Coach Rental Across France

Vineyard days by coach

A wine day is a chain of short stops on country roads. The plan depends on where a coach can park at each estate, and how many people each cellar will take.

Champagne: Reims and Épernay

Since 2015, UNESCO has listed three Champagne areas as World Heritage: the hillside vineyards near Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Reims's Saint-Nicaise hill and Épernay's Avenue de Champagne. In Épernay, coach groups meet at the coach spaces on Rue Jean Moët, a few metres from the avenue.

Every house visit needs a booking, and high season fills first. Some houses take only small groups, so check the limit before you send a full coach. Reims has a low-emission zone inside its inner boulevards that bars Crit'Air 4, 5 and unclassified vehicles. The city centre has no published coach stopping point, so the driver confirms where to set down.

Passenger van rear compartment loaded with luggage
Passenger van rear compartment loaded with luggage

Bordeaux and Burgundy

Saint-Émilion has two coach parks. Villemaurine, at the top of the village, has 18 spaces and a 10-hour limit. The station car park is about 1 to 1.5 km south. Margaux is about 45 minutes from Bordeaux by car; allow more by coach.

Burgundy's Climats form a strip of roughly 50 km, from Dijon down to the Maranges, through the Côte de Nuits, then the Côte de Beaune. For an introduction, pick one of the three Cité des Climats et vins de Bourgogne sites: Beaune, Mâcon or Chablis.

Rules organisers should know

  • The Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on 4 July 2015: the hillside vineyards around Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, the Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims and the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay
  • Bordeaux wine country has six main areas: Médoc; Graves and Sauternes; Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac; Entre-deux-Mers; Blaye and Bourg; and the Bordeaux appellations
  • The Rhône Valley vineyards run from Vienne to Avignon and include Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Rhône and Provence

Rhône wine country stretches between Vienne in the north and Avignon in the south. From Avignon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is about 17 km. In the Loire, the Vouvray vineyards are about 11 km from Tours, close enough for a half day. Provence wine comes under three appellations: Coteaux Varois en Provence, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence and Côtes de Provence.

Organisers ask

Does the driver join the tastings?

No. The driver is working and stays with the vehicle.

Which estates take visitors?

Estates with the Vignobles & Découvertes label welcome them. Book every group visit and tasting ahead.

Coach or minibus?

For up to 16 people, a minibus gets up small estate drives more easily. Above that, a midi-coach is the middle ground before a full-size coach.

Cities

Vehicles with a driver