The TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est reaches Reims in 45 minutes, a speed that makes the cathedral visible from the train window before the city has had time to properly arrive. Services run throughout the day; advance booking on SNCF Connect is around €15 to €25 single, though walk-up fares are considerably higher. Buy in advance.
Reims station is ten minutes' flat walk from the cathedral, via the Boulevard de la Paix. The city is built on a grid that was largely reconstructed after the First World War, during which 80% of the buildings were destroyed. This gives it an unusual combination of medieval foundations, Art Deco reconstruction, and the Gothic cathedral that survived the bombardment in a damaged but repairable state.
April in Reims: the Champagne harvest is in September. The vineyards in April are in early growth, bare canes beginning to shoot after winter pruning. The cellar tours operate year-round; the caves maintain a constant 10°C regardless of the season above ground. The cathedral is open. The city is between the winter quiet and the tourist summer. This is a good time to visit.
The Cathedral
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims is where 25 French kings were crowned between 816 and 1825, a function that gives it the same symbolic weight as Westminster Abbey, though architecturally it is the superior building. Construction ran from 1211 to approximately 1275, with additions through the 16th century; the west façade, with over 2,300 stone figures arranged in three gabled portals, is the most elaborate surviving example of High Gothic sculptural programme.
The interior is flat stone, entirely level, with the nave stretching for 138 metres. Sit in the nave for as long as the legs require. The stained glass windows at the east end include works by Marc Chagall, installed in 1974 in the chapel of the axial apse. Their blue and red suffuse the surrounding stonework in a way that Chagall described as his tribute to the French cathedral tradition. Walk specifically to the east end for them.
Entry to the cathedral is free. The towers cost approximately €13 and involve stairs.
The Champagne Cellars
The Champagne houses conduct their cellar tours through the ancient Roman chalk quarries (crayères) that run beneath the city, tunnels carved from the chalk bedrock during the Roman occupation and expanded over centuries until the producers adopted them in the 18th century as ideal ageing environments. The temperature is constant at 10°C; the humidity is steady; the chalk walls absorb the sound.
Taittinger on the Place Saint-Nicaise offers tours through the most extensive crayères in Reims. Some tunnels date from the 4th century, from the Benedictine monastery that occupied the site before the Revolution. Tours run throughout the day; entry with tasting is approximately €30 to €45 depending on the option. Book online at taittinger.com.
Veuve Clicquot on the Rue du Temple runs a shorter tour at a similar price point. The cellar walk is entirely level and the tasting, typically two or three glasses of different cuvées, is calibrated to illustrate rather than intoxicate. The house was founded in 1772; Nicole-Barbe Clicquot took over on her husband's death in 1805, at 27, and built the company into the dominant Champagne brand of the 19th century by inventing the riddling process for removing sediment from bottles.
Book both houses in advance. They fill up on weekends.
Where to Eat
Brasserie Le Boulingrin on the Rue du Marc, open since 1925, is the classic Reims brasserie: zinc bar, red banquettes, a menu that takes the Champagne region's culinary tradition seriously (andouillette de Troyes, jambon à la Marne). The house Champagne by the glass, sourced from a local cooperative at prices below the grand marques, is the correct accompaniment to a Monday lunch.
The Biscuits Roses de Reims, the pale pink vanilla-flavoured finger biscuits produced in Reims since the 17th century, are traditionally dipped into Champagne rather than eaten dry. This is the actual convention, not a marketing invention. Pairs des Maisons on the Place du Forum sells them alongside a glass of the relevant liquid if you want the complete experience.
Getting Back
TGV services from Reims to Paris Gare de l'Est run throughout the afternoon and evening. The journey is 45 minutes in each direction. Book the return at the same time as the outward leg.