10 Best Sights in Champagne Country, France

Unlike most of the area's Champagne tours, at Castellane you get a chance to see the bottling, corking, and labeling plant. During the 45-minute guided tour of the underground chalk cellars, every step of the Champagne-making process is carefully explained. The visit culminates with a glass of Castellane Brut. Above the cellars, there's a museum with an intriguing display of old tools, bottles, labels, and posters. A climb to the top of the iconic 200-foot tower rewards you with a great view over Épernay and the surrounding Marne vineyards.

Constructed between 1150 and 1230, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame is a superb example of early Gothic architecture. The light interior gives the impression of order and immense length, and the first flourishing of Gothic design is reflected in the harmony of the four-tier nave: from the bottom up, observe the wide arcades, the double windows of the tribune, the squat windows of the triforium, and, finally, the upper windows of the clerestory. Medieval stained glass includes the rose window dedicated to the liberal arts in the left transept, and the windows in the flat east end, an unusual feature for France although common in England. The majestic towers can be explored during guided visits; these depart from the tourist office, which occupies a 12th-century hospital on the cathedral square. Audio guides can be rented for €5, although they don't include the towers.

By far the largest church in France, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens could enclose Paris's Notre-Dame twice. It may lack the stained glass of Chartres or the sculpture of Reims, but for architectural harmony, engineering proficiency, and sheer size, it's incomparable. The soaring, asymmetrical facade has a notable Flamboyant Gothic rose window and is brought to life on summer evenings when a sophisticated 45-minute light show re-creates its original color scheme. Inside, there's no stylistic disunity to mar the perspective, creating an overwhelming sensation of pure space. Construction took place between 1220 and 1264, a remarkably short period in cathedral-building terms. One of the highlights of a visit here is hidden from the eye, at least until you lift up some of the 110 choir-stall seats and admire the humorous, skillful misericord seat carvings executed between 1508 and 1518 (access with guide only). Audio guides can be rented from the tourist office.

Recently restored for its 800th birthday, this magnificent Gothic cathedral provided the setting for the coronations of French kings. The great historical saga began with Clovis, king of the Franks, who was baptized in an early structure on this site at the end of the 5th century; Joan of Arc led her recalcitrant Dauphin here to be crowned King Charles VII; Charles X's coronation, in 1825, was the last. The east-end windows have stained glass by Marc Chagall and Imi Knoebel. Admire the vista toward the west end, with an interplay of narrow pointed arches. The glory of Reims's cathedral is its facade: it's so skillfully proportioned that initially you have little idea of its monumental size. Above the north (left) door hovers the Laughing Angel, a delightful statue whose famous smile threatens to melt into an acid-rain scowl now that pollution has succeeded war as the ravager of the building's fabric. With the exception of the 15th-century towers, most of the original building went up in the 100 years after 1211. You can climb to the top of the towers and peek inside the breathtaking timber-and-concrete roof (reconstructed in the 1920s with Rockefeller money) for €8. A stroll around the outside reinforces the impression of harmony, discipline, and decorative richness. The east end presents an idyllic sight across well-tended lawns.

Soaring above the town center is the tallest cathedral in France: the Cathédrale St-Pierre. You may have an attack of vertigo just gazing up at its vaults, 153 feet above the ground. Despite its grandeur, the cathedral has a shaky past. The choir collapsed in 1284, shortly after completion, and was rebuilt with extra pillars. This engineering fiasco, paid for by the riches of Beauvais's wool industry, proved so costly that the transept was not attempted until the 16th century. It was worth the wait: an outstanding example of Flamboyant Gothic, with ornate rose windows flanked by pinnacles and turrets. However, a megalomaniacal 450-foot spire erected at the same time came crashing down after just four years, and Beauvais's dream of having the largest church in Christendom vanished forever. Now the cathedral is starting to lean, and cracks have appeared in the choir vaults because of shifting water levels in the soil. No such problems bedevil the Basse Oeuvre (lower edifice; closed to the public), which juts out impertinently where the nave should have been; it has been there for 1,000 years. Fittingly donated to the cathedral by the canon Étienne Musique, the oldest surviving chiming clock in the world—a 1302 model with a 15th-century painted wooden face and most of its original clockwork—is built into the wall of the cathedral. Perhaps Auguste Vérité drew his inspiration from this humbler timepiece when, in 1868, he made a gift to his hometown of the gilded, templelike astrological clock (€5; displays at 10:30, 11:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30 with additional displays at 12:30 and 1:30 from April to September), which features animated religious figurines representing the Last Judgment.

Founded by Charles Moët in 1743, the world's largest Champagne producer is a must-see if you're in the region. Foreign royalty from Czar Alexandre I and Emperor Napoléon I to Queen Elizabeth II have visited these prestigious chalk-cellar galleries, which run for a mind-blowing 27 km (17 miles). During the tour, which lasts over an hour and takes place on foot, a savvy guide explains in detail the Champagne-making process. There are three sommelier-guided tasting choices, with the high-end option including a glass of Grand Vintage and Grand Vintage Rosé. Reserve a visit online.

When fire destroyed Lille's opera house in 1903, a new, grander edifice began to rise after more than 10 years of construction. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War I set everything several steps back; after the war, more renovation was required, but the theater eventually opened in 1923. As impressive as the Belle Époque facade is on the outside, it's the sumptuous grande salle on the inside that truly dazzles, with its gilding, marble, chandeliers, and massive dome. The space suffers no dearth of activity today; the stage teams with operas, concerts, and dance performances.

Restored in the 1990s as part of the revitalization of the city, this museum now ranks among the best in France. It takes special pride in its prized Flemish and Dutch collection, with works by Van Dyck, Rubens, and Brueghel. There are also equally impressive paintings, sculptures, and ceramics by Monet, Goya, and Delacroix. The prints and drawings room alone holds 30 pieces by Raphael. Originally established by decree by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, the museum moved into its current Belle Époque--style building in the late 19th century.

Founded back in 1729, just a year after Louis XV's decision to allow wine to be transported by bottle (previously it could only be moved by cask), Ruinart effectively kick-started the Champagne industry. Nicolas Ruinart established the high-end Champagne house in Reims, realizing the dreams of his uncle Dom Thierry Ruinart, who was a close friend of Dom Pérignon himself. Four of its huge, church-size chalk galleries (24 in all, over three levels) are listed as historic monuments. The two-hour guided tour starts with a view of the high-tech production line behind a glass wall, and then takes you through the warren of chalk-hewn caves stacked with Champagne bottles undergoing various stages of maturation. This is the costliest visit in the area; if you're willing to shell out €75, you can taste a cuvée premium and a vintage cuvée prestige Champagne, either a Blanc de Blancs or a rosé, in the stylish tasting room. Visits need to be reserved online, at least two weeks in advance.

Cavernous chalk cellars, first used by monks for wine storage, house 15 million bottles and partly occupy the crypt of the 13th-century abbey that used to stand on this spot. Inside, you can also see a model of the abbey and its elegant church, both demolished during the French Revolution. The 1½-hour guided tour starts with a short film, then continues with a walk through the 4th-century Gallo-Roman cellars and 13th-century vaults of St-Nicaise Abbey, and ends in a huge cave where locals were once sheltered from the Germans. The visit is topped off with a tasting. There are seven categories of tastings; the top-end choice, L'Instant de Grâce (€77), offers three Champagnes, including Taittinger's finest cuvée, the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. Tours in English happen just about every hour—check online for times. No appointment is necessary. Due to major restorations Taittinger's cellars will be closed until 2025.