There’s nothing like a fancy flute of authentic French bubbly to kick off a vacation in France. And since you can get to the Champagne region in 23 minutes on a high-speed train departing directly from Terminal 3 at Charles de Gaulle airport, there’s no reason not to raise a glass.

Step off your flight, make your way through passport control, and follow the signs to the Sheraton Hotel inside the terminal. As you approach the Sheraton, you’ll see escalators. Take the escalators all the way to the ground floor, and you’ll see the departing trains there. I like to book my train tickets in advance on an app called Trainline, but there are a number of ways to book train travel. Choose what works for you!

The direct train is from Terminal 3 to a station called Champagne-Ardenne. You can either keep going to the central Reims station by train, or hop off there and get a taxi or Uber/rideshare.

If you’ve arrived early, as most US flights do, there’s typically a train in the 9-10am time frame, so you can get to Reims, drop your luggage at your hotel, and see some sights before lunch.

Getting back to Paris is just as easy: from Champagne-Ardenne you can get the same 23-minute return train ride to CDG – or if you need to get to central Paris, you can find a multitude of direct trains departing day and night from the Reims Centre station.

Hotels

The Best Western Premier Hotel de la Paix is an absolutely solid choice – center of town, good value for money. The Best Western brand in France, in my experience, tends to be a little nicer than what we might be used to in the US.

Two steps up might be something like the La Caserne Chanzy Hotel and Spa. Also centrally located, and not much more expensive than the Best Western, depending on the day of the week and the time of year.

If you want to splurge big time, hit up the fancy Les Crayeres. Super high end, luxurious, and right around the corner from Veuve Clicquot.

Champagne houses

If you’re only in town for a day trip or one night, make an online reservation at Veuve Clicquot and call it done. If the only cellar you see in Champagne is Veuve, you’ve still done well. Their cave is stunning, and you’ll get a good dose of regional history + schooling on how champagne is made. Importantly, you’ll get a glass of the good stuff at the end of your tour. And their on-site shop is swoon-worthy. You’ll want to buy one of everything. It appears they also now have a café where you can sit down for a snack (and more bubbles), but I haven’t been since that opened. If I had to guess, I’d assume the café is way over-priced for what you get, but the ambiance is probably hard to beat.

I’ve also done Ruinart and Pommery. Ruinart is just outside of town – more beautiful old cellars + tasting in an elegant drawing room after the tour. Pommery is slightly more central, and is interesting, though without quite all the same charms as Ruinart and Veuve.

If you have time and you’re renting a car, the Nicolas Feuillatte tour en route to Epernay is fantastic. It’s a newer champagne house in a modern warehouse-looking building, but don’t let that put you off. Several selfie-worthy props adorn their two-story entryway and shop, and it’s the only tour I’ve been on where you really get to see champagne in-the-making in real time. The other houses tell you how it’s made and may show photos and videos, but you get to see inside the whole operation on this tour.

Epernay is home to the prestigious Avenue de Champagne, where you can pose with a larger-than-life Dom Perignon statue in front of the Moet et Chandon cellars. Even if you don’t have time for a tour, take a stroll around their glitzy gift shop.

More on the Avenue de Champagne: Perrier Jouet opened a posh tasting room and courtyard last year. You’ll pay 20 euros or more for a tiny flute containing a gulp or two of their delicious bubbly, but if the weather is nice and you can find a spot to sit in the elegant courtyard, it really is a beautiful experience. If Perrier Jouet is full, you’ll find a bevy of other shops and courtyards nearby where you can take a load off with a glass of champs.

If you want to go off the beaten path for an intimate experience at a smaller, family-run champagne house where you’ll be greeted and taste with the wine growers themselves, then make an appointment at Domaine Daniel Dumont in Rilly-La Montagne. Adjacent to their home, between Reims and Epernay, Jean-Michel and his sister take turns welcoming guests for cave tours and tastings. You’ll find that their champagne is just as delicious as anything you taste at Veuve or Moet, at about a quarter of the price. And their cellars, at the bottom of an ancient spiral staircase, are just as moldy and charming as you’d expect from a generations-old winemaking operation.

You can, of course, find the fancy, better-known champagnes in your local supermarket or wine shop. Daniel Dumont champagnes are, however, not that easy to find. It is not an inexpensive venture, but I ship his wines back to the US. You can order them when you’re there, or email Jean-Michel for pricing. Even with what will seem like exorbitant shipping costs, you can get them to your front door for – typically – less than what you’d pay for a bottle of Veuve. I call the Dumont variety my “house champagne” (ha) and serve it only to my favored guests. The flavor profile of his champagnes change with each cuvée, so my friends and I have fun each year debating which of the Dumont styles we prefer.

Food

If you’re staying put in central Reims, you can’t beat the cool art deco-themed Le Grand Café. They have an extensive menu, and are best known for the dozens of ways they prepare moules-frites (mussels and fries). Yum.

If you want to check out the fancy Les Crayeres hotel but don’t want to shell out quite so much for a room, you can still book lunch or dinner at one of their three restaurants.

If you decide to do the Epernay thing, then lunch or dinner at Brasserie La Banque is a winner every time.

Sights

Be sure to see the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims, and the Basilique Saint-Remi.