Reims is not Paris's weekend side project. The city has been producing champagne since before the word existed, and the cathedral on its main square has crowned 33 French kings. You can drink world-class wine in cellars dug by Romans and eat ham that locals have been curing since the Middle Ages. The TGV from Gare de l'Est takes 45 minutes. That is the same travel time as a slow lunch. Use it accordingly.
The champagne houses are the reason most people come, and they are the right reason. There are over 250 kilometers of cellars under Reims, most carved from chalk by hand across two millennia. The scale is hard to process until you descend the staircases.
Start with Champagne Pommery at Place General Gouraud. The house was built by Jeanne Pommery in the 19th century, and the estate looks like an Elizabethan mansion dropped into northern France. Tours range from €22 for a self-guided cellar visit with one tasting to €35 for a deeper guided walk. The cellars double as exhibition spaces for sound and light installations, which means you will see art in the same rooms where bottles ferment at 12 degrees Celsius. Villa Demoiselle, the Art Nouveau building on the grounds commissioned in 1906, is worth the "Champagne and Heritage" tour add-on. Demoiselle Tête de Cuvée was the standout in my tasting.
Veuve Clicquot sits at 1 Place des Droits de l'Homme. The underground cellars are a UNESCO World Heritage site, converted from a Roman quarry in 1909. Tours run €35 to €250 depending on depth and cuvée. The house closes from late October to mid-March, so check dates before you book. The standard tour covers the history of the widow Clicquot and the cellars' use as a bomb shelter during the Second World War. The higher-end tastings include older vintages in private rooms.
Champagne Taittinger's main cellars are currently closed for renovation, but the house runs an alternative experience called "À la table de Thibaud IV" at 20 rue de Tambour, in the city center. It costs €60, runs about an hour, and combines audio narration about Thibaud IV — King of Navarre, poet, and medieval champagne pioneer — with tastings of the Brut Réserve and the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. The experience is offered in English and French. Book ahead.
Champagne Lanson is the only major house located in the heart of Reims proper, not on the outskirts. Their tour is marketed as "from vine to flute" and takes roughly two hours. It costs around €32 and includes a tasting of the Black Création 257. You see the vineyards, the Clos Lanson, the production facilities, and the cellars in sequence. Tours are in English and French.
Ruinart, founded in 1729, is the oldest champagne house still operating. Tours start at €85 and are harder to book because of limited daily capacity. The chalk caves here are deeper and older than most, and the house maintains strict visitor numbers. Reserve at least two weeks ahead in summer.
For a smaller-scale experience, G.H. Martel & Co at 17 rue des Creneaux charges €25 for a tour of medieval chalk pits dug between the 4th and 15th centuries, 22 meters below ground. The tour includes a small museum of 19th-century winemaking tools and a short film. If you are short on time, their wine shop offers tastings from €12 to €20 without a tour.
The champagne is only half the story. Reims has a food identity that predates the wine industry.
Jambon de Reims is a cured ham seasoned with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. It has been produced locally since at least the 16th century and is sold at butchers and markets across the city. It is pink, aromatic, and eaten cold with mustard or in sandwiches. Look for it at the covered market near the cathedral or at delis around Place Drouet d'Erlon.
Biscuit Rose de Reims is a pink, oblong cookie invented in the 17th century to accompany champagne. It is dry, slightly sweet, and designed to be dipped. The original producer is Biscuits Fossier, founded in 1756. You can buy them at shops around the city, but the best place to eat one is Café du Palais at 14 Place Myron Herrick. The café has been run by the same family for five generations. It opens at 9 AM for breakfast and serves Reims ham, local cheeses, and the house quatre-quart cake. The interior features a famous 1928 stained glass window and artwork collected over decades. The café closes Sundays and Mondays.
For lunch or dinner, Brasserie du Boulingrin at 31 rue de Mars sits directly across from the municipal food market. The interior is Art Deco, and the menu runs classic brasserie dishes: smoked herring, steak tartare, hanger steak with shallots. The room is loud, the service is fast, and the prices are reasonable for the quality. Closed Sundays.
Le Petit Comptoir at 17 rue de Mars is run by chef Thierry Sidan and serves a modern take on bistro standards. The menu changes with what is available, but expect dishes like dorade tartare with exotic fruits, marbled foie gras with shredded confit duck, and crispy andouillette with celery puree. The terrace is useful in summer. Closed Sundays.
For a more casual drink, Au Bon Manger is a neighborhood bar on a quiet street near the better part of the city center. It looks like a farmhouse kitchen inside. The owners, Aline and Eric Serva, serve organic and biodynamic champagnes by the glass or bottle. Ask for the house pour and you will be served blind. The staff reveals the producer after you taste. Food is simple: charcuterie boards, smoked fish, salads. This is where local winemakers drink when they are not pouring for tourists.
If you want Michelin-level cooking, Le Millénaire at 3 rue des Augustins holds one star. Chef Benjamin Andreux serves dishes like beef tail jelly with poached egg and Petrossian caviar, venison fillet with poivrade sauce, and roasted cod with champagne sauce. The restaurant is near Place Royale in the cathedral quarter. Closed Sundays and Mondays. A meal here will cost between €80 and €150 per person with wine.
The cathedral itself — Notre-Dame de Reims — is free to enter and open daily. It is a Gothic structure begun in 1211, heavily damaged in the First World War, and restored over the 20th century. The facade contains over 2,300 statues. The interior is cavernous and cold even in July. The stained glass includes original 13th-century panels and modern replacements by Marc Chagall, installed in 1974. Clovis, the first King of the Franks, was baptized in a previous church on this site in 496 AD by Saint Remi. That history is why 33 coronations happened here.
Musée Saint-Rémi, in a former abbey on the edge of the old town, covers Gallo-Roman history, medieval sculpture, and the military history of the region. The building itself is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and is a UNESCO site alongside the cathedral. Entry is around €8. The museum is quieter than the champagne houses and worth half a day if you want context on what you are drinking.
The Palace of Tau, next to the cathedral, is currently closed for renovation with no confirmed reopening date. It formerly displayed coronation artifacts and tapestries. Check before you plan around it.
Place Drouet d'Erlon is the main dining and drinking square. It is pedestrianized, lined with brasseries, and fills with outdoor tables from April to October. The energy is high, the prices are inflated, and the food is mixed. Le Tablier at 30 Place Drouet d'Erlon is a reliable Art Deco bistro with a strong wine list and dishes like mushroom and truffle pasta and slow-cooked beef rib. It is open every day. For a drink after dinner, The Glue Pot at 49 Place Drouet d'Erlon is an English-style pub that has evolved into a champagne and wine bar with a curated list of boutique producers. It stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Sundays.
Practical notes: Reims is walkable. The champagne houses on the outskirts — Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger — are reachable on foot in 20 to 30 minutes from the train station, or by taxi in five. The municipal food market at Halles du Boulingrin operates Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings and is the best place to buy jambon de Reims, local cheeses like Langres and Chaource, and fresh produce.
If you are combining Reims with Épernay, the regional train takes 25 minutes. Épernay's Avenue de Champagne is denser with houses than Reims — Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, Pol Roger — but the city itself has less to offer outside the wine industry. La Cave à Champagne at 16 Rue Gambetta in Épernay serves potée champenoise, a traditional smoked pork and vegetable stew, with reasonably priced grower champagnes. It is worth the trip if you have a second day.
What to skip: The commercial champagne tastings in the shops on Place Drouet d'Erlon. They are overpriced and generic. Book directly with the houses. Also skip any restaurant with a laminated menu in three languages on the cathedral square. The food is pre-made and the wine list is inflated.
If you are taking the last TGV back to Paris, book a 6:45 PM departure. This gives you a full day without rushing the final tasting. Buy your train ticket on the SNCF app in advance. First class is worth the small premium for the quieter carriages and the extra leg room after a day of standing in cold cellars.
By Sophie Brennan
Irish food writer and historian based in Lisbon. Sophie combines her background in medieval history with a passion for contemporary gastronomy. She has written for Condé Nast Traveller and authored two cookbooks exploring Celtic and Iberian culinary traditions.