October 2025: Our trip to France this year was 10 days long. We spent a few days in Paris and then…read morecame to Reims to finish our tour. While the whole trip was amazing, Merci France !, our two day tour with Alex of Sparkling Tours was my absolute highlight. Houses Sparkling Tours (ST) has cultivated true relationships with the local and family owned growers in the region. Yes, they can take you to the big names, but the small houses welcome you into their homes and show you their facilities that they use to make the excellent products. It was so sweet to see our guide, Alex, walk in and be welcomed everywhere we went. They invited him to engage with their tours and show us their spaces. It was delightful to hear about all of the generations of families that have been involved in making champagne, and how they continue their legacies. Language Our guide spoke English and made us feel so welcome. As well, all of the growers we visited helped us feel at home. It can be hard to want to speak more French but need English for understanding- everyone was kind and helpful. We never felt lost or confused. We were able to learn and respect everyone throughout the tour. If you're considering a trip like this, but you're unsure of the language barrier, don't be scared. It will be great. In fact, our guide, Alex, is an English teacher! Champagne The six houses we visited all had wonderful champagnes to share with us. In the States, we're used to some subpar bubbles: that is not the case here. It didn't matter the price of the bottle or the age of the grape, every glass was delicious. We learned among us who liked Chardonnay or Meunier more, but all three of us walked away from each glass with respect and admiration. And, the houses were regularly willing to entertain us asking about a specific type or bottle for more information. Driving Alex was a phenomenal driver. I've personally traveled through many countries with many styles of drivers. Alex was careful, attentive, and focused. I never felt unsafe, and he always knew the right route or place to park. The car was so comfortable, too! The trips never felt too long or tiresome between houses. Food ST arranged for our lunches. You can see the menu from day one in my pictures: a scrumptious lunch in Epernay. Everything was included, so it was easy to sit down and pick our options, but we were also and to purchase more wine with our lunch if we desired. Day 2, we ate in the cellar of the Julien Chopin champagne house. They had orchestrated a pairing for us where each course went with one of their champagnes. This experience was exquisite. History Alex was so informed about champagne, the geography, the techniques, the people, and all of the history that goes into making each bottle we enjoy. It never felt like "school", and I was always interested for more. I won't share all I've learned because you need to come and experience it for the first time yourself. Wow, wow! I'll never look at a bottle of champagne the same way. Cost I hope that if you're reading this review that you're considering a trip to Reims like us. I hope you're doing your research and comparing options. So I suspect that when I say this was the most cost effective option we considered, you understand that it was not "cheap" but it was also not expensive. Several other tour companies were more expensive or comparable, but a big part of the expense is how much the Big Houses charge you to visit their locations. If you add them to your tour, your costs will naturally rise. Valentin at ST suggested we do smaller, family owned houses and that saved us quite a few dollars. More importantly, though, it offered us so much value we did not expect. That value is seen in the rest of my review, above and below this category. We were guests in people's homes, not tourists. We were friends with our guide, not customers. We were exploring the tastes of champagne, not just quick sips. After our tour, the three of us agreed that we would readily pay the cost again for all that we experienced and enjoyed. Driver I've been so excited for this part: Alex, our driver and guide, was perfect. I've been taking guided tours with locals and professionals since 2009. I've never had a bad guide, but Alex is the first one whom I will truly miss. While we only spent two days together, his personality and approach were top notch. He was engaging, interesting, helpful, and considerate. We wish we could have had more time with him- we especially would have loved to share lunch with him. I've mentioned little specifics above about how he delivered an excellent tour for us, but just know that if he is the standard for how all of the ST tour team works, then you're in the best care. Alex, if you read this, know that you made a lasting impact on us! Thank you so much. -- Yes, I wrote all of this. No, AI was not involved. I care deeply about sharing good recommendations when they're deserved. I was not paid for this review.

Just finished a champagne tour with this company. Our guide was named Anna and I was blown away by…read moreall her knowledge and professionalism. You get picked up from your hotel and taken to champagne houses (you can request the ones you want - we went for the smaller independent houses and we're so glad we did). We did a half day tour and visited 2 independent houses. Both were amazing and even got to meet the owner of one! This company has a great relationship with many houses in Reims so you really get an outstanding tour. Will definitely be using them again!

Juliane was our AMAZING tour guide, she was extremely informative and expressive with a little bit…read moreof humor- made the tour very fun. Be careful as the floors are slick (so glad Juliane told us this so I could be aware and not fall). Champagne tasting was lovely seated in the courtyard. While this champagne house may not be as glamorous as Veuve the champagne is WORLDS ABOVE all others. I look forward to returing

We had an excellent experience touring Maison Mumm champagne house. Our guide was very friendly and…read moreknowledgeable regarding the history and production of the champagne. We enjoyed the tasting in the garden at the end of the tour too. All around a great experience!

We had a tour booked with A La Française for Tuesday, July 2, 2024. They acted in a completely…read moreunprofessional manner. They were unresponsive, unhelpful, and rude. There are several other companies to choose from when visiting France such as ItalyTours, ToursbyLocals, etc. Who all provide exceptional service. Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs - They do not care one bit about their customers.

I had such an amazing experience with this tour. I really felt that the price was worth it, I would…read moredo it again as well without a doubt. First off my tour guide was Jerome, very knowledgable, not only did we talk about the region with him but also the culture of the area. This tour felt like you were with friends and not a commercial tour/guide. We were in a small group of 6 which allowed us to get to know the others in our van and converse especially when it came to our lunchtime. Oh yes, the van- very very clean, so fresh like a rental car and had air conditioning, but the temperature outside was so good we didn't need any air con on. I enjoyed getting to explore the area going to multiple cities around Reims, Epernay, and a couple of others I'm not quite sure how to spell the name. The Champagne Master Class was a lot of fun as well! I won't go into detail with this one so I won't spoil it. Lunch time: I have celiac disease (can't have gluten) and often find trouble with places being able to accommodate my restriction. But there was no problem here, I emailed them in advance, they also double checked the morning of again with other members of the group to for any allergies or restrictions. They let me know it would not be a problem. We had lunch in the side courtyard of a French home which made it very personal in ensuring quality. My lunch was gluten-free, with gluten-free bread and other accompaniments. The table was set in a family style lunch setting. They had a great selection of cheeses on a board with jams, and wonderful authentic French foods which I don't know the name of but my boyfriend got to try a bit of everything and he told me he really liked it. At this house there is also lovely small dog named Harry who will come around and nudge you from under the table in his attempt to get some cheese or table scraps. We had dessert and coffee after lunch and then headed to a family wine house. Again another truly authentic experience. Last but not least there was definitely at least 10 tastings I might have lost track at some point haha, but I really got a true appreciation for Champagne and how it is made. I could go on and on but in short, I highly recommend this tour it would be impressive to whoever you bring along!

Another one of those "you live and learn" moments. Reservations are required for various tasting…read moretours which run from 80 euros and up. Even though we didn't have reservations, we were able to go to the tasting room for sampling. I honestly had no idea how many varieties of champagne are made. We tasted about 6 champagnes in about 2 hours and fortunately, had a ride to our hotel. The staff made us feel very welcome, as opposed to our attempted tour at Bollinger. The gift shop was happy to see us and sad to see us leave!

We had the vintage tasting experience here and our guide was simply the best! We learned and saw so…read moremuch of the house as well. Our guide suggested to finish our tasting with a comparison of dom perignon vintages from two completely different years to see what we prefer. This was a very eye opening and fun end to the tour as we learned so much about our own preferences. This tour was the best and would highly recommend it to anyone! I'd say this is the best tour to do on the avenue and then do tastings at other wineries or shops. Because this tour is the only one you need!

From the owner: Le plus grand château-fort d'Europe Construit vers 1424, le château-fort de Sedan est le plus grand…read mored'Europe avec une superficie de 35000 m². Avec sa position stratégique sur la frontière de l'Est de la France, il fut sans cesse agrandi, renforcé, modernisé par les puissants La Marck. Aujourd'hui classé monument historique, il raconte son parcours à travers l'Historium.

From the owner: Musée vivant de la bière artisanale par excellence, nous brassons encore à l'ancienne, dans des…read moreanciennes cuves en cuivre, chauffées au feu de bois. En plus de nos "classiques" (la Caracole, la Saxo, la Nostradamus et la Troublette), nous proposons une gamme bio, fruitée, originale (Forestinne).

Came here on a rainy morning on a Thursday. Was able to get a parking spot easily and do a walk in…read moretasting without a reservation. The staff is warm and friendly. The service is refined and professional. Possibly my favorite champagne house on the champagne avenue.

This was a small champagne house along the Ave de champagne. It was a nice stop on our day of…read morechampagne drinking.

I want to be straight with you: the tour is really just someone driving a tram around the caves for…read more20 minutes while you listen to an audio recording in your native language. One Yelp reviewer described the experience as a child's ride at Disney World, and I have to agree. Having said that though, I think this type of tour is exactly what I was looking for. I have been on "English" wine tasting tours where I only understood about half of what the tour guide was saying, which defies the whole purpose of hiring an English-speaking guide. I don't mind listening to timed audio recordings where the English has actually been vetted. The champagne tasting at the end is nice too, as the staff does not rush you to finish. Mercier brands itself as an affordable champagne, so the tour experience is what you would expect from the no-frills brand as well.

It doesn't matter if you've never heard of this champagne. Apparently 80% of it's bottles stay in…read moreFrance so not unlikely you haven't. COME VISIT THIS HOUSE. This tour was amazing. I mean I'd give it 7 stars ******* if I could, it was that awesome. If you're a wine snob maybe it's not for you. I read one review where they said it was like "the Disneyland of champagne houses" but this is the point and Mercier doesn't pretend that it's not. From the moment you walk in and see the red and the pop art you know you're in a different kind of place and I was digging it hard. The information about the history was completely and utterly fascinating. It was interesting to see how one person's vision can influence popular culture. Granted, the tour is about champagne but it also isn't. It's more about Mr. Mercier and the history of the brand, so if you want a champagne history tour it may not suit you too well.