Reims Christmas market 2026

When is the Reims Christmas market 2026?

From Wednesday 25 November to Sunday 27 December 2026, daily, closed on Friday 25 December. These are the tourist office's published dates.

The official 2026 page gives two timetables: one up to 20 December, and a longer-day school holiday timetable from 21 to 27 December. If you see 26 November to 21 December, that is an older placeholder; Festival en France still carries it with a note that the edition is not confirmed. Last year's market ran 26 November to 28 December 2025, which is where the other dates come from.

Monday is the short day before the holidays, opening only at 14:00. Friday and Saturday evenings run to 22:00 and are the busiest. Our pick is a Tuesday to Thursday afternoon, before the after-work crowd.

Where is the Reims Christmas market?

On the Hautes Promenades Jean-Louis Schneiter and the esplanade de la Porte de Mars, the long park in front of Reims Centre station. Entry is free.

Step out of Reims Centre station and the chalets are across the road. The tourist office puts the walk at about a minute. The market stretches north along the promenades to the Porte de Mars, the Roman arch at the top end, where the children's village sits. The tourist office calls it the third largest Christmas market in France, with about 150 chalets of food, crafts and gifts (2025 page).

The site is accessible to people with reduced mobility, and dogs are welcome on a lead. Paris Gare de l'Est to Reims is 46 minutes by TGV, which makes an evening at the market an easy day trip. Make sure your ticket says Reims, not Champagne-Ardenne TGV, which is 8 km out of town.

What is there to do at the Reims Christmas market?

Eat and shop along 150 chalets, ride the big wheel on place Drouet d'Erlon, watch the Regalia light show on the cathedral, and take children to the Porte de Mars village.

• The big wheel and the tree stand on place Drouet d'Erlon, the café street off the market. The tourist office says to go after dark.
• Regalia is a free sound-and-light show projected on the cathedral facade, about ten minutes long, with no ticket. Check the evening times on the tourist office page before you go.
• The Village des Oursons at the Porte de Mars has a little train and Father Christmas until 24 December: 15:00 to 19:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 11:30 on Wednesday, and from 11:00 at weekends and 21 to 23 December.
• The Foire de Noël et des Rois, a funfair, sets up on the chaussée Bocquaine by the Stade Auguste-Delaune.
• Biscuits roses, the pink Reims biscuit that dates from the 1690s, make the easy edible souvenir. They are traditionally dipped in champagne.

Bring layers. December is the wettest month in Reims, with an average high of 6.9 °C and a low of 1.5 °C (Météo-France normals).

Can you combine the Christmas market with a champagne tour?

Yes, and the timing works well. The grower tours start and end at the Reims Centre station tourist office, across the road from the market, and run until 23 December.

The afternoon family wineries tour leaves at 2 pm and drops you back at the station at 6:30 pm, just as the chalets light up. You get two family growers, six glasses and a stop in Hautvillers, then the market until 21:00 or 22:00. That is the day we would plan.

The morning tour runs 9:20 am to 1:10 pm and suits a Monday, when the market only opens at 14:00 before the holidays. The Land Rover vineyard ride is two hours from behind the cathedral with at least two glasses of brut, a short add-on if you only have an afternoon. Book for a date before 23 December: the tourist office listing shows the operator of the grower tours open until that day.

Two family wineries, six tastings and Hautvillers, from Reims station at 2 pm and back at 6:30 pm for the market.

★ 4.8 · 4.5 hours · from $146

Explore the afternoon family wineries tour → Tour details

Which champagne houses are open during the Christmas market?

Pommery every day, Taittinger Tuesday to Sunday, Veuve Clicquot Wednesday to Sunday, and Mumm Thursday to Monday until 21 December.

All four sell visits online and all four are worth booking ahead in December, when weekend slots go first. Mumm, on rue du Champ de Mars, is the only big house within an easy walk of the market. The others stand on the Saint-Nicaise hill on the far side of the centre, a bus or taxi ride away; Pommery gives bus C to the "Pommery" stop, about 20 minutes from the station.

From 22 December the choice shrinks. Mumm lists nothing, Pommery and Veuve Clicquot shut on Christmas Day, and Ruinart's listed season ends on 29 December. The full calendar is in our winter openings post.

What else is on in Champagne in December 2026?

Habits de Lumière lights up the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay on 11, 12 and 13 December 2026, half an hour from Reims by train.

Habits de Lumière reaches its 26th edition: illuminations on the Avenue de Champagne, fireworks, and a parade of vintage cars on the Sunday. It is one of the busiest weekends of the year in Épernay, so book trains and dinner early. A Friday at the Reims market and a Saturday in Épernay makes a good weekend.

Deciding where to sleep? Reims or Épernay sets out the trade-offs, and things to do in Reims covers the cathedral, the museums and where to eat.

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