Pressoria Champagne Museum

The basics

Pressoria Champagne Museum offers much more than a typical museum tour. Visitors use all five of their senses as they journey through the entire Champagne-making process, from smelling different varieties of grapes to tasting different types of Champagne. Multimedia displays and interactive exhibits help demystify each of the steps involved, offering a fascinating look at what makes Champagne so unique. A stop at the museum is often included on Champagne region tours departing from Paris.

Things to know before you go

• Tickets include two tastings of Champagne, or grape juice for non-drinkers.

• The museum is accessible to wheelchair users and there are wheelchair-accessible restrooms, as well as designated disabled parking spaces.

• Visitors can store their belongings in lockers in the museum’s lobby—note there’s a small fee.

How to get there

Pressoria Champagne Museum is located in the village of Aÿ-Champagne, which is around a 35-minute drive from Reims or 10 minutes by car from Épernay. From Paris’ Gare de l’Est, you can catch a train for 90 minutes, which includes a change of trains in Reims. The museum is around a 15-minute walk from Aÿ-Champagne station.

When to get there

The museum is open from Friday to Wednesday year-round, except for a few dates: it’s closed on January 1, May 1, December 25, and the last two weeks of January. The best time to visit the region is from April to June, when the vineyards are in full bloom, or in September during harvest season.

Aÿ-Champagne Houses

The village of Aÿ-Champagne is home to some of France’s most-renowned Champagne houses, including Champagne Bollinger, Champagne Deutz, and Champagne Ayala. Some houses offer guided tours of their cellars and tastings of their produce, including Bollinger and Ayala.