What is the Reims self-guided walking tour?
The Reims self-guided walking tour is a walk through the city centre with audio narration on your phone instead of a guide, telling you what you are looking at and why it matters. Allow about 3 hours: 31 minutes of that is spent walking, the route covers 2.5 km, and at each of the 10 stops you pause to listen. There is no start time to keep and no group to wait for.
Under the vaults of the Porte de Mars the narration points out the carved she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus, left from the Roman city of Durocortorum. On Place Royale it explains why Louis XV stands dressed as a Roman emperor, and at the cathedral it tells how Joan of Arc brought Charles VII here to be crowned in 1429, one of the many coronations held in Reims between 1027 and 1825. Near the Opéra you hear about the Porte de Vénus, the city's western Roman gate, which survived until 1755.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 31 min · 2.5 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
At each stop the narration covers the history of the place, its legends and the details that are easy to miss. If you would rather read, the same text is on your screen.
Walk on
Google Maps leads you from one stop to the next: 31 minutes on foot over 2.5 km, at an easy pace.
Take a break
Stop for a coffee or an hour in a museum, then carry on later the same day or on another one.
Eat and shop
Tips for food and local shops near the route come with the stops, and in the app you can change the first stop and the order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk links the Roman remains, the royal square, the cathedral and the café streets of the centre, and explains what you see.
Anyone who avoids groups
No flag to follow and no fixed departure: stay where something interests you and move on when you are ready.
A champagne weekend
Reims is home to many champagne houses, and the walk fits easily between two cellar visits or before a glass on Place Drouet d'Erlon.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: Porte de Mars, Place Royale, Reims Cathedral, Place Drouet d'Erlon
10 stops · about 31 min walking · start: Square Colbert · finish: Place Drouet d'Erlon
The walk begins in the small green Square Colbert, named after Louis XIV's minister, and goes on to the triple arch of the Porte de Mars. On Place du Forum, the Musée-Hôtel Le Vergeur and the sunken Roman gallery of the Cryptoportique sit side by side, and Place Royale is only a short walk away. After the Art Deco Carnegie Library and Reims Cathedral come the Palais de Justice and the Opéra, and the walk ends among the cafés of Place Drouet d'Erlon. You can change the starting point and the order in the app, and no entry ticket is needed anywhere.
Open the route map ↗
1Square ColbertStart
This small green square is named after Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the powerful minister of King Louis XIV, who was born in Reims. It is a calm place to get your bearings before the route leads you to the Roman remains and the Gothic cathedral of the city centre.
2Porte de Mars
The Porte de Mars is a Roman arch from the 3rd century AD and the only one left of the four monumental gates of Durocortorum, as Reims was called in Roman times. More than 30 metres wide, it has three passages whose vaults show carved scenes of farm work and the she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus.
Read the full story →
3Musée-Hôtel Le Vergeur
This old town mansion stands on Place du Forum, a square that was once a market place and, long before that, part of the Roman forum. Today it is a museum, with rooms of old furniture, paintings and prints.
4Cryptoportique
On Place du Forum you can look down into the Cryptoportique, a vaulted Roman gallery lying partly below street level. It belonged to the forum of Durocortorum, the centre of public life in Roman Reims, and is one of the oldest structures still standing in the city.
Read the full story →
5Place Royale
Place Royale was laid out in the 18th century on part of the old Roman forum and is framed by uniform classical façades. In the centre stands King Louis XV dressed as a Roman emperor: Pigalle's original statue of 1765 was destroyed in the Revolution and replaced in 1818 by a bronze by Pierre Cartellier, while Pigalle's pedestal figures survived.
6Carnegie Library
The Bibliothèque Carnegie is one of the finest Art Deco buildings in Reims, a city largely rebuilt after the destruction of the First World War. It was paid for by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the American foundation of the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Look closely at the decoration of its entrance.
7Reims Cathedral
Notre-Dame de Reims was begun in 1211, after a fire destroyed the earlier church, and French kings were crowned here for centuries, from Henry I in 1027 to Charles X in 1825. Joan of Arc made it possible for Charles VII to be crowned here in 1429, and the famous Smiling Angel is carved beside one of its portals.
8Palais de Justice
The Palais de Justice, the courthouse of Reims, stands a short walk from the cathedral. Its formal stone façade, designed to express the authority of the law, makes a sober contrast with the Gothic sculpture next door, and courts still sit here today.
9Opéra de Reims
The Opéra de Reims is the city's theatre for opera, plays and concerts. Close to where it stands, the Porte de Vénus, the western gate of Roman Reims, survived until it was taken down in 1755. Take a close look at its decorated façade before you move on to the cafés of Place Drouet d'Erlon.
10Place Drouet d'ErlonFinish
Place Drouet d'Erlon is a long pedestrian square full of cafés, restaurants and shops. It is named after Jean-Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon, a general of Napoleon born in Reims who later became a Marshal of France. In the middle stands the Subé fountain, crowned by a gilded winged Victory.
Read the full story →
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Klaus-Peter– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Gute Wegbeschreibung und dann vor Ort auch reichliche Informationen zu den Sehenswürdigkeiten.
Patrick– Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Leuke wandeling door Reims. Neem 1/2 dag de tijd dan kan je ook wat bezoeken.
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great way to orient yourself to the city.
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
TRES BIEN