Today you’ll make your way to Epernay, the capital of Champagne, and settle into your hotel before a welcome briefing and bike fitting delivered by a local representative. A short warm up ride is available for any early arrivals raring to go!

(NB – Your welcome meeting may be organised for the following morning)

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 250 Metres Approx.

After your first delicious French breakfast, today offers up a lovely ride into nearby villages to get the wheels in motion.

First up is Ay, a tranquil village filled with bistros and wine houses enveloped by vineyards. This little village is considered the powerhouse of the Champagne industry; Champagne HQ if you like, so it’s a great introduction to the region. From here the route takes you along the canal to Cumieres, before a cheeky climb up to the wonderful Hautvillers, the birthplace of the Champagne process and one of the best viewpoints in the area.

From here you’ll descend through the vines back to Epernay. Tonight we’ve organised a Champagne tasting for you, a great way to get to know the local produce and cheers to the riding ahead.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 121 Metres Approx.

Today we’ll be moving on from Epernay to start our journey into the heart of Champagne.

After a short ride out of town, the route picks up the canal-side cycle path, offering traffic free and pancake flat cycling for most of the day. There are numerous little villages dotted along the route, each with their own charm and their own Champagne houses.

Tours-sur-Marne and Conde-sur-Marne are our favourite places to stop, but you might prefer to push on to Châlons-en-Champagne to make the most of a free afternoon in this lovely town. Its distinctive architecture and numerous bridges make it one of the most unique in Champagne.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 195 or 255 Metres Approx.

A day of rest and exploring Châlons-en-Champagne on foot is an option today. Explore the town centre, the sprawl of canals and streams and its charming mix of half-timber houses and riverside gardens. The World Heritage site of the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux is definitely worth a visit.

For those looking to cycle we have a nice route out to one of the Champagne region’s most important historical sites – The Basilica of Notre Dame de l’Epine. For those of you who are wanting to explore further, there is also a longer route to take.

An otherwise sleepy, rural village, l‘Epine is home to a spectacular gothic-style basilica that rivals many cathedrals in France’s major cities due to its grandeur and scale. From here the route descends back to the Marne and follows its course back to the hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 245 Metres Approx.

Today starts by retracing your tyre tracks from day 3, following the canal-side route back westwards to Conde-sur-Marne, before branching off to follow the smaller canal de l’Aisne a la Marne. A short detour away from the canal takes you through some big rural vistas before you rejoin the canal and follow it all the way into Reims.

This is the perfect day to pack plenty of picnic supplies as the rural nature of the route takes you away from some of the busier villages and towns. We recommend stopping for lots of mini-breaks for a picnic next to the water throughout the day to refuel and really take in your surroundings. Roll into Reims and settle into your wonderful hotel, situated right next to the world-famous cathedral.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 383 Metres Approx.

Reims is one of France’s most historically interesting cities and it’s well worth spending a day exploring if you would like to give your legs a break for a day. The enormous Gothic cathedral rising above the city scape, and countless art-deco cafes, and of course Champagne bars are tempting enough for most.

With around 200 kilometers of tunnels beneath the city’s streets, and 250 million bottles of Champagne burrowed away, the city is synonymous with Champagne production. Many of the Champagne houses and chalk caves, used to store and age the fine wines, are open to the public, and most offer guided tours throughout the day if you fancied learning some more about production and the wine’s history. Reims is also home to some unmissable sites listed by UNESCO World Heritage, including the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Palais du Tau, the Basilica of Saint-Remi, the Abbey of Saint-Remi Museum and the Colline Saint Nicaise de Reims (listed as part of the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars)

If however you do want to cycle again, we have a gorgeous route out into the Massif de St Thierry, an area of wonderful rolling vineyards and birdsong-filled forest to the west of the city. Shortly before reaching Chenay, you’ll ride past the Monument de la Resistance which has a panorama over the surrounding countryside and some interesting boards explaining some of the battles that took place nearby.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Ascent: 503 Metres Approx.

The last leg of the tour takes you through the Montagne de Reims, a wonderful undulating landscape of forest and vines.

As their name suggests, this is the one notably hilly route of the tour, with one mile-long climb midway through being the main challenge. The good news though, what goes up, must come down, and it’s mostly downhill for the second half of the day, meaning a nice easy return to Epernay in time for a final dinner and another good night’s sleep in our handpicked hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast

After a final breakfast it’s time to say au revoir! Trip extensions are available on request if you want to spend more time in this lovely part of the world.