Maison Ruinart, Reims
Vinyard in Reims
Maison Ruinart is a cornerstone of Reims' Champagne story, known for its long heritage and a house identity that leans into elegance, clarity, and craft. Founded in the early 18th century, it's widely regarded as the oldest Champagne house devoted exclusively to Champagne, and a visit here feels like stepping into a brand that has spent centuries refining how it presents itself to the world.
If you're planning a Champagne-focused day, this is one of the top attractions in Reims because it combines history, tasting, and a polished visitor experience in a way that feels distinctly “Reims.” It's also a highlight of any walking tour of Reims that includes the city's grandes maisons, since it gives you a direct, sensory connection to what makes the region famous.
Table of Contents
- History and Significance of the Maison Ruinart
- Things to See and Do in the Maison Ruinart
- How to Get to the Maison Ruinart
- Practical Tips on Visiting the Maison Ruinart
- Where to Stay close to the Maison Ruinart
- Is the Maison Ruinart Worth Visiting?
- FAQs for Visiting Maison Ruinart
- For Different Travelers
- Nearby Attractions to the Maison Ruinart
History and Significance of the Maison Ruinart
Maison Ruinart’s origin story is closely tied to a pivotal moment in Champagne’s commercial rise: the ability to transport wine in bottles. In the early 1700s, sparkling wine was far harder to distribute widely, and changes in how wine could legally and practically travel helped Champagne move beyond a local luxury and into broader markets. Ruinart was founded in this shifting context, and it grew quickly enough that the family’s earlier commercial activity gave way to a dedicated focus on Champagne.
Beyond its age, what makes Ruinart significant is how clearly it has built and maintained a house identity over time. In Champagne, the idea of “house style” matters as much as individual vintages, and long-established maisons tend to treat consistency, blending decisions, and cellar ageing as their signature. Visiting Ruinart is partly about tasting, but it’s also about understanding how a historic producer frames its philosophy and keeps it coherent year after year.
Ruinart is also notable for its long-running relationship with the arts and design. That cultural strand shows up in how the house presents itself, how it commissions and collaborates, and how it connects Champagne to a wider world of visual culture. In practical terms for visitors, this often translates into an experience that feels carefully staged and aesthetically considered, rather than purely technical.
Things to See and Do in the Maison Ruinart
A visit typically centres on the idea that Champagne is made as much in the cellar as in the vineyard. The cellar environment is the real protagonist: cool temperatures, long ageing timelines, and the quiet repetition of bottles resting as the wine develops. Even if you've toured other Champagne houses, it's worth paying attention to what your guide emphasises here, because different maisons tell the cellar story in different ways.
The tasting is where the visit becomes personal and memorable. Rather than treating it as a quick sip at the end, try to identify what feels distinctive about the house’s style: how the wine carries itself on the palate, whether it reads more as crisp and bright or more as rounded and creamy, and what kind of finish lingers. If you have a choice of tasting tiers, consider whether you want a simple introduction or a comparison that reveals how cuvée selection and ageing change the experience.
If the visit includes any art or design elements, treat them as part of the narrative rather than decoration. At Ruinart, the cultural framing is often intentional: it's a way of linking Champagne to a broader idea of refinement and creativity, which can be a refreshing contrast to tours that focus purely on production steps.
How to Get to the Maison Ruinart
Most international visitors reach Reims via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport or Paris Orly Airport, then continue to the city overland, with Châlons Vatry Airport sometimes useful for specific routes and seasons. For the best deals and a seamless booking experience, check out these flights to Reims on Booking.com.
Reims is easy to reach by train from Paris Gare de l'Est to Reims Centre, and from the station you can connect onward by taxi, local transport, or a longer walk depending on where you're staying. You can use SNCF Connect to check schedules, compare routes, and purchase tickets for National (SNCF ) and regional trains (TER). For a more streamlined experience, we recommend using Omio, which allows you to easily compare prices, schedules, and book tickets for both National and Regional travel across all of Europe, all in one place.
If you're travelling by car, Reims is well connected by motorway, and it's often simplest to park once and combine a Champagne-house visit with nearby city-centre sights. If you are looking to rent a car in France I recommend having a look at Discover Cars, first, as they compare prices and review multiple car rental agencies for you.
Practical Tips on Visiting the Maison Ruinart
- Suggested tips: Book ahead if you can, and avoid stacking multiple tastings back-to-back; one well-paced visit often feels more rewarding than three rushed ones.
- Best time to visit: Weekday late morning or early afternoon, when tours tend to feel calmer and you can build the rest of the day around a long lunch.
- Entrance fee: Cellar Visit: €90
- Opening hours: Tours at: 09:30, 14:40, 16:00, 17:20
- Official website: https://www.ruinart.com/
- How long to spend: 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on tour format and tasting level.
- Accessibility: Cellar visits often involve stairs, cool temperatures, and uneven historic surfaces; contact the house in advance if you need step-free arrangements.
- Facilities: Expect a reception area and shop, with the best café and restaurant choice back in central Reims.
- Photography tip: Ask about photography rules at the start; if allowed, focus on cellar perspective shots and small details rather than using flash.
- Guided tours: A guided visit is strongly recommended, because the value is in understanding house style, ageing, and blending choices in context.
- Nearby food options: Plan lunch in central Reims afterward, when you can slow down and let the tasting settle.
Where to Stay close to the Maison Ruinart
For a Maison Ruinart visit, staying in central Reims is usually the best balance, giving you easy access to restaurants and allowing you to reach the Champagne houses by short taxi rides or a structured walking route. Hôtel Continental is a classic option in the heart of the city, ideal for an itinerary that mixes Champagne, architecture, and evening dining. Radisson Hotel Reims works well if you want a modern base with straightforward transport links. For a quieter, slightly more tucked-away stay that still feels central, Grand Hôtel des Templiers offers a more intimate, traditional Reims atmosphere.
Is the Maison Ruinart Worth Visiting?
Yes, particularly if you want a Champagne-house visit that feels heritage-led and carefully presented. Ruinart’s age matters, but the real value is how the experience translates that history into a coherent story you can actually taste, with the cellar environment and house style taking centre stage.
It's also a strong choice if you prefer one “flagship” maison visit rather than several smaller ones. A well-structured Ruinart tour can give you the narrative, the process, and the pleasure in one go, leaving the rest of your Reims time for the cathedral quarter, museums, and unhurried wandering.
FAQs for Visiting Maison Ruinart
What Other Travellers Say...
Maison Ruinart at 4 Rue des Crayères in Reims offers an elegant, design-forward champagne experience where visitors praise the striking architecture, thoughtfully curated modern interiors and art, intimate tasting settings that feel like a living room, and visits that include atmospheric chalk cellars; guides are repeatedly described as friendly, knowledgeable and engaging, tours have creative, surprising moments, and guests frequently combine tastings with lunch or time in the comfortable bar and gift shop.
For Different Travelers
Families with Kids
This can work for families if your children can handle a guided setting and quieter cellar spaces. The key is keeping expectations clear: it’s not an interactive kids’ attraction, but older kids and teens who enjoy history, design, or engineering often find the underground environment genuinely interesting.
If you’re visiting as a family, balance the day with something more open-air afterward, like a park stop or a central square walk, so the itinerary doesn’t feel too “adult-focused” from start to finish.
Couples & Romantic Getaways
Maison Ruinart suits couples well because it naturally feels celebratory without being chaotic. The cellar atmosphere can be surprisingly intimate, and a tasting gives the day a sense of occasion that pairs well with a long lunch and an evening stroll through the cathedral quarter.
For the best rhythm, schedule your tour earlier, then follow with a slow afternoon in central Reims, leaving the evening free for a relaxed dinner rather than another timed activity.
Budget Travelers
A Champagne-house visit can be one of the bigger expenses in Reims, so it's worth making your choice count. If Ruinart is your primary paid experience, build the rest of the day around free highlights like central squares, cathedral exteriors, and Roman remnants to keep the overall budget balanced.
To control costs, choose a standard tour tier rather than premium add-ons, and avoid booking multiple tastings on the same day.
Nearby Attractions to the Maison Ruinart
- Reims Cathedral: The city's Gothic coronation church, an essential stop for sculpture, stained glass, and sheer scale.
- Palais du Tau: The former archbishops' palace beside the cathedral, closely tied to coronation traditions and royal stays.
- Cryptoportique de Reims: A preserved Roman vaulted corridor that brings ancient Durocortorum to life beneath the city centre.
- Place Royale: A classical square with Pigalle's bronze statue of Louis XV, layered over Reims' Roman-era core.
- Carnegie Library of Reims: An elegant Art Deco public library that reflects Reims' post-war rebuilding and civic ambition.
The Maison Ruinart appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Reims!
Moira & Andy
Hey! We're Moira & Andy. From hiking the Camino to trips around Europe in Bert our campervan — we've been traveling together since retirement in 2020!
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Planning Your Visit
Tours at: 09:30, 14:40, 16:00, 17:20
Cellar Visit: €90
Nearby Attractions
- Champagne Pommery (0.3) km
Historic Site - Villa Demoiselle (0.4) km
Historic Building - Parc de Champagne (0.5) km
Park - Taittinger (0.6) km
Historic Site - Reims Champagne Automobile Museum (0.7) km
Museum - Maison Veuve Clicquot (0.9) km
Historic Site - Basilique Saint-Rémi (0.9) km
Church - Musée Saint-Rémi (1.0) km
Museum - Carnegie Library of Reims (1.7) km
Historic Building and Library - Palais du Tau (1.7) km
Palace
