(TDB) - With a rich heritage, stunning architecture and rolling hillsides to explore, Champagne has more to offer than sparkling wine, as our round up of its top attractions shows.

As the world’s foremost authority on fizz, the region attracts many ardent wine lovers keen to take in its rolling hillsides and sample its cuvées. However its recent inclusion on Unesco’s World Heritage list is likely to amplify interest in the region further.

Unesco – the global organisation which recognises and protects sites of historical, geographical and cultural significance – confirmed Champagne’s arrival into its ranks as a World Heritage site last year. The listing covers vineyards around Hautvillers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, as well as Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Epernay. Together, these encompass the region’s key vineyard sites, its network of underground cellars and the houses that manage Champagne’s production and sales. Other landmarks featured on the list include Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, and wine regions including Piedmont, which was added last year, the Mosel in Germany and Tokaj in Hungary.

Typically, the numbers of tourists visiting a region surge following a Unesco listing, so for the wandering oenophile what does Champagne have to offer?

1.Champagne’s “crayères” (chalk quarries) 

One of the region’s most unique qualities is its chalk crayères, which stretch beneath the city of Reims. Dug out in the 13th and 14th centuries to help build the city’s defensive rampart walls, the crayères’ ability to maintain a constant temperature of between 11-12° and humidity of around 90-95% made them a perfect place to age Champagne. Nicolas Ruinart was the first to take advantage of the city’s vast chalk caverns, acquiring cellars in Saint-Nicaise Hill in 1768 – an area south of Reims riddled with chalk quarries linked together by tunnels.

Today, there are around 200km of cellars and chalk tunnels running beneath the city of Reims, housing millions of bottles of Champagne. Among the houses that occupy crayères are Champagne Vranken Pommery, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Charles Heidsieck and G.H. Martel. The largest are at Veuve Clicquot, which stretch for 24km, while those of Ruinart are the highest, reaching 50m below the ground over three levels.

2.Reims

Considered to be the hub of Champagne’s tourism trail, Reims is a bustling city with direct train links to Paris, making it the first port of call for many travelling to the region. By all means make a beeline for one of several Champagne houses, which lie on its outskirts, but don’t miss out on visiting the city itself, which is packed with hotels, restaurants, shops and sites of cultural and historical interest. Its most stunning feature is Reims Cathedral.

Built in 1211 on the site of a former church, Reims cathedral has been witness to a number of historical events, including the coronation of Charles VII in 1429, the Hundred Years War and Charles VI’s coronation. Upon the outbreak of the First World War it was used as a makeshift hospital. Thereafter the city was bombed for nearly four years, with over 80% Reims, including much of its cathedral, destroyed. Restoration to the cathedral began in 1919, with it reopening in 1938, however work to repair and preserve the building continues to this day.