Champagne Trail

8 Daysย  |ย  From ยฃ1990pp

France ( Best airport: Paris)

For lovers of horses and wine, visit the region of Champagne where you can canter across scenic vineyards, through rural French villages and sip champagne in after a day’s riding. This trail is a fascinating exploration of rural France coupled with excellent riding terrain.

The Riding

The pace on this trail is varied to suit the terrain with long periods of walk and plenty of opportunities to canter and gallop. The scenery encompasses rolling hills, green, sun-drenched vineyards, woods and forests.

Riders must be comfortable in all paces and happy to do some fast riding in open spaces on an obedient and responsive horse. Riders need to be in good physical condition, you will be in the saddle for between 4-6 hours per day. The weight limit is 90kg.

Guides and Group Size

As well as being experienced horsemen and women, your guides on this trail have a thorough knowledge of local history. All guides are multilingual French/English and the group size is between 5-10.

The Horses

The horses are pure or cross-bred Arabian or Thoroughbreds and warmbloods varying in height from 15.2hh to 17hh. The horses are exceptionally well-schooled and good-mannered at this destination and many of them have been bred and trained by your hosts themselves. The tack used is specialist trail riding saddles and you will be provided with saddlebags, a rain poncho, and a water bottle. Horses are ridden in Myler bits which help to facilitate effective communication between horse and rider and a relaxed and happy horse. Helmets are not mandatory but are strongly recommended.

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Accommodation and Dining

Accommodation is in twin or double rooms at small, charming hotels or B&Bs, nestled into the rural surroundings. Single rooms are available for a supplement. Youโ€™ll stay in a different location each night of the trail, and your luggage will be transferred between stops. Most of the rooms will have an en suite bathroom although this cannot be guaranteed. The luggage is transported in the support vehicle and transferred to each accommodation so you only need to carry daily essentials in your saddle bags.

Continental breakfasts are served at your hotel each morning typically consisting of a hot drink (tea, coffee, hot chocolate), juice, breakfast pastries (croissant, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins), bread, butter and jam, and sometimes yogurt. Lunches are traditional french pique-niques, expect fresh baguettes, sumptuous cheeses, salads and tasty charcuterie, along with a bottle of something local. Dinner will be typical French fare comprising several courses of regional specialities. Please note that wine is not included with dinners.

Get a free Champagne Trail mini-brochure in PDF format.

Itinerary

Champagne Trail

8 days / 7 nights / 6 days riding
ยฃ1990pp

Extras
Single occupancy: ยฃ380
The wine tastings and visits will require guests to pay an additional fee to take part. The extra costs for these total approx. 80โ‚ฌ (EUR) per person.

Flights & Airport transfers
Do not book flights until you have received the Booking confirmation email from saddletravel.com.

Please arrange to arrive at the TGV train station in Champagne-Ardenne in time for the group transfer at 18.30 on Day 1. Train station transfers cost โ‚ฌ20 return per person and are payable on arrival in cash.

Price Includes
  • 6 days riding
  • 7 nights accommodation in twin or double rooms
  • Breakfasts
  • Lunches
  • Dinners
  • Coffee, tea, water
  • Wine with lunch
  • Accommodation in twin or double rooms
  • Luggage transport
Price Excludes
  • Airport transfers
  • International flights
  • Drinks with dinners