I’m visiting Champagne next week with some family. We have a mix of interests, and we have a cellar tour and tasting. Some folks are more outdoorsy and were not interested in spending all of our time in cellars and tasting rooms and wanted to just see an outdoor vineyard, maybe walk around.
This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to just drive over from Reims to Mailly-Champagne or Rilly-la-Montagne and stop somewhere for an experience like that?
Thanks.
Yes why not. You could use a routing app or just wander down some vineyard roads/paths and see where you get to.
I mean, are they public grounds? Can you just walk around them or is that trespassing?
Maybe again I’m asking naive questions here 
Stay on a clear path or road and don’t touch anything. No one will care. Unlikely you even see anyone.
My wife and I stayed at Château de Sacy during our honeymoon (about a 15 minute drive from Rilly-la-Montagne) and we walked from the Chateau through the Nicolas Maillart vineyard down to the tasting room in Écueil and there were pre-established paths through most of the vineyard. We saw other couples walking along, too. I think as long as you stay out of the actual vines and are generally respectful - you’ll be fine.
That’s actually one of my fondest memories of our trip - just a nice little morning walk through the vineyard.
This looks like a trailhead if they’d like to visit the woods:
Thanks for the ideas. Also if I wanted to be driven through scenic area or stop at a vista within about a 20-25 min drive of Reims, any suggestions?
Hi David,
if you go to Rilly-la-Montagne, make sure you visit Champagne house Marc Chauvet. Terrific value Champagnes that get no airplay on this board. We have been importing them into Australia for 15 years.
cheers
Jeremy
I have similar praise for Champagne Daniel Dumont.
For reference, I ended up going to the Verzenay windmill (Moulin de Verzenay) and that gave great views of the surrounding area and close up to rows of vines.
