Champagne Tourist Route from Reims

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Reims

   For over a thousand years the kings of France came to Reims to be crowned, and the cathedral that still dominates the city shows why. The tradition goes back to Clovis, baptised here around the year 500 by Bishop Remigius, and some thirty-odd monarchs followed, ending with Charles X in 1825. The present Gothic building dates from the thirteenth century, its west front crowded with statues, among them the Smiling Angel, and it was damaged badly by German shelling in the First World War before being painstakingly restored. Inside, stained glass by Marc Chagall glows blue behind the apse, installed in the 1970s.

   Read the complete Reims write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Reims is where the day begins. Next is Verzenay.

2. 2. Verzenay

   Verzenay is a Champagne village that decided to build a lighthouse in the middle of a sea of vines. The Phare de Verzenay, put up in 1909 by a local Champagne merchant as an advertisement, stands among the vineyards on the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims, a long way from any actual coast. It is a delightful piece of folly, and you can climb it for a view across the rows of Pinot Noir to the plain of the Marne and the spire of Reims cathedral on a clear day. A small museum inside tells the story of the vine.

   Read the complete Verzenay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Verzenay comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hautvillers.

3. 3. Hautvillers

   Dom Pérignon, the monk who is said to have invented Champagne, is buried at Hautvillers. The story is not quite true, since sparkling wine was being made long before him, but the truth is better in some ways. Dom Pierre Pérignon was cellarer at the Benedictine abbey here from 1668 until his death in 1715, and he is credited with refining the art of blending different grapes and making a better white wine from black grapes. The line about drinking the stars is a later invention, but nobody minds. His tomb lies in the abbey church, and the abbey itself now belongs to the Champagne house Moët & Chandon.

   Read the complete Hautvillers write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Hautvillers. Next is Epernay.

4. 4. Epernay

   Épernay is the sort of town that makes a bubble feel like an institution. It sits on the Marne river, in the heart of Champagne, and its main street, the Avenue de Champagne, is lined with the grand houses of famous producers: Moët and Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, Pol Roger, Mercier and others, in mansions of stone, brick and wrought iron, set behind gardens and gates. The avenue is sometimes called the most expensive street in the world, a joke based on the value of the bottles stored beneath it.

   Read the complete Épernay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Epernay, late in the day. Next is Chateau Thierry.

5. 5. Chateau Thierry

   Château-Thierry lies along the Marne at a point where the river valley narrows and the hills close in, and it is the town where the poet Jean de La Fontaine was born in 1621. His house is now a museum, and the fables he spun about foxes, crows and cunning grasshoppers are still learned by schoolchildren across France. Above the river, the ruins of a medieval castle crown the hillside, with walls and towers that once guarded the road to Paris, and they give a good view over the roofs and the water.

   Read the complete Chateau Thierry write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Chateau Thierry. That is the ride.