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Beyond the Sidelines: 5 Unmissable Global Rugby Festivals for Your Next Tour

Every rugby player knows that a great tour isn’t just about the 80 minutes on the pitch. It’s about the team bonding on the flight, the shared post-match meals, and the unique energy of stepping into a foreign stadium.

If you are planning your squad’s next move, standard friendly matches are great—but rugby festivals are where legendary tour stories are born.

Whether you’re a youth coach looking to test your squad’s mettle or a women’s club aiming to kickstart the season with a bang, we’ve put together five of our favorite world-class festivals that perfectly balance elite sport with unforgettable travel.


The Crown Jewel: World Rugby Classic

Bermuda


📍 Where: Bermuda | 🗓️ When: Every November

Best For: Vets, senior clubs, and supporters looking for the ultimate bucket-list rugby holiday.

If you want to rub shoulders with former international legends while holding a cold drink on a pink-sand beach, this is your Mecca. The World Rugby Classic Bermuda brings together some of the biggest names to have ever played the game for a week of high-octane rugby and legendary social events. The post-match atmosphere here isn’t just a third half—it’s a week-long celebration of rugby culture in absolute paradise.


The Rising Star: Krakow Rugby Festival

Youth team lining up at Krakow Rugby Festival




📍 Where: Poland | 👥 Age Grade: U16 – U18 squads

Looking for an alternative to the usual French or English tour routes? Poland is quietly becoming one of Europe’s most exciting rugby destinations. The Krakow Rugby Festival gives youth teams a brilliant blend of physical, competitive international fixtures and deep cultural immersion. Between matches, your squad can explore one of Europe’s most beautiful, historic Old Towns, making it an educational trip wrapped in a rugby tour.

 


The Fashion Capital’s Best Kept Secret: Milano Rugby Festival

Milano

 

📍 Where: Milan, Italy | 👥 Age Grade: Youth & Club

While everyone else flocks to the massive crowds in Treviso, the Milano Rugby Festival offers a perfectly organized, highly competitive alternative in the true heartland of Italian rugby. This tournament strikes an incredible balance: fierce, passionate rugby on the field, and world-class food, culture, and iconic sightseeing off it. It’s the perfect way to give a youth team a taste of professional-grade touring.

 




The Perfect Launchpad: Lisbon Ladies Pre-Season XV Tournament

Women's rugby squad training in Lisbon, Portugal




📍 Where: Portugal | 👥 Best For: Women’s Clubs

Pre-season training in the wind and rain can be a slog. The Lisbon Ladies Pre-Season XV Tournament swaps the mud for guaranteed sunshine and top-tier training facilities. It’s specifically designed for women’s clubs looking to gel before the winter league kicks off. You get serious, competitive XVs match-play to test your systems, combined with the team-building energy of one of Europe’s most vibrant, coastal cities.




The Ultimate All-Rounder: Salou Rugby Festival

Salou




📍 Where: Costa Daurada, Spain | 👥 Best For: Youth, Schools, and Pre-Season Club Tours

Salou has earned its reputation as a powerhouse for European rugby tours. Why? Because it ticks every single box. It boasts immaculate, first-class training facilities and a massive draw of international teams to guarantee quality opposition. Add in the relaxed Mediterranean climate, beachside team runs, and easy logistics, and it’s easy to see why Irish clubs return here year after year.




Why Book Your Festival Grid with Irish Rugby Tours?

Navigating tournament entries, flights, dietary requirements, and local transport can turn a coach into a stressed-out travel agent. Irish Rugby Tours takes the logistics off your plate so you can focus on the rugby.

At Irish Rugby Tours, we’re passionate about bringing supporters, schools and clubs closer to the game they love.

Whether you’re planning rugby travel to Ireland to experience the incredible atmosphere of international rugby, organising bespoke rugby tours to Ireland for your club or school, or looking to explore iconic rugby destinations around the world, our team creates unforgettable rugby experiences from start to finish.

Get in touch today for a free, tailored quote.

📞 +353 1 685 6277

📧 info@irishrugbytours.com

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Get your Bunnies ready for an Egg Chucking Easter Rugby Festival Abroad!

At Irish Rugby Tours we know that Easter is a great time to hop on a plane and spend some time with the people you love most. That’s right – YOUR RUGBY TEAM!

There is a colourful array of  Easter rugby festivals and tournaments taking place right across Europe over the coming break and each of them have their own unique characteristics and surprises.

Irish Rugby Tours offers tours to great venues in fabulous cities right across Europe. These festivals book out quickly. So if you’re thinking of taking your team abroad, here are few suggestions for you. Let us know, when you need our help.

Portugal Rugby Festival – Lisbon

Portugal Rugby Festival in sunny Lisbon takes place this year from April 13th – 14th. It is a whirlwind cracking weekend of rugby fun across fifty pitches and gives you and your team the opportunity to meet rugby fans from other parts of Europe. It is a trip you are unlikely to forget in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.

Players at last year’s event in Lisbon

Find out more & feel free get in touch

Find out more about rugby in Portugal

Tournoi de Cornouaille – Brittany

It’s selling out fast but there are still a few places left at this year’s Tournoi de Cornouaille in Quimper in Brittany. The tournament itself takes place over two days at Easter. Included in this great value package are hot lunches, player snacks and an end of festival party for those who took part. And it’s all happening right in the heart of the beautiful town of Quimper.

Find out more & feel free to get in touch

The beautiful town of Quimper has some excellent local restaurants.

Ghent Rugby Festival – Ghent

When you think of rugby, Belgium may not be the first place that springs to mind yet they have a strong tradition of playing the game in their part of the world. Indeed one of rugby’s longest running festivals takes place in the beautiful city of Ghent. The Ghent Easter Rugby Festival is now in its 31st year and each year it gets bigger and better with more teams, more food stalls and more entertainment. Ghent itself is a stunning city to walk around and enjoy some much needed downtime.  

Find out more & feel free to get in touch

Hilversum Rugby Festival – Amsterdam

If there were prizes going for inclusivity and family friendliness then surely this delightful festival one at Hilversum would be up there. This one day event takes place at Hilversum Rugby Club, a thirty-five minute drive from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and just forty minutes from central Amsterdam.

A wonderful one day festival that encourages rugby from children as young as eight up to sixteen, the festival will, this year, take place on April 21st.

After a hard day on the pitch, Amsterdam is the perfect city to visit to wind down. Its canals, cobbled streets and exceptional galleries are true jewels of Europe as are the people themselves.

Find out more & feel free to get in touch

Half-time talk at Hilversum.

International SQY Festival – Paris

If you fancy springtime in Paris then maybe the International SQY Rugby Festival is the very trip you have been looking for. This year’s event takes place on 19th – 21st April 2019 and includes an awards ceremony and gala dinner for team managers. The tour also includes a transfer to Paris for a boat trip down the Seine and there is the chance of taking in some Top 14 rugby while there.

It is a a fully immersive rugby weekend for ages 10 -14 and might just be the very trip that builds dreams of being an international star!

Find out more & feel free to get in touch

 

 

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Rugby Tours to Portugal – Building Bonds on Beaches & in Bodegas

Irish Rugby Tours has a long and proud history of bringing rugby tours to Portugal. Both our Lisbon base and our base at Faro in the Algarve are favourites with groups who are looking for somewhere a little off beaten track.

Why choose Portugal for a rugby tour?

For teams facing into lengthy spells of training in the mud baths and biting wind of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, trips to the sunnier winter climes of Portugal are hugely beneficial.

Not only can teams perfect the nuances of their game plan and hone their skills, taking a trip abroad with your teammates inevitably leads to a degree of bonding they just do not get at home. Bringing your team abroad, exposes them to different cultures, different food and different ways of doing things that they may not see at home.

Facilities at our training camps in Portugal are second to none and as always we have done our homework on local teams so we can provide you with top quality opposition should you be on the lookout for some real game time. The Portuguese Rugby Federation has over 42,000 registered on its books with scores of clubs and teams of all levels spread across the country.

***TOP TOUR***

The Portugal Rugby Youth Festival runs from the 13th April – 14th April. The festival is located at the Lisbon University Stadium with easy access to and from hotels, hostels and campuses in the city. As a special treat, this trip is something really worth considering. Not only will it give your youth team a chance to play in an international tournament, it will also give them a chance to see one of Europe’s most beautiful cities and meet other rugby players from across the continent.

Is rugby popular in Portugal?

Rugby in Portugal is on the rise. Arguably, the national team’s golden period was just over ten years ago when they qualified for their first and so far only World Cup in 2007. Os Lobos (The Wolves) had a bit of a howler against the All Blacks, losing 108 – 13. They took something of a drubbing from the Scots (56 – 10). Against Italy they fared a little better (31 – 5) and they gave tournament veterans Romania a right scare losing out to a try on the 72nd minute (14-10).

Since reaching the heady heights of 13th in the world rankings their star has fallen somewhat in recent years. The Wolves are now ranked 27th in the world – four places down from their last ranking and six places behind their arch rivals and neighbours Spain.

Who are Portugal’s best rugby players?

Second row Goncalo Uva has been capped by Portugal 101 times. He has scored nine tries and is one of the few members from the current squad to play at a World Cup. The 6’7” lineout specialist is a tireless worker around the pitch. He currently plies his trade back home in Lisbon with 11- time Portuguese champions Grupo Desportivo Direito but he had long spells in France with both Montpellier and Narbonne. Goncalo’s brother, Vasco, has also played for Portugal 101 times.

Check out this piece of skill from Goncalo Uva…

As well as sunshine to play in, empty beaches to practise on and great facilities for training, there is so much to do and see in your downtime. You can read a little bit more about some of the hot spots we’ve discovered in our years of visiting this beautiful country here.

 

About Irish Rugby Tours

Irish Rugby Tours is the go to tour company for your team. We have been planning, organising and delivering incoming rugby tours to and from Ireland, Europe and further afield since 1997. Our tours combine rugby, culture and travel to provide you with some of the best life experiences you are likely to have as a team. We don’t just build itineraries, we build memories, great ones that you will share for years to come.

Whether you are part of a club, college or school team, we can arrange customised sports tours for you in Ireland or abroad.

We have unrivalled experience and expertise in designing and facilitating customised tours. Over the last twenty plus years, we have brought more than 1500 teams to Ireland to experience its passion for both rugby and showing people a good time.

Every sports tour is designed to meet your requirements. If you want rugby, we will match you with carefully selected opposition you can compete against at your level. We also know that tour groups like to have fun. If you want to party, we know where you can do that too.

Let us know what you want on your tour and we will deliver.

Having flown to Ireland you don’t want to miss any sports fixtures – our on the ground team work hard to ensure you get your full complement of games whatever challenge comes our way.

Why Choose Irish Rugby Tours for your next Tour:

  • All our staff are rugby mad and have been involved in rugby all their lives.
  • We have worked in the hospitality industry at all levels – we know what works.
  • Irish Rugby Tours look after professional teams – both club and international.
  • We are a sports tour company and always have been.
  • Great value & tailored to your needs.
  • Irish Rugby Tours source the best standard accommodation, transport and all other service providers.
  • You can contact us 24/7, 365 days of the year.
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