A 2 day Epernay itinerary for the best place to stay and the best activities in Epernay France, the capital of Champagne.
This is the third post in a string of posts of my travels through Europe this spring/summer, 2023. I’ll be sharing where we stayed, what we did, the best food and how we got to each place as we go. Thanks for reading along! I hope this helps if you’re interested in going to any of these travel destinations yourself!
Where we stayed: La Vie en Rose Airbnb, great location, super cute apartment
What to do: take a champagne cellar tour (we did Moet), hike to some of the surrounding vineyards, walk down the Avenue de Champagne and try champagne, walk through the gardens at the beginning of the avenue
Day 1: Train to Epernay
We took a short 1 and a half hour train ride from Paris Est to the champagne region of France, specifically Epernay, the capital of champagne. We walked from the train station to our Airbnb as it was pretty close. The town is very small and you can get to most places by foot which was nice after coming from such a big city! Our Airbnb was called "La Vie en Rose" and was so cute! It is right on the Avenue de Champagne which made it super convenient, and the bedroom window had a beautiful view of the vineyards in the distance.
We dropped our bags, did laundry (hooray for a washer lol) and then walked down the Avenue de Champagne to try some champagne in Champagne! Pretty cool! The Avenue de Champagne is a long street with all the different champagne makers “houses” on it. Basically they’re really elaborate villas where they sell champagne and where you can try it at their outside patios. The actual vineyards are on the hills above, but the cellars are where the champagne houses are.
We started with the Perrier-Jouet Champagne house, which I think has the cutest outside sitting area of all the champagne houses. After this we headed for lunch, but found that almost nothing was open because it was a holiday, Victory in Europe Day, celebrating when WWII ended in Europe. I did not know about this holiday; so many things you don’t think about when planning a trip. We found a brasserie and had a quick bite. I don’t have amazing food recommendations for Epernay because we just weren’t able to try many things. We ate at the brasserie twice and had breakfast at the Airbnb.
After lunch we went for a hike to see some of the vineyards in the surrounding area. It was really cool to hike to the top of the hills where the vineyards are and see the town down below. We kind of just stumbled above the vineyards; I don't have an exact location to share. If you just walk uphill from the Avenue de Champagne you'll be able to find the vineyards!
Day 2: Champagne House Tour
There are so many champagne companies to choose from, but we decided to take a tour of Moet & Chandon’s cellars. On the tour you learn all about the Moet brand history and how they make their champagne. It was really interesting, and I had no idea so much went into making champagne. Their cellars below Epernay stretch on for 17 miles and all of Moet & Chandon champagne is stored here. There were bottles that had been sitting and sitting for years until they are perfect. After the tour they take you for a tasting, and you get to try two of their selections.
From the tour we walked around and explored the city. At the beginning of the Avenue de Champagne there is a beautiful little garden, prefect for reading a book or just relaxing for awhile. After our walk through the garden, we walked down the Avenue de Champagne and tried another champagne house before heading to dinner. We had a nice little dinner at a little restaurant called La Cave de l'Avenue, then headed to our Airbnb to turn in and get ready to head to Strasbourg in the morning!
Tying it All Together
I think 2 days, or one half day and one full day, is the perfect amount of time see this small town, unless you are really into the history of champagne and would want to do a tour of each champagne house. There weren't many hotel options when I looked, and I think the Airbnb we stayed at was the perfect place to stay for the location. I think Epernay could even be a great day trip from Paris. It is small, but so beautiful, and I think it's definitely worth a visit at least once in your life!
I hope this 2 Day Epernay itinerary was helpful if you are interested in visiting Epernay!
If you're interested in reading about other parts of our Europe trip, read my Cotswold Itinerary or my Paris Itinerary!
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