Things to do in Epernay
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Epernay
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Late spring is a best window: warm vineyard weather, everything open, long evenings.
Mid September to October is a best window, just after harvest, with gold hills and thinner crowds.
Spring shoulder: vines green up, cellars reopen, cool evenings and jacket weather in cellars.
Peak terrace season. Some family producers close in mid August, and heat can top 30C.
Grey, quiet and cheap, still good for cellars and long lunches, best for connoisseurs.
Winter: December festival lights, then January to early February closures and the lowest prices.
What's on
- Route du Champagne en Fête July
About 20 producers open their doors across a weekend in rotating valley villages.
- Fête de la Vigne et du Vin July
Winemaker tastings, concerts and education events in and around Epernay.
- Vignobles en Scène Usually a weekend in mid October
National wine tourism weekend with vineyard walks, concerts and producer meetings.
- Global Champagne Day Fourth Friday of October
Cellar open doors, special tastings and festive menus region wide, on the fourth Friday of October.
- Champagne et Vous! mid-October
Grower festival at Chateau-Thierry, about 40 minutes away, worth the drive.
- Habits de Lumière mid-December weekend
Avenue illuminated with street theatre, parades, fireworks and pop up Champagne bars.
- Saint-Vincent late January
Winemakers patron saint celebrations in the villages, local and traditional.
Best things to do in Epernay
Avenue de Champagne
A free walk past the great Champagne mansions, with cellars below and pours by the glass along the way.
Moët & Chandon
The definitive big house tour, through vast chalk cellars at industrial scale, ending with a tasting.
Champagne Mercier
A fun big house visit with a cellar train, a panoramic lift and the giant barrel story.
Perrier-Jouët
Art Nouveau mansion tours and a pretty garden terrace for Belle Epoque by the glass.
Champagne Leclerc Briant
The biodynamic deep dive, with experimental cuvees and tastings that teach you something new.
Champagne Boizel
A family house at human scale, with historic cellars, an old vintage vault and a terrace.
Champagne de Castellane
Climb the 66 metre tower for town and vineyard views, then see the museum and cellars below.
Musée du Vin de Champagne et d'Archéologie Régionale
Champagne history and regional archaeology inside Chateau Perrier, the grandest mansion on the avenue.
Where to stay in Epernay
Avenue de Champagne and its side streets
best base overall
Everything you came for is on your street, flat and floodlit, ten minutes from the station.
Centre-ville and old town
best value base
Restaurants, bars and market life, five minutes to both the station and the avenue.
Champillon hill
best luxury and occasion base
Panorama, spa and silence in the vines, trading walkability for the view.
A wine village: Hautvillers, Aÿ or Avize
second visit and car trips
Deeper immersion with grower tastings on foot, and near zero evening options.
Think twice about
- Out-of-town commercial and retail zones, Dizy, Magenta and Parc d'Activités Val de Champagne
Perfectly safe but charmless, by a supermarket car park, a taxi ride from every tasting.
- Station forecourt
Not dangerous, just the least attractive few streets in the centre, with through traffic.
- Reims as a base for an Epernay trip
Sleeping in Reims adds a 30 minute train and station walks to every Epernay tasting day.
Best restaurants in Epernay
Le Royal
One-star dining over the Marne Valley, the one blow out dinner of a Champagne trip.
Le Bellevue
The hotel brasserie with the same view, and a weekday lunch menu that is fine value.
Les Avisés
A pilgrimage restaurant in Avize with a legendary Selosse and grower Champagne list.
La Grillade Gourmande
The safest one great dinner booking in town, with fireplace cooking and a serious list.
La Table Kobus
Generous bistro cooking in a former pharmacy, where local producers choose to eat.
Symbiose
The modern creative kitchen in town, a welcome break from cream, butter and tradition.
Sacré Bistro
A contemporary bistro with grower depth on the list, pointed to by informed locals.
Bulles et Bonheur
French cooking and their own Champagnes on a sun trap terrace at the top of the avenue.
Outdoor things to do in Epernay
E-bike the Marne Valley
The best active day out, e-biking Grand Cru villages to Hautvillers with a cellar visit and lunch.
Hautvillers
Dom Perignon's flower filled village, with his tomb, iron signs and a viewpoint over the Marne.
Ballon d'Épernay
A tethered balloon rising 150 metres for a full panorama of the avenue, river and vineyards.
Sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the vineyards
A dawn free flight over Grand Cru villages as mist lifts, landing to a Champagne toast.
Faux de Verzy
A signed forest trail among several hundred dwarf twisted beech trees, a rare botanical curiosity.
Voie Verte, Marne
Flat towpath walking, cycling, canoe and boat options past vineyard villages and picnic spots.
Golf de Reims
A historic 18 hole parkland course where every hole is named after a Champagne house.
Reims
A day trip for the coronation cathedral, Art Deco library and a contrasting set of chalk cellars.
Best hotels in Epernay
Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa
Flagship luxury in the vines, with a large spa, valley views and two strong restaurants.
Le 25bis by Leclerc Briant
Five rooms inside the Leclerc Briant mansion, sleeping on the avenue with tastings downstairs.
La Villa Eugène
A grand dame mansion hotel in a wooded park, with pool, sauna and a restaurant.
Les Suites du 33
De Venoge suites and apartments on the avenue, good for groups and longer stays.
Hôtel Jean Moët
The best loved mid range hotel in town, family run, five minutes from the avenue.
Hôtel Margaux
A small modern feeling four star near the centre, with a spa and strong recent scores.
Hôtel de Champagne
A dependable central three star for sleeping well between tastings, at fair value.
Bulles et Bonheur
Guest rooms by a well reviewed restaurant at the top of the avenue, with a terrace.
Is Epernay expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €100 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €230 a person |
| Splurge | €550 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Moët & Chandon: weeks ahead
- Champagne Mercier: a few days ahead
- Perrier-Jouët: weeks ahead
- Champagne Leclerc Briant: a few days ahead
- Champagne Boizel: a few days ahead
- Pressoria: a few days ahead
- E-bike the Marne Valley: a few days ahead
- Sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the vineyards: weeks ahead
- Weeks ahead in May to October: Moet, Perrier-Jouet Maison Belle Epoque, Pressoria, Le Royal and weekend dinners.
- Days ahead: Leclerc Briant, Mercier, Boizel, e-bike tours, Les Avises, Table Kobus and Symbiose.
- Grower visits in villages are by appointment only, often closed at harvest and on Sundays.
- Many houses and restaurants close Sunday or Monday, so reserve a Sunday night dinner.
Is Epernay safe?
- A safe, affluent small town. Watch bags on busy trains from Paris and lock cars.
- Main risks are cycling after tastings, vineyard road driving, and sun plus alcohol. Carry water.
- Centre and avenue are well lit and calm at night, and much of town is asleep after 23:00.
Epernay travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Four big house tours in a row repeat the same production story. Do one big, one different, one small.
- Standard cuvees often cost less at a centre caviste or direct from a grower than on the avenue.
- Pol Roger is not open for public tours. Photograph the gates and drink it at dinner.
- Do not save the Ballon for your last day, as weather cancels it often.
- Day tripping from Paris with no bookings gives the disappointing version of this town.
Getting around Epernay: public transport and more
- Train is the move: Paris Gare de l'Est to Epernay direct in about 1 hour 20, Reims in about 30 minutes.
- Walk in town: centre, avenue and station form a triangle you can cross in 15 minutes.
- For villages pick car, e-bike, tour or driver per day in advance, and pre-book taxis.
- Drink driving limit is 0.5 g/L in France. Spit at tastings if driving, or do not drive.
Who Epernay suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Epernay your trip
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