Full Day Champagne Pommery Small Group Tour
Description
This tour is perfect to have a fun day with an overall view of the Champagne wine region, centered around Reims and Épernay, with lovely villages in-between. First a City-tour of Reims, home of Veuve Clicquot, Mümm and Taittinger. Then we stop at Notre-Dame of Reims gothic cathedral, where many kings of France were crowned. Followed by the Cellar Tour and Tasting of two glasses of Champagne Pommery, 6th largest House, inside 2000 year old roman mines. Off to the vineyards to see the beautiful sights of the Marne River Valley, a visit to Dom Perignon's tomb at Hautvillers. Lunch brake at Épernay (with suggestions), where you can walk along the marvelous Avenue de Champagne. Finish with a visit at a boutique Champagne producer to learn about how Champagne is made, with a taste of 3 glasses of Champagne. Certified Guide and Sommelier student with 7 years of experience as a guide in Champagne, I'll share with you my passion for History, Culture and Wines. Guaranteed fun!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Pommery at Reims. This famous Champagne House is the 6th largest overall, and sits atop the Saint Nicaise Hill, which is a UNESCO site because of the roman chalk pit mines that are now used to age champagne bottles. This brand became one of the largest Houses by the visionary work of Jeanne Pommery, the widow of the founder. Using the exemple of Veuve Clicquot, she showed that women could be as good as any capitain of industry, and built the impressive domain you see today. Visit the two thousand year old cellars and marvel at the bottles surrounded by old and modern works of Art.
Visit of Notre-Dame of Reims with me, a Certified French National Monument Guide. This catholic church from the 13th Century is a masterpiece of the Gothic architecture, with thousands of intricate sculptures and marvelous stained-glass windows. On this site in 496, Clovis the first king of France was baptised by Saint-Remi the bishop of Reims, which led more than 30 Kings of France to be crowned at the same place.
Let's drive through the glamorous Champagne Avenue of Épernay , where famous Champagne Houses are lined one after the other: Moêt & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, Pol Roger, Mercier, De Castellane and more.
Sightseeing drive-by of the city of Reims, the largest city in Champagne, with its main squares, Roman ruins, medieval monuments and Champagne Houses. We'll see the widest Roman arch in the world, the Louis XV square, the covered market, the Surrender Museum where the Nazis signed and many prestigious Champagne Houses: Roëderer, Krug, Mümm, Veuve-Clicquot, Taittinger, Pommery... The city was heavily bombed during WW1, which forced the city to rebuild in the 1920s, turning Reims into the Art Déco capital of France.
Hautvillers - the Cradle of Champagne wines Charming village atop the Valley of the Marne Valley, overlooking the river, Épernay and the spreading vineyards. We are going to stop for the magnificent view, and then visit the church where Dom Pérignon, the famous Steward of the local Monastery, lived and died. After seeing his tomb and talking about his legacy, we will drive through the village and hunt the dozens of medieval looking signs adorning the houses of this UNESCO site.
Cellar Tour and Tasting of a small producer of Champagne wines. There are thousands of small champagne producers in the small villages, some of which produce high quality wines for a good quality/price ratio. You will visit a selected one, looking into their process, machines, cellar and tasting part of their range at the end.
Lunch break at Épernay where I suggest good restaurants.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
No pickup at Paris. The tour starts from Reims at the Central Station or at your hotel in Reims. Contact me for pickups up to 1 hour away from Reims.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children (anyone under 18) are not served any alcohol, which is illegal in France.
Reviews(24)
Raphael was an amazing host. There was only two of us as we could not change the date for the tour. He still picked us up and took of through the whole itinerary as planned. It was a phenomenal! He was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of history about each stop. The vineyard we stopped at was absolutely gorgeous. Getting to tour Notre Dame of Reims as well as the Abby where Dom Perignon lived was an added bonus. This was so much more than just a champagne tour!
Thank you so much Stacy, it was a pleasure! All the best!
Guide raphael was extremely knowledgeable about french history and champagne. Great tour would highly recommend!!!
Thank you Cheryl! My pleasure. Safe travels!
very interesting day, with several aspects addressed by our very nice and passionate guide (monuments, history, visit of cellars and tastings), plus: get out of Reims to go into the vineyards towards Epernay and surroundings
Merci beaucoup Christine! J'espère que le voyage de retour a été agréable. Mes salutations à Patrick et à Louis (Clovis) aussi!
An excellent day with our wonderfully knowledgeable guide Raphael. Perfect mix of insights and history, with plenty of time at each stop to soak it all in.
Thanks Mary!!! All the best to you.
This was a wonderful tour. Raphael was an excellent tour guide. The tour was fun and informative. I highly recommend it.
Thank you Richard for this heartwarming review! All the best.
Raphael was very knowledgeable about the Reims Cathedral, the city of Reims, and the champagne houses. He was very willing to answer questions no matter how uninformed we may been. He was prompt and on time.
Thanks Gavin! It was a pleasure, all the best.
Wow, what an experience. Raphael was our small group tour guide. There was 4 of us total and it was special. We did the tour in English. We started our tour at the Cathedral Notre Dame of Reims. A stunning 1600 year old cathedral. Raphael provided an excellent historical tour inside and out. We then began our journey through Reims with incredible history en route to our destinations in Eperney. The history, stories, vineyards, the chalk caves, countryside views and champagne houses we visited were exceptional. On our 90 minute lunch break we stopped in a local brasserie for fresh baguette and we had enough time to walk some of the Boulevard of Champagne’s to squeeze in a couple of extra tastings on our own. An exceptional trip with an exceptional guide. Thank you Raphael for a great day out and memories we will cherish forever.
Thanks for the review Garry! It was a pleasure to help you have fun in Champagne and get to know you. Have a safe trip back home, cheers!
Fantastic tour worth every cent and very informative and champagne. Recommend booking your lunch in Epernay in advance unless you want to continue drinking champagne all day
Hi David! Thanks for the review. Bank holidays in May can be busy, you're right about that. All my best to you
In our two week trip this is by far the best tour we took. Raphael was so personable and fun, we didn’t want the day to end. He is incredibly knowledgeable about wine and the history of the region, it was so wonderful. An absolute must if you’re in Reims!
🥳 Thanks Devon!!! Hope you had a great time in France. My best to you and Oscar. Cheers!
It was a wonderful experience. Raphael provides so complete explanations. You feel like an expert in all stops. I was not expecting much from the cathedal stop, but it was actually one of my favorites. So much history anchored to that church. Pommery was nice to visit, though I did not like their champaign much. It was nice to visity the family bussiness, but I felt that would be nice to visit one more large champaign company. My last suggestion is to walk the Champaign stree (not just drive through it, with time to stop where the group feels like exploring a little. Loved every part of the tour.
Thanks! Taste for each champagne brand is definitely personal, I hope you find the one you like. Regarding the other suggestions, the Champagne Avenue can be walked during the free lunch time when you can also explore Moët et CHandon boutique, otherwise we don't have time later for the small champagne house. I'll make a better effort of pointing out these suggestions! All the best.
