsmanship of local cheesemakers, and various unique local flavours. Here artisanal craftsmanship is at the heart of everything. Any simplified mass production is frowned upon, even though it undoubtedly exists. If you have spent any leisurely time in Paris, you know you can always tell the locals by their shopping bags, packed with local goods from various stores, accentuated by pointy baguettes (if it’s not pointy, it’s not handmade, and that is also frowned upon). Now with 3 bags in hand – bread, cheese, meat – which we all took turns helping to carry, our group headed down an alleyway towards an undisclosed location for the last, and my favourite stop.

Slightly sweaty, a little tired, and undoubtedly hungry, we descended into a cellar. At the centre is a harvest table, wine and shopping bags placed on the side table, and various wine racks spread around the room – “damn, these folks are serious about wine,” I thought to myself. As we took turns washing our hands upstairs, Stéphane hustled, slicing the cheeses, arranging cold cuts, and opening wine bottles. Soon enough, we were all seated, quietly listening to the introductions and historical notes dotted with fun cultural remarks on how to properly eat baguettes (tear by hand in small pieces, never put the baguette upside down) and how we should never eat cheese with crackers (much like in kindergarten, we all had to repeat that statement 3 times).

Each mini-course was paired with wine: natural pairing is food and wine from the same region or alternatively, you can pair by intensity (light with light, heavy with heavy). We indulged in many flavourful and unique kinds of cheese, Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, dry sausages, cold cuts and pickles, ham with butter, and finished on a sweet note with 1st Cru of Cognac and chocolate eclairs (tip: what’s on the outside should also be on the inside). As time went on, crumbs and cheese rinds sprinkled around the table, empty bottles were cheerfully passed back to the host, and everyone in attendance lowered their defensive guards. The room got rowdier and louder, we were discussing the sharpness of the cheese, poking jokes at each other, and feeling like bad students for not paying attention to our foodie history lessons while remarking on individual likes and dislikes. 

Our experience lasted longer than the allotted time, but no one was even slightly peeved by it. By the end of ‘dinner’, we were all good friends, discussing travel plans and sharing tips, having a hard time separating, and if it wasn’t for the train mom and I needed to catch this party would’ve gone on till the end of the night. 

There are many different ways to experience a city and a culture, but this is certainly my favourite. Eating like a local, with a local, while learning customs and making friends is something that was missing from my life – everyone’s life at least in this group – for many months. It was a social gap, unfulfilled by sharp cheese and that feeling you get when a stranger becomes a person you’d like to hug. There is comfort and a wealth of experience that one could not possibly get in a shiny gift box of macarons, but after all, that is a difference between sharing and giving a souvenir – sharing is stories over meals, souvenirs are just magnets on the fridge.

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Book the tour on secretfoodtours.com, sometimes there is a special offer for the drink upgrade.

The post In search of my Parisian foodie heart through a tour of Montmartre appeared first on Paths to Travel.