FR France
Champagne
Chalk cellars under two working towns, and a landscape that reads far quieter than the drink suggests.
Best Jun — Sep · 2–4 days · CDG 109 minTravel thoughtfully · drink responsibly · 18+
2 of 20 regions
Sparkling.
Two regions on the same Cretaceous chalk, three hundred years apart. Traditional-method sparkling is the most cellar-driven wine tourism there is — most of what matters happens underground.
How a region qualifies
The region's principal output is traditional-method sparkling wine.
What it changes
Cellar tours run to fixed times and are genuinely cold. Book the grower visits ahead; the large houses can usually be walked into, the small ones cannot.
The 2 regions
GB England
Sussex & Kent
The same chalk as Champagne, an hour from London, and a sparkling industry still young enough to be curious.
Best Jun — Sep · 2–3 days · LGW 43 minOther kinds of trip
one base, no moving, walking between the wine, fortified and sweet, volcanoes and altitude, and the drive is the trip. Or start from the places themselves.