France Rugby World Cup – Travel Tips and Tricks

Host Cities

France is a big country that loves its sport. So you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that they have 9 cities participating as host cities to the tournament. Each city has a rugby ready stadium, with the smallest in Toulouse ‘Stadium de Toulouse’ holding a total of 33,150 seats. Then all the way up to the biggest in Paris ‘Stade de France’ with a massive 79,580.

Buying RWC 2023 Tickets

If you haven’t already nabbed your tickets for the games, don’t feel completely disappointment as there is still a chance you can get tickets. The official ticket seller has announced that an official dedicated resale platform will open in the next weeks. This should be your first and only port of call. Any other marketplace for tickets is dancing with danger of being scammed.

Transport

If you have team tickets, it’s likely that you are needing to travel between the different cities. So you will need to organise transport ahead of time. It will be busy, so expecting to rock up to the train station or find a last minute cheap ticket is unlikely to be easy. Not impossible, but you don’t want to risk it if you can.

Train

France has a great rail network and probably is the easiest mode of transport. No need for airport security and you can bring your own beers to drink whilst travelling through the countryside. Use websites like Trainline to help you find routes and prices. It’s better to book directly through the train operators official website once you have these.

Flights

Well this is obvious. France has airports. It’s the fastest option but honestly the most risky when it comes to delays and cancellations. So make sure you give yourself enough of a buffer of time between arriving and the game. Checkout SkyScanner to find some flights. Same with the trains, book directly with the airline though.

Bus

Buses are another good option. They will be the cheapest but longest option. However in my experience of bus companies in France, they offer a pretty darn good service. Flixbus is an easy option but because it’s cheap you will need to book ahead of time.

Car hire

If you are legally allowed to drive in France you could always opt to hire a car. It will be the most expensive option but allow you to travel wherever you want as you move between cities. A great option for those who are trying to fit in sightseeing. But be careful, parking will be an absolute nightmare and if you’re not parking in a secure area, you’re asking for trouble.

Accommodation

You need to look at accommodation this second if you haven’t already. Our recommendation is to book a hotel rather than an Airbnb. We’re already starting to see instances of Airbnb hosts cancelling bookings and asking for more money. With an established hotel, this is much less likely to happen. Do your research on locations and transport links as well. For a majority of the stadiums they are close the city so picking accommodation either by the stadium or the city centre is less of a decision. However, the stadium in Paris is located in a less desirable area which is somewhere you probably don’t want to be staying or wandering around at night.

Weather

The RWC runs from 8 September 203 – 28 October 2023. The good thing is that this is past the peak summer tourism, but should still be pretty reasonable in terms of weather. The average sits pretty mild around most locations during the day. However, be aware that many of the games are very late in the evening and it will be cold. So bring your beanies, match scarfs, and jackets.

Covid-19

At the time of writing, there isn’t any entry rules regarding covid. Check the latest information on risk from COVID-19 for France on the TravelHealthPro website.

Useful Resources

• Navigation – Google Maps & CityMapper (especially for Paris)
• Experiences – Tripadvisor
• Accomodation – Booking.com
• Flights – Skyscanner
• Language – Google Translate (Camera feature works with menus and roadsigns!)
• Ridesharing – Uber

Basic Travel Tips

There’s not too many things that are specific to RWC than there is to normal travel during a busy time. So here’s some extra tips to remember:

• Have insurance
• Carry some cash.
• Split some clothes among different bags in the event of a bag being lost.
• Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
• Watch out for Scams. Paris is notorious for dodgy people.
• Don’t leave any belongings unattended or in a place where they can be swiped.
• Leave your passport secure at your hotel.
• Don’t be an arrogant tourist. The French don’t have much patience for loud mouthy foreigners.
• Learn the basics of the language.
• Have fun!