Day Trip To Veuve Clicquot From Paris
How To Take A Day Trip To Veuve Clicquot From Paris
One of the many experiences you can do in Paris, about 45 minutes outside the city by train, is a Veuve Clicquot champagne day trip to the Champagne region, and the town of Reims.
Today, I am sharing our experience with a champagne day trip, how we got there, and what tour we did.
It’s only a 45-minute train ride from Paris to Reims, on a high-speed train, and can easily be done in one day.
This is another way to see a beautiful part of France, while not being too far from Paris, and a way to experience a bit of the French countryside.
You can also drive or take the bus to Reims, but that will obviously take you longer. If you are wanting to drive and explore the area a bit, the drive will be about an hour and forty-five minutes from Paris, depending on your stops.
Which Train To Take From Paris
When you are deciding which train to take from Paris, you will want to take one heading to Reims Ville station or Gare de Reims. All trains going to this area will leave Paris from the Gare de Est station.
I would recommend taking a train early enough to give you time to walk around the city of Reims before your tour starts at the champagne house.
You can also take the train to Champagne-Ardenne. However, this area is about five miles outside Reims. So you would then need to take the tram back into Reims.
You can easily book your train ticket in advance on sites such as Trainline, Rail Europe, and SNCF. I would recommend booking your train ticket as far in advance as you can.
Prices will go up depending on the seats available and as the dates get closer. However, there are multiple trains departing daily to Reims so you will have lots of options.
What To Do In Reims
Once you arrive in Reims, it’s a short walk from the train station out to the city center. The city center is full of shops, restaurants, and daily life in France.
We arrived early before all the shops opened but several cafés were already open for coffee and breakfast.
You can also walk to the beautiful Reims Cathedral, which is a spectacular sight and one I would recommend seeing. The cathedral is also listed on the Unesco World Heritage site.
We took the train which left Paris at 7:39 and arrived in Reims at 8:25. Our tour started promptly at 10 AM, so this gave us plenty of time to walk around the city center of Reims.
How To Get From Reims to Veuve Clicquot
If you are not walking around the town of Reims and heading straight to Veuve Clicquot, there are several ways you can get there.
It’s about 3 miles from the train station to Veuve Clicquot so you can take a taxi, which costs around 16 euros.
You can also take the bus line 06, which costs about 2 euros. The bus comes every 20 minutes and is very easy to navigate.
Since we were in the city center walking around, we just hopped on the bus from one of the bus stops. The bus will stop right out in front of Veuve Clicquot and is only about a 15-minute ride from the train station.
You can also walk from the train station if you want, it’s about a 30-35 minute walk.
When heading back to the train station, you can take the same route. We asked the concierge inside of Veuve Clicquot to call a taxi for us back to the train station and they were more than happy to do so.
Which Tour To Do On A Veuve Clicquot Day Trip
There are several different options you can do at Vevue Clicquot between champagne tastings, food experiences, and cellar tours. You will sign up and book your tour directly on the Veuve Clicquot Website. There will be specific times available each day depending on the tour you want either in English or French.
We choose to do the tour, The Art of Aging, which is a 2-hour tour dedicated to the vintage champagne selections of the house.
The tour starts out with a small group by exploring the different aromas of what is in champagne and how to tell the difference.
You will then visit the underground caves to understand the history of Veuve Clicquot, how it was born, and how Madame Clicquot came to be the grande dame of champagne. You also learn the process of champagne, which is incredibly fascinating.
After learning the process, the best part of the tour comes the tasting. The tasting takes place in a room inside the caves.
You will taste 4 vintage champagnes accompanied with cheese. This was such a great learning experience, understanding what each of the vintage champagnes represented and how each was made.
After The Cellar Tour And Tasting
Once you are finished with the tasting, they welcome you into the gift shop and also out onto the terrace to enjoy more champagne.
We ended up meeting a lovely couple on holiday, who we sat and had lunch with and another bottle of champagne. The terrace is lovely and I recommend you stay for a bit if you can. They do have food you can order as well, which is incredible.
Gifts To Buy At Veuve Clicquot
Veuve Clicquot has a fun selection of items you can buy to bring home for yourself or for gifts. I had a champagne jacket label made for a few friends and for myself put onto a bottle of Vevue Rosè.
You can also buy beach towels, postcards, Veuve Clicquot posters, and of course you can buy all sorts of champagne to bring home, although don’t forget you have to pack it in your suitcase and there’s a weight limit.
I brought back 3 bottles of champagne in two different suitcases and wrapped each bottle in between my clothing items. Everything was safe and none of the bottles broke open thankfully.
On your next trip to Paris, if you are wanting to escape the city for the day, take a Veuve Clicquot day trip and unwind in the French countryside, learning a bit about champagne.
Is there any non-stair access to the cave? My wife may not be able to handle that many stairs as seen in the photo.
Hi Tom,
To be honest I am not sure. I would email Veuve and ask if this is possible.
Have a good day,
Noelani
So helpful, thank you!
Of course! Happy to help.
Thank You, Noelani