One day: the cathedral, a cellar, and the boulevard

Start at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame first thing. The nave is free, and the morning light does things to the 13th-century stained glass that the afternoon crowds never see. Give it a proper hour - the rose window, the Chagall windows in the apse chapels, the sheer height of the thing. Thirty-three French kings were crowned here, and it still feels like it.

Walk the five minutes to the Palais du Tau, the archbishops' palace turned cathedral museum: tapestries, coronation robes, the treasury. Then lunch on the Place Drouet-d'Erlon, the pedestrian boulevard where half of Reims seems to eat. Brasserie Le Gaulois does the classic terrace thing; the side streets off the square hide the better value.

Afternoon belongs underground. Pick ONE champagne house - two in a day is the realistic maximum once you count the tours, the tastings, and the walk back. Taittinger (9 Place Saint-Nicaise) runs its tours through Gallo-Roman chalk pits; Veuve Clicquot (1 Place des Droits-de-l'Homme) has the most theatrical cellars. Book ahead - same-day slots in season are a fantasy. Bring a jacket; the cellars sit around 10°C year-round.

Evening: a glass at a champagne bar - Le Parvis (2 Rue Rockefeller, facing the cathedral) pours by the glass with a food menu to match - then dinner somewhere on or near the Erlon.

Day two: Saint-Remi, the market, and the south side

Morning two starts at the Basilique Saint-Remi, the abbey church that holds the tomb of the bishop who baptised Clovis. It's quieter than the cathedral and, honestly, some visitors prefer it. The adjoining Musée Saint-Remi covers Reims from Gallo-Roman times through the wars, inside the old royal abbey buildings.

If it's a Friday or Saturday morning, detour to the Halles du Boulingrin (50 Rue de Mars) - the art-deco covered market. Go hungry, buy cheese and a jambon de Reims terrine, eat like a local. (Some guides list Wednesday mornings too; check reims.fr before planning around it.)

Afternoon: the south-side houses - Pommery (5 Place du Général Gouraud) with its fairy-tale estate and contemporary art in the cellars, or Mumm (34 Rue du Champ de Mars). End the day with a long walk in the Parc de Champagne, the big 19th-century park the champagne houses built for their workers - lawns, rose gardens, and century-old trees ten minutes from the centre.

The long weekend: add Épernay

With a third day, take the TER train 25 minutes south to Épernay and walk the Avenue de Champagne - Moët & Chandon's courtyard alone is worth the trip, and the smaller houses along the avenue pour tastings without the Reims crowds. Back in Reims that evening, the Rêve de Couleurs light show projects onto the cathedral facade on summer evenings - free, and the square fills up for it. Dates vary by year; the tourist office (6 Rue Rockefeller) confirms the season schedule.

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