Reims
You either love or hate biscuits roses de Reims, (pink ladyfinger sponge biscuits), which have been doing the rounds since Maison Fossier perfected them in 1756 and swiftly became supplier to the king. Buy them here (a 100g box costs €2.50).
In the 19th century, it was the done thing to dunk them in Champagne, which was sweeter back then, and some still do today, though sommeliers might tut.
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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…
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A Unesco World Heritage Site, this lavish former archbishop’s residence, redesigned in neoclassical style between 1671 and 1710, was where French princes…
15.05 MILES
Épernay’s handsome av de Champagne fizzes with maisons de champagne (Champagne houses). The boulevard is lined with mansions and neoclassical villas,…
28.12 MILES
A model for several of its more famous Gothic sisters – Chartres, Reims, Dijon and Paris' Notre-Dame among them – this medieval jewel was built between…
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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,…
8.69 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…
0.99 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…
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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…
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A strangely expressionless statue of Joan of Arc, raised high on a rearing horse and bearing a sword, graces this square facing the cathedral. The so…
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One of Reims' Roman standouts, the below-street-level Cryptoportique is thought to have been used for grain storage in the 3rd century AD.
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The centrepiece of Place Drouet d'Erlon is the Subé Fountain, built in 1907 and crowned by a gleaming gold statue of Winged Victory.
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Highlights in this 15th-century townhouse include a series of furnished period rooms (kitchen, smoking room, Napoléon III’s bedroom), some 50 wood…
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The 12th- to 14th-century Église St-Jacques, the city’s only remaining medieval parish church, has some 1960s stained glass that’s so awful it has to be…
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Reims’ pedestrianised main square draws locals in the mood for a bite, a beer or a bit of shopping.
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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,…
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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…