On Sunday, 22 June 2025, the latest edition of La Grande Traversée was held in the Montagne de Reims Regional Nature Park, in partnership with the Marche des Réconciliations. Organised to celebrate the Park’s exceptional lanscapes and the 10th anniversary of the “Hillsides, Houses and Cellars of Champagne” being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the event combined outdoor exploration with a strong focus on sustainable mobility.
The programme included a 20 km walk connecting the train stations of Aÿ-Champagne, Germaine and Rilly-la-Montagne, also passing through the village of Champillon. Two additional routes were also proposed from Rilly-la-Montagne: a shorter 3 km forest loop and a 10 km itinerary through Chigny-les-Roses.
Despite the high summer temperatures, the event attracted 1,500 participants, similar to previous years. Notably, 65% of walkers travelled to the event by train — an increase of 25% compared to 2022 — thanks to additional services provided by the Grand Est Region, including two extra trains and increased seating capacity.
This year's event also introduced further environmental measures, including the use of a reusable marking kit developed by the Park and co-financed by the MONA project. This eliminated the need for over 500 metres of single-use plastic tape.
La Grande Traversée also provided an opportunity for the Montagne de Reims Regional Park to engage with stakeholders in the context of its work on the MONA project. The park is actively involved in Pilot A, which focuses on an action plan to facilitate and stimulate a modal shift towards sustainable mobility, and Pilot C, which implements a set of nudging measures to encourage sustainable visitor choices and disperse visitor flows more evenly across the territory.
© Tiago de Brito
Around 20 local partners and stakeholders took part in the event, which passed through the following five municipalities: Aÿ-Champagne, Champillon, Germaine, Rilly-la-Montagne and Chigny-les-Roses. Most of the participants were local residents from the Montagne de Reims area and nearby urban centres, such as Reims, Épernay, and Châlons-en-Champagne.
Publicity in the run-up to the event included newsletter campaigns, coverage in the regional press and a television report. La Grande Traversée continues to support the Park and its partners in their wider efforts to promote active, low-impact tourism in the region.