Small-Group Champagne Lunch & Tasting from Paris with Pickup
Description
What makes this Champagne tour unique is the chance to experience both sides of Champagne in a single day from Paris. Travel through the heart of the region and visit a prestigious Champagne house such as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Mercier, Nicolas Feuillatte, Boizel, or another producer depending on availability. Explore impressive cellars, learn traditional methods, and discover the heritage behind the world’s most famous sparkling wine. The highlight is the contrast between a major Champagne house and a smaller, family-owned estate. After a large-scale producer, you continue to a more intimate winery where craftsmanship and tradition offer a different approach. This comparison shows how scale and philosophy shape Champagne style. Your guide will also introduce vineyards, grape varieties, and terroir. This is not just a tasting tour — it is a full immersion into Champagne culture, history, and tradition.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your day begins with convenient pickup directly from your hotel or Airbnb in Paris. Sit back and relax in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle as you leave the city behind and journey towards the world-famous Champagne region. Along the way, your guide will share fascinating insights into the history, culture, and winemaking traditions that have made Champagne one of the most celebrated regions in France, setting the stage for the unforgettable experiences ahead.
Your first Champagne experience takes place at one of the region’s renowned Champagne houses, such as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Nicolas Feuillatte, Mercier, Boizel, or another prestigious producer, depending on availability. You will begin with a guided tour of the estate and its cellars, learning about the history and production methods behind some of the world’s most celebrated Champagnes. The visit concludes with a tasting experience showcasing the house’s distinctive style. What makes this tour unique is the opportunity to compare two different approaches to Champagne making. After visiting a major Champagne house, you will continue to a smaller family-owned producer, where tradition and craftsmanship create a completely different atmosphere. Experiencing both in the same day offers a unique insight into the diversity of Champagne production.
Following your Champagne house visit, you will enjoy a traditional French 3-course lunch at a carefully selected local restaurant. Featuring a starter, main course, and dessert, this meal offers the perfect opportunity to discover authentic French cuisine and regional flavors in a relaxed setting. More than just a lunch break, it is an integral part of the Champagne experience, allowing you to immerse yourself in the local culture and way of life before continuing your journey through the region.
You will then continue to the world-famous Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, often referred to as the “most prestigious street in Champagne.” This remarkable avenue is home to some of the region’s most iconic Champagne houses, with grand historic estates lining both sides of the street. Enjoy free time to stroll along the avenue at your own pace, admire the elegant architecture, and capture unforgettable photos. This is one of the most atmospheric places in Champagne, where heritage, prestige, and centuries of winemaking tradition come together in one unique location.
After visiting the prestigious Champagne houses and the iconic Avenue de Champagne, you will continue to a small, family-owned Champagne producer. This final visit is designed to complete your understanding of the Champagne world by showing the clear contrast between large-scale production and artisanal winemaking. Here, you will enjoy a guided tour of the estate and its cellars, followed by a tasting session of their handcrafted Champagnes. In a more intimate and personal setting, you will discover how tradition, craftsmanship, and family heritage shape a completely different expression of Champagne compared to the major houses visited earlier in the day. This experience allows you to truly understand the diversity of Champagne, from world-famous brands to passionate independent producers.
Your experience continues at a beautiful scenic location known as Royal Champagne, offering breathtaking panoramic views over the vineyards of the Champagne region. Here, you will enjoy a relaxed blind tasting experience hosted by your guide/driver. In a fun and interactive setting, you will compare different sparkling wines and try to distinguish Champagne from Crémant, turning tasting into an engaging game. This stop is designed not only for learning and enjoyment, but also for unforgettable photos, with stunning vineyard landscapes creating the perfect backdrop to capture your day in Champagne.
At the end of your Champagne experience, you will relax on the journey back to Paris in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle. Your driver/guide will drop you off at the same location where you were picked up in the morning, ensuring a smooth and convenient end to your day after a full immersion in the Champagne region.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
One day before the tour, our guide will contact you and provide all the necessary information regarding your hotel pickup. We recommend being ready 5 minutes before the scheduled arrival time of your guide. Please note that the maximum waiting time at your hotel is 15 minutes. Any longer delay may affect the schedule and could result in missing the planned visits to the Champagne houses.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Minimum drinking age is 18 years
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
- The tour of a renowned Champagne house (e.g., Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Nicolas Feuillatte, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Boizel) will be selected based on availability. If you have a specific preference, please contact us.
- Caves and wine cellars are usually cold around 45°F / 10°C; do not forget to bring warm clothes with you
- It takes around 2 hours to reach the champagne region and close to 2 hours to go back to Paris depending on the traffic.
Reviews(219)
Our champagne tour in Reims was truly one of the highlights of our trip to France, and so much of that was thanks to our incredible guide, Arthur. He was knowledgeable, engaging, warm, and made the entire day feel special rather than simply like a series of tours. We started with a wonderful visit to Veuve Clicquot, where we learned so much about the history and craftsmanship behind Champagne. We also visited the beautiful Reims Cathedral, and finished the day with a quick stop at Moët & Chandon. Lunch was another standout at Clos Corbier: an amazing meal at a small local producer that felt intimate, authentic, and completely different from the larger Champagne houses. We were treated like family. What impressed us most was learning about the incredible cellars, history, traditions, and amount of work that goes into every bottle. Arthur brought it all to life and made the day both educational and incredibly fun. One of the absolute highlights was Arthur teaching my daughter how to saber a bottle of Champagne—such a fun, unexpected experience and a memory we will never forget! The only downside? After seeing how Champagne is actually made and tasting it in Champagne, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to drink anything else! Highly recommend this tour—and especially Arthur. It was the perfect combination of Champagne, food, history, beautiful scenery, and a few unforgettable surprises.
The champagne lunch and tasting tour was fantastic! Our tour guide, Max, was incredibly informative, professional and courteous. It was a perfect tour as it was small. We met some great people along the way and the to/from drop off from our hotel was extremely convenient. The lunch at Le Clos Corbier, small champagne house in the region, was superb, with the family and workers serving glasses of their best champagne. Max was able to give us a tour of their cellar, explain the champagne making process and having us explore the history of the champagne region. To top it off, we went to Moet & Chandon and experienced what it’s like to visit one of the big champagne houses for tastings and appetizers. We also loved visiting Reims and walking through and learning about the history of its Cathedral de Notre Dame. I would recommend this tour again for anyone looking for a getaway from the busy Parisian lifestyle during their trip and would attend this tour again!
We had a very enjoyable day of learning how champagne is made at a couple of different locations with tastings of different types of champagne, along with wonderful lunch, a stop at a high-end champagne house and finished with a special surprise from our guide Alex, of learning how to open a bottle of champagne in a VERY SPECIAL way. Our daughter completely loved this extra surprise, and so did we. Our guide, Alex was extremely knowledgeable and personable, which made for a wonderful learning experience and a fun, very memorable day. And the views of the vineyards along the way were so pretty.
THE BEST EXPERIENCE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!! Came to Paris on a Graduation trip from University and this was the best way to top it all off. Not only was our tour a surprise private tour, Alex (our fabulous guide) made sure that my sister and had had the most remarkable experience. The tastings and lunch were amazing but the intention, conversation, and friendship was so much more valuable. THANK YOU ALEX for the best trip a wine enthusiast could ask for!!
Fun, fascinating and memorable. An extremely well conducted day. Notre Dame in Reims, The caves at Veuve Clicquot. An exceptional lunch at Le Theatre in Epernay. A sabrage lesson overlooking the Champagne-Ardenne valley. And a beautiful tasting at Dom Caudron (a French cooperative👍). Merci Alex!!!
We had a perfect day with Alex! From the church in Reims to Veuve Cliquot to a spectacular view over the vineyards -- we had the best day imaginable. Drinking champagne in Champagne was on my bucket list -- and thanks to Alex and this fantastic trip I can check it off the list. I would not hesitate to do this trip again with my friends and family on my next trip to France!
Our guide Arthur was fun and knowledgeable, our group was super friendly, we had an amazing lunch and learnt a lot about champagne…and, the Notre Dame Cathedral…Wow! Highly recommend this tour…absolutely loved it!
Great guide with wonderful travel mates.
The trip was so much fun. Our guide Arthur was one of the best guides I have had… generous and kind, flexible, great information, funny and he wanted us to have a good time and delivered. The day was such a great mix of experiences. A very large champagne house, lunch, an experience in the vineyard, a smaller unique champagne producer with a few extra stops added in. It was a great day and we highly recommend it!
This trip was sensational ! , our Guide Arthur a very genuine , friendly , witty guy , he provided plenty of useful information without overload. Group of 7 people was ideal , 3 course lunch excellent and the Champers ...plenty of it !!! MAGNIFIQUE !!!
