Toulouse : The Rugby World Cup 2023 supporter's guide

A moment of conviviality at the Port de la Daurade, on the banks of the Garonne in Toulouse, in Occitania.
Things always comes in three! After 1999 and 2007, the Toulouse Stadium is getting ready to play a key role in the Rugby World Cup 2023 by hosting five matches. A logical selection for this stronghold of Ovalie, whose black et red team has received 21 Boucliers de Brennus, the supreme award of the French championship. Festive and friendly, the capital of aeronautics will have its head in the stars! From the banks of the Garonne to the Place du Capitole, our tips for enjoying the great rugby festival and the charms of the Pink City!

Pick your game

Renovated in 2016, the Toulouse Stadium, with a capacity of 33,000, will host 5 matches of the Rugby World Cup 2023:

-Japan-Chile (Pool D) on Sunday 10 September at 1pm
-New Zealand-Namibia (Pool A) on Friday 15 September at 9pm
-Georgia-Winner of the Final Tournament (Pool C) on Saturday 23 September at 2pm
-Japan-Samoa (Pool D) Thursday 28 September at 9pm
-Fiji - Winner of the Final Tournament (Pool C) on Sunday 8 October at 9pm

For more information, visit the online ticketing (External link)

Getting to and from the stadium and around the city hassle free

Access to the Toulouse Stadium by public transport is easy with the Tisseo bus network. Four bus lines serve the stadium. Fans can also use the tramway before walking to the stadium entrance (five minutes). During events and match nights, shuttles are provided between the metro and the stadium.

To make it easier for visitors to get around during their stay, a tourist pass gives access to the city's entire transport network as well as to monuments, museums and a guided tour offered by the tourist office, all for a period of one to three days.

Getting around Toulouse by public transport (External link)
Subscribe to the Tourism Pass to visit Toulouse with complete peace of mind (External link)

Visit the city

In Toulouse, the transformation of brick and its variations from pink to brown ochre guide the visitor from one monument to another: Hôtel de Ville, place du Capitole, where you can visit the richly decorated Salle des Illustres, Saint-Sernin basilica (5th century), classified by Unesco, and its octagonal bell tower, Jacobins convent, a jewel of Gothic art (13th and 14th centuries), Saint-Joseph de La Grave chapel and its crazy dome which is reopening to visitors after renovation or the Hôtel d'Assézat, one of the many private mansions inherited from the golden age of the pastel culture (16th century). On the way, you can stroll along the Garonne, which you can also explore by electric boat without a licence, or with the Toulouse boat tours. And you can fly to the Cité de l'Espace, to experience the crazy history of the conquest of space like an astronaut, and the Piste des Géants in the footsteps of the Aéropostale aviators, pioneers of aviation.

Visit the Cité de l'Espace (External link)
Take the Piste des Géants at the Envol des Pionniers (External link)
Sail on the Garonne River in an electric boat (External link)

Explore the surroundings

Between greenways and towpaths, you can get on a bike and pedal under the hundred-year-old plane trees along the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as far as Port Lauraguais (48km), or a little further on to the Naurouze threshold where an obelisk celebrates the memory of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the designer of the Canal. And if you are not offside, you can branch off towards the lake of Saint-Ferreol in the heart of the Black Mountain, the reservoir-dam of the Canal du Midi. To get your shirt wet, you can take part in the water rugby which takes place every year at the beginning of September on a floating pitch in the middle of the Garonne near the port of La Daurade. It's an opportunity to rub shoulders with former international players and to cool off with a dip in the river!

Bike ride along the Canal du Midi, in Occitania (External link)

Watch the game in town and celebrate the Third Half

As for each major event, giant screens will be installed in Place du Capitole, to follow the games amid the Toulousans! The Pink City is also full of bars to be at the heart of the scrum, such as The Danu, located on Pont Guilheméry, near the Halle aux Grains. The first sports bar in the city, founded by former Irish international Trevor Brennan, the establishment has eight indoor and outdoor screens. Another choice is Connexion Live, a hybrid venue with a vintage decor and a concert hall, art openings, performances of all kinds and a bar. And you don't want to miss the pillars of Toulouse's party scene: the bars of Place Saint-Pierre on the banks of the Garonne, which will vibrate like the Red and Black's victory evenings when the Brennus shield goes around the terraces.

The Danu sports bar (External link)
Connexion Live concert hall (External link)

Enjoying the local products

To regain your strength, there is nothing like local specialities. Just a stone's throw from the Capitole, on Place Saint-Georges, Emile perpetuates the tradition with a cassoulet with duck confit, among other local delicacies such as Mont-Royal pigeon, or sweetbreads braised in Floc de Gascogne. At the J'Go, a stone's throw from the Victor Hugo market, typical local products are on display: Tarbais beans, Noir de Bigorre pork, Gers chicken or IGP duck from the Landes, prepared on the spot. For the rugby touch, seasoned with a good musical atmosphere and locavore world cuisine, you can go to Maison Good, where one of the partners is Romain Ntamack, fly-half of the Stade Toulousain and the XV of France. And for a gastronomic meal, plan a comfortable third half at the Jardins de l'Opéra (Opera Gardens), a restaurant with the Green Food label run by starred chef Stéphane Tournié, which combines good and organic food with the flavours of the South West.

Try the homemade cassoulet at Chez Emile (External link)
Enjoy a starred and eco-responsible meal at the Jardins de l'Opéra (External link)
Taste the specialities of the South-West at the restaurant J'Go (External link)
Gastronomic and locavore escapade at Maison Good (External link)

Finding eco-friendly accommodation

Opened in June 2022 at La Cartoucherie eco-district, 25 minutes by tram from the Stadium and 15 minutes from the Place du Capitole on the banks of the Garonne, Eklo Toulouse has 100 cosy rooms (including private dormitories for six) on the first five floors of a 76-metre eco-designed wooden tower. With its fluid and designer communal spaces, a mix of raw and refined materials, walls decorated by a street artist, a grocery shop selling organic and artisanal products, a locavore restaurant and a musical programme, the address also aims to be a place of life open to the city.

Staying at the Eklo Toulouse hotel (External link)

Getting to Toulouse, in Occitanie