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Épernay
Everyone who visits Moët & Chandon invariably stops to strike a pose next to the statue of Dom Pérignon (c 1638–1715), after whom the prestige cuvée is named. The Benedictine monk played a pivotal role in making Champagne what it is – perfecting the process of using a second, in-the-bottle fermentation to make ho-hum wine sparkle.
While his contribution was undoubtedly significant, bubbly didn’t come to dominate Champagne’s wine production until over a century after his death.
14.95 MILES
Imagine the extravagance of a French royal coronation. The focal point of such pomposity was Reims’ resplendent Gothic cathedral, begun in 1211 on a site…
14.9 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage Site, this lavish former archbishop’s residence, redesigned in neoclassical style between 1671 and 1710, was where French princes…
0.06 MILES
Épernay’s handsome av de Champagne fizzes with maisons de champagne (Champagne houses). The boulevard is lined with mansions and neoclassical villas,…
7.18 MILES
This museum is so outstanding that it’s worth planning your day around a two-hour tour. Assembled by a family that has been making Champagne since 1872,…
11.79 MILES
For the region’s best introduction to the art of growing grapes and the cycles of the seasons, head to the Phare de Verzenay, on a hilltop at the eastern…
14.29 MILES
This 121m-long former Benedictine abbey church, a Unesco World Heritage Site, mixes Romanesque elements from the mid-11th century (the worn but stunning…
14.86 MILES
Lodged in an 18th-century abbey, this museum's rich collection stars one of four versions of Jacques-Louis David’s world-famous The Death of Marat (yes,…
8.47 MILES
You’re assured a warm – and English-speaking – welcome and a fascinating cellar tour at Albert Levasseur, run by a friendly Franco-Irish couple, which…
0.06 MILES
Épernay’s handsome av de Champagne fizzes with maisons de champagne (Champagne houses). The boulevard is lined with mansions and neoclassical villas,…
0.07 MILES
In the neoclassical Hôtel de Ville built in 1850 under the direction of the French architect Victor Lenoir, you can take a peek at the ornate, Louis XV…
0.2 MILES
Crowned by a fairy-tale silver spire, this late-19th-century church bears Romanesque and Gothic influences and is lit from within by a rose window. It was…
4. Volière des Cigognes Altavilloises
2.32 MILES
Hautvillers is twinned with the Alsatian town of Eguisheim, which explains why several storks (including one rare black one) live here, an easy 500m walk…
2.78 MILES
Part of a former Benedictine abbey, the Abbaye St-Pierre d'Hautvillers, founded in AD 650 by St Nivard, bishop of Reims, this church is liberally…
3.89 MILES
At the northern entrance to Cramant, this mammoth, Instagram-worthy Champagne bottle, emblazoned with the name of the village, is one hell of a magnum…
5.4 MILES
Once the abbey church of a Benedictine convent, Église St-Nicolas mixes Romanesque, Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance styles. There are no specific…
5.55 MILES
Many past, present and future Champagne makers learn, or are learning, their art and science at the Avize Viti Campus run by the Ministry of Agriculture…