The Champagne Villages Around Epernay, and What Each Tour Does There

Almost all the Epernay guided tours leave town, and they head for the same handful of villages. The houses are in Epernay; the vines and most of the family growers are out here. Here is each village in turn: where it sits, what you see, which tours stop and for how long.

The villages at a glance

Hautvillers: the church and the lanes

Hautvillers sits on the slope above the Marne, 6 km north of Epernay. Its Benedictine abbey was founded around 650 by Saint Nivard. Dom Pierre Pérignon arrived in 1668, aged 29, and managed the abbey's property for 47 years until his death in 1715. He improved its wines by blending grapes from different plots.

His tomb is inside the church of Saint-Sindulphe, in the choir, and the church is open all year. The abbey buildings next door are another matter. Pierre-Gabriel Chandon bought them in 1823, they still belong to Moët & Chandon, and they are not open to visitors. When a listing says "visit the abbey", expect the church and the village.

Which tours stop at Hautvillers, and for how long

• The afternoon with lunch gives the village 45 minutes before lunch.
• The vintage van stops for ten minutes, then pours your glass in the vines above it.
• The private Must-sees half day spends two hours there: the church, then the village and its vineyards.
• The Bubble tour, the e-bike day and the open-top bus each give it about half an hour.

You can also go on your own. Things to do in Epernay covers the village for a visit without a tour.

Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ: across the river

Aÿ lies north-east of Epernay on the far bank of the Marne, one stop on the TER towards Reims. Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Bisseuil are part of the same commune now, Aÿ-Champagne. That is why one e-bike listing names its domain in "Mareuil-sur-Ay" and in "Aÿ-Champagne": it is the same place.

This is where the lunch tours go. The afternoon from the tourist office spends two and a half hours in Aÿ for a first tasting and lunch paired with champagne. The e-bike day collects you at 9:35 am in Epernay, rides through the vines, and ends with a cellar visit and lunch at Le Clos Corbier. The vintage van gives Aÿ a guided half hour. The private Must-sees half day stops for an hour in Aÿ and half an hour in Mareuil.

The Côte des Blancs: Chouilly, Cramant and Oger

South of Epernay the slopes run towards the Côte des Blancs. Nicolas Feuillatte's cellars are at Chouilly. The house sells its own visits from EUR 20, by booking, and it is the big house on the day from Paris with six tastings.

Further south, Cramant and Oger are where the grower tours go. The Bubble tour spends an hour and a half with a family grower in Oger, then pours ratafia, fine and marc, the region's own aperitif and spirits, in Cramant. The private Connoisseurs half day also ends in Oger, with six champagnes. The open-top bus drives past Chouilly to Cramant without stopping at a cellar.

Pierry: the cellar you can walk to

Pierry sits just south of the town centre. Champagne Vollereaux, at 48 rue Léon Bourgeois, runs a one-hour visit: 40 minutes in the cellar and 20 at the tasting, with three champagnes. You make your own way there, and it is the lowest fare in Epernay, at $19. The house says it was founded in 1805 and is run by the sixth generation.

When the villages pick

In 2026 the harvest opened in August, not September. The Comité Champagne set the first picking dates village by village: 14 August in Chouilly, Cramant, Oger and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, 15 August in Hautvillers, 17 August in Epernay and Pierry. In a year like 2026, late August is picking time in the rows the tours drive through. When to visit Epernay has the dates for every village the tours use.

How long to allow

Hautvillers and Aÿ fit in an afternoon: the vintage van does both in two hours, and the afternoon with lunch gives them four. The Côte des Blancs is further out, so allow a half day: the Bubble tour takes three and a half hours for Hautvillers, Oger and Cramant. Pierry takes an hour, and you can walk back to town for lunch. With a full day, pair one village tour with a house on the avenue in the morning.

Which village for which reader

• You want the Dom Pérignon story: Hautvillers, on almost any tour.
• You want lunch with a family: Aÿ, on the afternoon from the tourist office.
• You want a grower's cellar: Oger, on the Bubble tour or the Connoisseurs.
• You want to walk: Pierry, from the town centre.

The Epernay champagne facts explain what a grower pours that a house does not, the Epernay champagne houses covers the big names in town, and the map puts every village in place.

Days that spend longest in the villages

The Must-sees 3h30 from Epernay (Private Half day Champagne Tour)

Your own guide-chauffeur for three and a half hours in the Aÿ and Mareuil vineyards, three champagnes and three local spirits. Priced per person, two minimum.

From $298 per person, 2 minimum

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The Connoisseurs from Epernay (Private Half day Champagne Tour)

Three and a half hours with your own guide-chauffeur, ending with a family grower in Oger on the Côte des Blancs. Six champagnes and three spirits; two minimum.

From $333 per person, 2 minimum

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Champagne: E-Bike Champagne Day Tour with Tastings and Lunch

Five hours on an electric bike through the vines above Aÿ, with lunch, two champagnes, a red wine and a ratafia at a family domain. From 9:35 am in town.

From $218 per person

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