Rugby World Cup 2023 (Sept-Oct) and Camino plans

[Pelerina]

Bonjour - if you're like me (and my husband) the Rugby World Cup has not really been on your radar. But ... it has now caught our attention!

We are planning to walk from Le Puy to Finisterre starting mid to late September. Yesterday I was 'browsing' at transport and accommodation options to make our way to Le Puy - perhaps a night in Lyon for example - and came across some very high room rates on certain days. Example, a Campanile or Ibis hotel room in Lyon on a week day in late September more than 400 euros. What's going on?

Then I twigged - the Rugby World Cup runs from 8 September to late October in various cities in France some of which could impact people travelling to or from and walking on various caminos - e.g. Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint Etienne, Toulouse ... See map below and link to matches. I imagine many of the surrounding towns and villages will also see an influx of visitors. Trains will also be heavily booked between the cities.

Matches | Rugby World Cup 2023

Official fixtures and results page for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

This is probably not news to many, but the thought hadn't crossed our minds.

There are always options - but just something to bear in mind in your planning.

 

[naplesdon]

Great heads up. I attended the Rugby Euro Championship in Bilbao in 2018. I booked an AirBnB for several nights many months ahead of the matches and planned to walk the Norte after the tournament. About a month ahead of my arrival I wrote the AirBnB owner about the arrangements for a key and immediately got an answer, he canceled my reservation. I looked up his price a few days later and it had gone up 10 fold+. I ended up in the nearest hotel where the prices were still reasonable, it was in Laredo about an hour long bus ride to the stadium. I must admit I loved spending 3 nights in Laredo and it is a great place to start the Norte if you adverse to hills.

 

[Former member 107885]

Bonjour - if you're like me (and my husband) the Rugby World Cup has not really been on your radar. But ... it has now caught our attention!

We are planning to walk from Le Puy to Finisterre starting mid to late September. Yesterday I was 'browsing' at transport and accommodation options to make our way to Le Puy - perhaps a night in Lyon for example - and came across some very high room rates on certain days. Example, a Campanile or Ibis hotel room in Lyon on a week day in late September more than 400 euros. What's going on?

Then I twigged - the Rugby World Cup runs from 8 September to late October in various cities in France some of which could impact people travelling to or from and walking on various caminos - e.g. Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint Etienne, Toulouse ... See map below and link to matches. I imagine many of the surrounding towns and villages will also see an influx of visitors. Trains will also be heavily booked between the cities.

Matches | Rugby World Cup 2023

Official fixtures and results page for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

This is probably not news to many, but the thought hadn't crossed our minds.

There are always options - but just something to bear in mind in your planning.

Thank you. Yes it’s a massive event. Probably worth mentioning Spain aren’t in it and Rugby Union is not a big thing is Spain. Be huge number of folks from UK and Ireland in particular where Rugby Union is popular and folks form these islands travel en mass overseas sporting events as part of our culture!

 

[Pelerina]

I ended up in the nearest hotel where the prices were still reasonable, it was in Laredo about an hour long bus ride to the stadium. I must admit I loved spending 3 nights in Laredo and it is a great place to start the Norte if you adverse to hills.

Aah, love clouds with silver linings

 

[Karma_m]

Bonjour - if you're like me (and my husband) the Rugby World Cup has not really been on your radar. But ... it has now caught our attention!

We are planning to walk from Le Puy to Finisterre starting mid to late September. Yesterday I was 'browsing' at transport and accommodation options to make our way to Le Puy - perhaps a night in Lyon for example - and came across some very high room rates on certain days. Example, a Campanile or Ibis hotel room in Lyon on a week day in late September more than 400 euros. What's going on?

Then I twigged - the Rugby World Cup runs from 8 September to late October in various cities in France some of which could impact people travelling to or from and walking on various caminos - e.g. Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint Etienne, Toulouse ... See map below and link to matches. I imagine many of the surrounding towns and villages will also see an influx of visitors. Trains will also be heavily booked between the cities.

Matches | Rugby World Cup 2023

Official fixtures and results page for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

www.rugbyworldcup.com

This is probably not news to many, but the thought hadn't crossed our minds.

There are always options - but just something to bear in mind in your planning.

Yes, I should have realized that since my brother is going over to watch. We were looking at starting around 16th Sept and he mentioned a big game in Saint Etienne around that date! I am so bogged down in trying to plan our first 6 weeks of the trip prior to walking that I haven't got to drill down to the finer things like flights/trains/acomm around Lyon ...but it looks like my 'Camino will provide' attitude might need some extra finer tuning!

 

[Pelerina]

Bonjour @Karma_m All the best with your arrangements. According to the link in my initial post there is an Australia - Fiji match in Saint Etienne on Sunday 17 Sept.

I'm also from Australia but we are currently living in France. We received a notice the other day from SNCF that the autumn train tickets are now available for purchase. We are planning to arrive in Le Puy on 17 September and begin walking on Monday 18 - so perhaps our paths will cross - you never know. If you haven't walked the Le Puy Way before - you are in for a treat. It's a beautiful path, with great hospitality for pilgrims.