Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on July 13, 2026.
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When we booked a wine trip to France, we decided to head east out of Paris and visit Champagne and Alsace on the same itinerary.
Part of this was purely out of necessity, as we were traveling onward to Germany and had to end in Munich, so heading east made sense to easily connect to onward trains. Another part was that it was Christmas time, and we wanted to check out the iconic Christmas markets in Alsace and nearby.
But, in reality, we booked both on the same itinerary because we could- the two regions aren't that far apart (about 2-3 hours by train/car) and starting in Champagne was an easy ~50 minute train ride from Paris.
In retrospect, however, hitting two major French wine regions in one itinerary was a lot to say the least. So much so that we had to make sacrifices in both, particularly when it came to buying wine to bring home.
So in this one, we thought we'd share some pros and cons of combining Champagne and Alsace into a single trip, including what we liked and what we would've perhaps done differently.
Pro – Easy Access from Paris
As mentioned at the start of this article, one of the things we love about Champagne and Alsace as wine regions is that they are easily accessible from Paris.
In just about 45 minutes, you can be in Reims, and add on another hour, and you could be in Strasbourg on a fast train. Between the two, local trains can get you between destinations in as little as two hours, and with a rental car, you can make the drive in about three.
The distances to cover between these areas are quite short, and we love it.
As such, if you are looking for a two week itinerary to go wine tasting in France, it is pretty easy to book a trip into Paris, hang out there for a few days, take a combination of train and/or rental cars onward to Reims and Strasbourg (or Epernay and Colmar where we stayed, respectively), explore a decent number of wineries over a few days in each destination, and return to Paris with time to spare.
We did the same but with Munich as our final destination, albeit with more limited direct train options out of Strasbourg, and it made for a really great two-week itinerary that we cannot overlook.
Con – Just a Taste of Each
On the flip side of the easy access for a two-week trip, you may find that you are only getting just a taste of each region when visiting, depending on how much time you have available, at least.
To put it simply, both Champagne and Alsace are fairly large and spread out wine regions and have a large number of producers worth trying to match.
With our rental car, even with three or four days in each region, we really thought we were only scratching the surface. You may want a day or two near both Reims and Epernay in Champagne, a day or two near both Strasbourg and Colmar in Alsace, and that doesn't even get you to some of the more far-flung vineyards as well.
Even with one day to check out a more rural spot beyond these popular cities and towns, and you just built out a six day itinerary there that still is only scratching the surface.
After leaving both Champagne and Alsace with just a few days in each, we had the same feeling- we only felt like we were just getting started.
Pro – Variety of Wine
But there is a perk for combining the two on a single trip as well- there is a great variety of wines worth trying in these regions.
Champagne has the popular sparkling wines, of course, which have an array of styles within the category from Blanc de Blanc to Blanc de Noir, Demi Sec (and other sweetness levels), Rose, and even some still wine you may be overlooking.
Alsace runs a spectrum of grapes, including Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, Pinot Noir, Muscat, and many, many more. But these can also be produced in a number of styles from traditional dry wines to reserve wines with a little residual sugar, vendages tardive (late harvest- much sweeter), selection de grains nobles (noble rot- typically the sweetest), sparkling, and more.
In Champagne, you may find yourself chasing variations in nuance of winemaking techniques, whereas in Alsace you have a much larger spectrum of grapes, styles, flavor profiles, and more.
Could we drink Champagne over and over for days on end and not get sick of it? Absolutely. Could we also explore all the variations of wines in Alsace for a week or more and still be excited about it? You know it.
In visiting both of these regions, we got to try a really great cross-section of wine overall, which is a fun combination that we have to be honest in saying you may not find in many other countries.
Con – Limited Shopping Unless You Ship
But the downside to this large array of wines is that our ability to shop was limited.
We always bring bottles home with us in our suitcases, as shipping to the United States is cost-prohibitive (if you live in the EU, it is a bit more approachable to ship), so we had to be careful with our shopping purchases.
Could we have easily filled four suitcases up with sparkling wines from Champagne and called it a day? Absolutely. The same can also be said about the variety of wines in Alsace, too. Heck, we probably could've filled up entire suitcases of late harvest and botrytized wines alone because the vendages tardive and selection de grains nobles Riesling and Pinot Gris in the region are truly exceptional.
So when we were shopping in Champagne, we very quickly had to stop ourselves and do an inventory of purchases before heading to Alsace to ensure we still had bottle space. Likewise, in Alsace, we were approaching our cap of weight and had to rein in the shopping there as well.
In this regard, we did make one decision that we felt was a good one with this consideration in mind- we'd probably return to Champagne sooner than Alsace, and we reserved more of our suitcase space for Alsatian wines overall. Given that it is less than an hour by high speed train from Paris, with Alsace being a bit longer, the odds are good we could find ourselves taking a day trip to Reims at some point to visit more wineries and shop.
The same could not be said about Alsace, so we erred on the side of caution and bought more in Alsace, even if it hurt to let a few prized bottles pass us by in Champagne all the same.
Overall, combining Champagne and Alsace into the same wine trip was a great idea and we enjoyed it immensely, but there were some serious considerations to keep in mind as we felt like we didn't get as deep of dive in the regions nor could shop as much as we otherwise would've preferred.
But if you're okay with some of those minor details when it comes to visiting these two regions, you're going to have a pretty excellent time all around!
Did you visit Alsace and Champagne on the same wine trip? What did you think of the combo? Comment below to share!