The Vesle (French pronunciation: [vɛl]) is the river on which the city of Reims stands.

[1] The Vesle flows through the following départements and towns: It rises at an elevation of about 187 metres (614 ft), on the dip slope of the Upper Cretaceous chalk, near the village of Somme-Vesle, east of Châlons-en-Champagne.

On leaving the city's western outskirts, it enters the much more wooded landscape of the Eocene geology.

[2] The info box photograph shows the Vesle as it passes through fen carr, a little downstream from Reims.

During the Great War of 1914–18, the river's valley was just behind the French-held front but at times, particularly in the spring and summer of 1918, it was heavily fought over.

Two important natural zones of ecological, zoological and botanical interest, (ZNIEFF) have been decreed on the length of the Vesle.

The first is upstream from Reims and designated as 'The great fens of the Vesle Valley from Prunay to Courmelois' (Les grands Marais du Val de Vesle de Prunay à Courmelois).