The best thing about travelling without too many plans and deadlines is the fact you have a lot of flexibility. If you like a place, you stay a bit longer, if you don’t like where you’ve ended up, you just move on. As simple as that. Recently we discovered yet again how nice it is to have this freedom: when we arrived in Reims. We liked the city so much we decided to stay the weekend and explore!
If you’re a lover of champagne, architecture, good food and art, then Reims is a city for you. It’s a city where you should get lost in the streets and just take in the atmosphere (something we think is a crucial part of every city trip, but that’s just our opinion). Sounds good?
Here’s a list with the must see’s and do’s for the perfect weekend in Reims
Table of Contents
Taste Champagne
Number one on the list, since Champagne is the main reason people visit this city. Let’s be honest here, it was our reason too. We recommend you visit at least a few champagne houses because they’re all very different! Most of them are pretty close to the city centre so you could take public transport of even walk there. If you’re interested in tasting some Champagne, we wrote a post about the different Champagneries we visited and how we liked it. So we’re not going to elaborate too much in this post.
So for more elaborate reviews about Champagne in Reims click here.
Very happy at the Lanson tasting.
The houses we liked best are Lanson, Taittinger and Vranken-Pommery, all for different reasons. Even if you don’t drink Champagne, it’s still really interesting to see the different caves and learn about how it’s made.
Front of the cellars of Champagne Jacquart. The top 5 Mosaic depicts the stages from vineyard to packaging.
Admire the architecture
Even though we originally came to Reims solely to taste some champers, we were really impressed by the city. It has some lovely buildings to check out if you’re interested in architecture! Here are some we think you shouldn’t skip:
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims
We’ve been to Paris, and the Notre Dame there was pretty impressive. To our surprise, the one in Reims was even more stunning with so much detail on the facade. Make sure to take a look inside (it’s free) because the stained glass windows are spectacular. Also walk around the building. The gardens at the back are equally beautiful as the front.
Halles du boulingrin
If you’re a fan of Art Deco these halls are for you! They used to house the city’s main food market in 1929, and now still have daily food markets there. So even if you’re not that into the building’s architecture and history, it’s still a great place to go to around lunchtime!
Basilique Saint-Remi
Not as impressive as the Notre-Dame, but still well worth talking a look at this church. It’s very close to most of the Champagneries, so perfect to stop by on your way to a tasting. Again with the gardens, there’s a very nice park at the back so walk through there as well while you’re at it!
The park at the back of St. Remi was fun too!
Porte Mars
We’re cheating a bit with this one, because we weren’t able to visit it ourselves. Actually, we did visit it, we just didn’t see it. It’s still all covered while they’re doing some restorations. It’s been like this for a while now and we’re not sure when it will be open to visit again. That being said, if it happens to be open again, it should be worth your while to admire it! It’s apparently a very interesting monument.
Enjoy some art
In the streets
If you open your eyes and look around, you’ll see there’s plenty of street-art! From graffiti to statues in the middle of the sidewalk. So just keep your eyes peeled while out and about.
The street art is more subtle in Reims but nonetheless beautiful.
Musea
We didn’t have the time to visit any museums, but there are a couple that looked really interesting and had great reviews! There’s the Saint-Remi history museum, the museum of fine arts in the city centre, Palais du Tau and even a planetarium!
Champagnerie Vranken-Pommery
This Champagne house represents art in a couple different ways. First, buildings on site itself are incredible. They seem to come straight out of a fairy tale. Then they also have a lot of art hanging in their cellars. Mixing more modern pieces with the historic atmosphere of the Champagne cellars isn’t for everyone, so let us know what you thing! Finally, they also give tours in Villa Demoiselle, the former house of Mr. Vranken where Art Nouveau meets Art Deco.
The building of Chapagnerie Pommery-Vranken is a work of art on it’s own.
Walk around in Reims
As mentioned before in this post, we really liked Reims. Take your time to roam around in the streets and breathe in your surroundings. You discover so many fun things when you wander around without a destination. Just enjoy! Everything’s possible and you don’t HAVE to anything.
The parks in Reims have so pretty insta-worthy spots!
If you like parks, on the way from town to Champagnerie Lanson you pass Parc Léo Lagrange. A green haven of peace, quiet and cute dogs. We really enjoyed walking through there after our tasting at Lanson!
Where to eat
Breakfast: France doesn’t have the biggest breakfast culture. Quite a shock when you come from Melbourne Australia, where almost every place has all-day breakfast goodies. Either way, you’re best off staying in the city center around Place Drouet d’Erlon, where all the restaurants and bars are. Or do like most french do and have a croissant and espresso from the local bakery.
The incredible display of Waida et Fils.
Lunch: Around noon, go to Lou Creative Food. Trust us, they have amazing wraps, soups and salads! For something a bit more traditional try Café Du Palais, an iconic place in Reims.
Dinner: For a really nice but still not too expensive dinner, Café de la Paix is the perfect place. We had the three course meal with wine and loved absolutely everything. Alternatively we heard amazing things about Cru Chanzy. We didn’t have the chance to try it ourselves since it was closed when we where there, but our Airbnb hosts where raving about it! So if you went there, let us know how it was!
Dessert: Even though it was supercold, we still went for ice cream. Because: ice cream. So what better way to end the day with a beautiful cone of gelato in the shape of a flower?! Oh and did we mention you can add a MACARON in the middle?! This was GOOD! You can get them at Amorino.
Look how pretty!!
Coffee: Go to Columbus Café & Co. We didn’t until the last moment because we thought it was just a chain, but oh my where we wrong. They might be a franchise but they make GREAT coffee! And keep in mind this is coming from two coffee snobs! All the yummy pastries in there made us love the place even more.
Pastries: You have to try at least ONE pastry while you’re there. Savory or sweet, the traditional bakeries have it all and they are good! When we saw this shop Waïda et Fils, Laura was sold. She always has a hard time choosing so this was heaven and hell all at once. And you can even sit inside if you want!
Laura is VERY happy with her pastry!
PRACTICAL
Getting there: The train station is really close to the city center, so we suggest taking a train!
Staying: We stayed a night at an Airbnb, something we recommend and prefer over a hotel room. If you like a hotelroom better, Latino Cafe Hotel is also a really good budget option!
What are your favourite spots in Reims? Leave them in the comments to give other travellers some more inspiration!
Laura is the lead writer at BackpackBeliefs.com, where she specializes in travel guides, cultural exploration, and sustainable tourism. With over 10 years of travel experience and a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, Laura brings valuable insights to her readers.
For the latest travel tips and updates, connect with Laura on Facebook at @backpackbeliefs and Instagram at @backpackbeliefs. where she has 4,622 followers.
