My husband and I will be visiting the Champagne region for 3 days in October. We'd like to stay in a small village or town rather than Reims or Epernay. We enjoy wine and champagne but are equally interested in quaint villages, history, and the culture of the area. Any suggestions for a delightful village, lodging and dining?

We stayed outside of Epernay in the village of Ay. It was a nice base.

In September 2017 we spent a long weekend at Avize, a short distance from Epernay. We stayed at a two bedroom gîte which belonged to a small champagne house Veuve Lanaud. The apartment was just above their store, where we did a tasting one day. Some of the small houses have excellent wines and you should definitely include a couple, apart from the big names of course.

Do spend a day at Reims and visit the magnificent cathedral, where so many French kings were crowned. Several famous champagne houses in town, we went to Tattinger, which sits on the ruins of an old abbey.

Epernay of course has the Avenue de Champagne, where you’re walking over millions of bottles of bubbly. An interesting stop is the Benedectine Abbey at Hautvilliers, where Dom Perignon created probably the most famous (and expensive!) wine which bears his name, he lies buried in front of the alter.

Lots of scenic drives in the area, makes for an interesting getaway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_P%C3%A9rignon_(monk)

The good father did good things for the still red wine industry

Fizzy champagne didn't come along until the good folk of Birmingham learnt how to make bottles able to take 6 atmospheres of pressure many years later

I've stayed in a few villages but always get drawn back to Epernay

If you want to stay in a village, may we presume that you will have a car?

Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa in nearby Champillon was a treat for couple nights. Short drives to all the houses, do not miss Dom Perignon of course. Wonderful dining room.

Yes, we will have a car.

Thank you! I'll definitely check this out.

That sounds wonderful. Thanks!

We will certainly visit Epernay and Reims. I thought it might be easier to stay outside a larger city, but do you think we'd be better off staying in one of these cities? As a "mature" driver, I'd like to avoid traffic as much as possible.

Epernay is very easy, more of an agricultural market town rather than a city

Epernay is full of Champagne houses.