Reims is the coronation city of France, where 33 kings were crowned in a cathedral that still dominates the skyline. It's also the unofficial capital of Champagne, ringed by vineyard slopes and chalk cellars where some of the world's most famous houses age their bottles. The combination makes it a natural base for exploring the region — serious history meets serious wine, both within easy reach of Paris and the Channel.
The city centre is compact and walkable, rebuilt in Art Deco style after the First World War levelled much of it. Between cathedral visits and cellar tours, you'll find covered markets, tree-lined parks, and a lively dining scene. Self-catering gîtes in the surrounding Champagne countryside put you within short drives of Reims itself and the vineyard villages that supply the grandes marques.
No gîtes listed near Reims — yet
We're actively building our coverage in this area. In the meantime:
About Reims
Reims has been a staging post for power since the Romans built the Porte de Mars, a triumphal arch that still stands near the city centre. But its defining role began in 496, when Clovis, first king of the Franks, was baptised here. That set a precedent: for over a thousand years, French monarchs travelled to Reims to be anointed in the cathedral, making it a symbolic heart of the nation even when Paris held the political reins.
The city paid dearly for its prominence. Shelling in the First World War reduced much of the centre to rubble, including the cathedral's roof and stained glass. The reconstruction that followed gave Reims a distinct 1920s character — Art Deco façades, wide boulevards, and the striking covered market at Halles Boulingrin, a concrete parabolic vault that looks more like a 1930s airship hangar than a place to buy vegetables.
Today Reims is a working city of around 180,000, not a museum piece. University students fill the cafés along Place Drouet d'Erlon, and the Champagne houses — Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Mumm, Pommery — run tours through their chalk cellars, some of which burrow 30 metres below the streets. The surrounding region is gentle, rolling countryside: vines on south-facing slopes, beech woods, and quiet villages where growers sell directly from their cellars.
Things to do near Reims
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims is the obvious starting point — a Gothic masterpiece with over 2,300 statues on its façade and modern stained glass by Marc Chagall inside. It's vast, light-filled, and free to enter. A few minutes' walk south, the Basilique Saint-Remi is quieter and older, with Romanesque nave columns and the tomb of the saint who baptised Clovis. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Champagne cellars are the other main draw. The Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Visitors Center offers guided tours through 24 kilometres of chalk tunnels, ending with a tasting. Champagne Taittinger runs similar tours beneath the Saint-Nicaise hill, where Gallo-Roman chalk pits were repurposed as wine cellars in the 18th century. Book ahead for both.
The Porte de Mars, a Roman arch from the 3rd century, stands unceremoniously beside a busy road but is worth a quick look for scale alone. Parc de Champagne, east of the centre, is a landscaped green space with views back towards the cathedral. For something further out, the Faux de Verzy is a nature reserve of twisted beech trees about 25 kilometres south — an odd, photogenic forest walk if you have a car.
Typical climate
Typical weather
Monthly averagesOn the map
Food & drink
Champagne is the obvious regional product, and you'll find bottles from smaller grower-producers at better prices than in the UK. The Halles Boulingrin market, open Wednesday to Saturday mornings, is the place for cheese, charcuterie, and whatever's in season — it's a listed building as well as a working market, so worth a visit even if you're not shopping.
Reims biscuits rose de Reims are pink, twice-baked biscuits traditionally dunked in Champagne; you'll see them in bakery windows. The surrounding Champagne region produces Chaource cheese (a soft, creamy cow's milk cheese) and various pâtés. For a special meal, Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa has a Michelin-starred restaurant overlooking the vineyards, though it's a 20-minute drive from the city. In Reims itself, dining clusters around Place Drouet d'Erlon and the streets near the cathedral, with plenty of brasseries serving Champagne by the glass alongside regional dishes.
Getting there
Paris Charles de Gaulle is 111 kilometres west, roughly an hour and a quarter by car via the A4 autoroute. There's also a direct TGV from the airport's rail station to Reims, taking around 40 minutes. If you're arriving by Eurostar, Paris Gare du Nord is 129 kilometres away; change onto a TGV at Gare de l'Est for the 45-minute run to Reims. Calais, the main ferry and Eurotunnel terminal, is 241 kilometres northwest — a straightforward but longish drive of around two and a half hours via the A26.
Reims is well-connected by French motorway, making it a practical first or last stop if you're touring Champagne or heading further into Alsace or Burgundy. Parking in the city centre can be tight; if your gîte is in the surrounding countryside, you'll have an easier time and still be within half an hour's drive of the cathedral and cellar tours.