Epernay sits at the heart of the Champagne vineyards, a prosperous small city built on top of an extraordinary underground world. Beneath the elegant Avenue de Champagne — lined with the mansions of the great champagne houses — run more than a hundred kilometres of chalk tunnels where hundreds of millions of bottles quietly mature. Moet et Chandon, Perrier-Jouet, and Mercier all offer cellar tours, and walking from one to the next along the avenue is one of the great indulgences of French wine country.
The town itself is pleasant without being remarkable. The real attraction is the surrounding countryside: the vineyards of the Cote des Blancs to the south, planted almost entirely with Chardonnay, and the Montagne de Reims to the north, where Pinot Noir dominates. Driving or cycling through these villages — Cramant, Avize, Hautvillers — during autumn harvest is unforgettable. Hautvillers, where Dom Perignon is buried in the abbey church, is a particularly worthwhile stop.
Epernay is easy to reach by train from Paris (about 1 hour 20 minutes from Gare de l'Est) and makes a good base for exploring the region, whether you prefer organized cellar visits or just wandering the vineyard roads with a good map. The Tuesday and Saturday markets at the Halle Saint-Thibault in the town centre are worth timing your visit around.