Tips for Paris for Rwc games

awec

What's the best way to get back to Boulogne-Billancourt after the game?

Electric Nitwit

Thanks for all the travel tips guys. What would you prioritise when choosing a route, city location or stadium gate?

We're staying near Notre Dame so the RER is the handiest, but we're in the North Stand so St Denis Porte de Paris on the Metro would be best at that end. Is it easy enough to get around the stadium from the wrong side?

HairyCabbage

Hi, I'm going to Paris for Irl v SA. We're staying in Gare de Lyon. The girl I'm going with is the big rugby fan and I agreed to go with her. Apparently fans in Bordeaux were queuing for hours and some almost missed the start of the match. So she's worried now about the queue and clogged up public transport ahead of the game and is now saying we won't have any time to sight see before the (9pm) game on Saturday. I'm just wondering if anyone knows how early we should start leave our hotel and start queuing? Does anyone know if Paris will be better organised than Bordeaux?

Ribs1234

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121138731#Comment_121138731

The stadium doesn’t open until 3 or 2 hours before the game (it is written on the ticket). So early but not too early would be best if that makes sense. Is there any sort of fanzine there?

i don’t think the delays in Bordeaux were hours but the bag check and the confiscation of the lids on water bottles certainly slowed it down. Coupled with a broken down tram, it caught a few people out (not all entrance gates).

Biggest queues were for the slow pouring of beer, and at the wales Bordeaux game a huge backlog in hotdogs which made the beer problem bigger (I really hope the French have separated the food from the beer at Stade)

Enjoy it!

Podge_irl

Stadium isn't open til 2 hours before (concourse opens 3 hours before).

Tonga game was much better than the Romania game, an hour beforehand would be plenty.

JuanBarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121138731#Comment_121138731

Zero issues getting in for the opening game. Bag check was just before the stadium, zero queue there. I queued about 15 minutes to get into my section but was all very orderly, other sections had zero queue. My sister in law walked straight up to the ticket scanner

mr_edge_to_you

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121134277#Comment_121134277

Sounds like we are in the same boat.

I'm travelling through Frankfurt, staying at on airport hotel on the Thursday night and arriving into CDG around 1100 on Friday.

Plan is to get to hotel, drop bags and grab lunch somewhere. Louvre booked for mid afternoon as the young lad wants to see.the Mona Lisa. Not sure how long we'll spend there. Eiffel Tower is booked for 2130. I'm hoping the lit up tower at night will be cool.

He's mad keen to see l'arc de triomphe too. I haven't told him you can go to the top of it and don't intend to either. 😂

Saturday is going to be a long day so trying to plan it. It would be great to do something in the morning and then head back to hotel for the afternoon to give him a rest before heading out to Saint Denis.

Someone mentioned Versailles....was there before and it.really is an amazing place but I reckon it would just be too much. If I had another full day in Paris, would do it in a heart beat.

Mr chips 55

The only touristy things we did on the recent trip was admiring the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero/Bir Hakeim Bridge/Galleries Lafayette, walking around and slowly up Montmartre sidestreets ending up at the Sacre Couer, and took the wife to a cheese restaurant called Monbleu. Also made sure to jog past the Arc de Triomphe on a morning running route. Other than that mainly explored the area I was staying in (Batignolles) and went to the indoor local foodmarket and then an outdoor Sunday market on nearby Rue de Levis. The metro system was quality though. Very easy to get around and it seemed like less walking involved in the stations themselves than in other world cities.

hibknight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121138244#Comment_121138244

Looks like the metro is your best bet as it means less changes, metro to duroc and then change there to get to Boulogne Jean Jaurès. You can also do the RER but means 3 changes instead of 2. Might depend on where you are seated in the ground and coming out as the metro is only on one side of the ground. Let me know what that area is like as I have a place booked there for the QF weekend. I'm staying in the middle of nowhere for this weekend.

kuang1

Anyone know what time the Saint Denis fanzone opens at today?

Official website only gives opening dates, not times/hours.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121145949#Comment_121145949

Starting at 17:00, you can enjoy the fan entertainment on the plaza. When the gates open at 18:00, you can watch the England v Chile match on the stadium's big screens.

 

We strongly advise you to enter the stadium as early as possible to avoid queues and live the full experience.

 

The drink stands around the stadium will close at 20:00.

Don't worry, there are catering stands and official shops available inside the stadium.

kuang1

Thank you v much. That's specific to Saint Denis today I presume?

Where did you see that? So I'll know next time.

Buddy Bubs

I'm looking at hotels at the moment, I see the district's listed, 5th arr, 10th are etc....is there any logic to picking one over the other? Are smaller numbers closer to centre or what's the craic?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121145971#Comment_121145971

Yep, I got it in an email from France 2023 earlier this morning

AndyBoBandy

Does anyone know what taxi availability is like at the Porte de Maillot bus station where the Beauvais shuttle bus stops in Paris? Flight will be arriving at 8:30pm so I’m anticipating not getting off the bus any earlier than 10pm, and don’t fancy attempting the metro that late after just arriving with an 8yo in tow… Plus it’s a 15 minute drive vs 30-40 minutes on the Metro…

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121152189#Comment_121152189

Call a Free Now, it'll be there in minutes

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121152189#Comment_121152189

There is a taxi rank straight across the street. Uber is the way to go though.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121152300#Comment_121152300

Grand.

was thinking Uber as a 1st shout…

finbarrk

For taxis in Paris I found the G7 app excellent. Regarding Saturdays game, the Metro out from Boulevard de Clichy was very packed at about 6.15pm. We had a few beers in a local bar in St. Denis. It was fine. No delay getting in to the stadium about an hour before kick off. No problem getting the Metro back in after the match. Not as packed as coming out.

comment

It was nearer to 7pm when we got metro from Place de Clichey and it was packed and slow but lots of singing etc. Still in our seats in the stadium an hour before kick off. Metro back was also packed and you had to shuffle down to station but they were frequent and they were stopping the crowd to ensure not too packed. Also used the G7 app and taxi arrived within 4 minutes. It’s a fixed fair to Paris Orly airport. €41 if you are “rive droite” in Paris or €35 if you are “rive gauche”. Plus €4 for immediate reservation or €7 for pre booking. Took us under 30 minutes in taxi to Orly yesterday. Think it’s fixed fare to CdeG too but we took the RER in on Friday.

We went via Gatwick on way over and it was very stressful. 2 hours on plane at gate in Dublin as no landing slots and subsequent flight to Paris also delayed plus flight ahead of us to Paris cancelled altogether at last minute. All flights to/from Gatwick were delayed or cancelled with significant delays.

finbarrk

We flew Shannon - Heathrow. Then got the Eurostar to Gare du Nord. It worked out fine.

Dav010

The stadium was brilliant fun before the match.

mossy464

Has anyone used the bag drop at stade de France. Noticed them on each gate on Saturday.

Have a tight turnaround to get to the stadium, due in BVA at 16:55 for Scotland game so want to avoid going to hotel before game.

There didn't seem to be many queuing at it on Saturday.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153507#Comment_121153507

Nowhere near enough beer taps though. If you're encouraging everyone to go to the stadium 3 hours before kick off then you can't just have a handful of beer taps on the go! The queues were stupid.

Need more lads walking around with the kegs on their back too.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154778#Comment_121154778

Ah awec, we were standing at the bar next to where the music was blaring on the La Plaine side, the beer was flowing with no delay. Inside the stadium was a bit painful though.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154808#Comment_121154808

What side was that?

We arrived on the Metro so were at the north end of the ground.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154833#Comment_121154833

Other end, mighty craic, music blaring

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154883#Comment_121154883

You'd think they'd give some indication that there's stuff happening at the other end of the ground...

CuriousCucumber

Was in Paris for the weekend, and here are my learnings.

We stayed near Moulin Rouge, so some of the recommendations are based on where I stayed.

Time from getting off the plane in Charles De Gaul (without luggage), to arriving in our hotel, was about 90minutes. This was a relaxed pace.

It was difficult to get into a decent restaurant in the area on the Friday evening without a reservation. Most places take reservations online. Worth booking something if you can

The pubs up by Moulin Rouge were jammed. Good fun, but very busy. I wouldn't be opposed to bringing a few cans, and drinking outside with the crowds. Didnt seem to be any problem with a little bit of public drinking

We got to the Place De La Clichy metro stop around 7:10 on the Saturday evening. Massive crowds, but well marshalled, and no problems.

Despite sitting in the opposite corner from the metro station, we were in the stadium by around 7:55. Very well ran.

We were in section Y on the bottom tier, and couldn't get drink in the stadium. The bar was open, but the might as well have had cows standing behind the taps. At one stage, we queued from 30 minutes, an moved less than 5m in the queue.

Be prepared, not to drink at the game.

We also took the metro back after the game. Took about 25 minutes of shuffling extremely slowly, but we got there. Again, no trouble, or pushing. Carriages were crazy busy though.

We just bought a couple of cans when we got back to the Moulin Rouge area after the game, and stood outside having some drinks

finbarrk

Yeah, there was a lad with a shopping cart of cans in the middle section across from the Harp selling cold cans of beer the night of the match. 3 for €10.