UK / Europe

Europe is a fantastic place to tour with so many options and so much history and culture. No longer is the UK and the European continent the destination that is "too far away and too expensive".

Particularly if you incorporate the United Kingdom into your itinerary, you will have ample opportunities to have your students billeted with the families of the school and sporting clubs you play against.

In the summer, you can tour in soccer and cricket to the UK and the continent, whilst during the Easter, Spring and Australian summer term breaks, you can tour in almost any sport you can think of including rugby, hockey, netball, soccer, rugby league, tennis, water polo, athletics, swimming, and a host of other sports.

For Victorian, South Australian and Western Australian schools, a brand new option is to take a hybrid Australian Rules tour to Ireland, with many schools and clubs very strong in Gaelic Football which can be easily adapted from the AFL version.

Touring the UK and Europe is all about getting the opportunity of doing and seeing things you will not do at home.

THE UNITED KINGDOM

On all tours we arrange to Europe, we will go that extra step to ensure that your students get the opportunity to see an English Premier League Soccer game live, and experience the atmosphere unlike anywhere else in Australia.

Tour London and see all the sights such as Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Tower Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

For those who want that extra sporting touch onto the tour, tours can be arranged to both Lords and Wimbledon, as well as to Twickenham. Then move north west to Bath, Cheltenham and the Cotswolds Region with all its quaint villages and historic manors. Through the midlands and towns such as Rugby - where William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball and ran; as well as visiting the Gilbert rugby museum , the university towns or Oxford and Cambridge; visit Shakespeare's Birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Tour the world's biggest sporting organisation - Manchester United and their headquarters of Old Trafford, as well as historic York. In the summer months you can also visit in Northumberland, the castle that was the film set for Hogwarts school in the film Harry Potter. Along the way, there are many schools and clubs who love to host Australians and enjoy the sporting rivalry between our two nations.

Through Wales, take in the inspiring countryside, and a nation where rugby is the national sport. You can tour Cardiff and the Millennium Stadium, walking out the tunnel to the noise of 80,000 fans passionatelysinging their Welsh national anthem.

We will take you to Scotland, where you will tour the "Paris of the North" - Edinburgh. experience the castle, the Royal Mile, and Princes Street. Visit Glasgow with its two great football clubs - Celtic and Rangers. Head out to the "Home of Golf" - the university town of St Andrews on the North Sea and visit the Royal & Ancient club, as well as the magnificent ruins of the cathedral; then off to Stirling, its castle and the Braveheart monument, where you will get the opportunity to climb to the top of the monument to see first hand where and how William Wallace defeated the English on home soil for the first time at the battle of Stirling just like in the movie !

Head across to Ireland, and the charming city of Dublin, the capital. Catch a game of hurling at Croke Park with 50,000 fans, visit Dublin Castle and Trinity College, one of the most famous universities which houses the Book of Kells, whilst no tour to Dublin is complete without a tour of the Guinness factory. The people of the Emerald Isle are well known for their friendliness so you are assured of a warm welcome wherever you go. There is much to capture the imagination as you travel round, from stone-age tombs to medieval castles, from the scenic Ring of Kerry to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher. Cork, Wexford, Belfast and Galway are worth considering as touring destinations too.

EUROPE

Continental Europe has a wonderful array of different cultures, languages and history to explore. Combined with great sporting fixtures in many countries it is certainly one of the "must do" tours for any Australian school or club.

Some of these countries that you can look at incorporating into your tour include:

Holland and Belgium

Logistically, very easy to combine these two countries with a tour to the UK. Travel overnight on the North Sea ferry with your own beds and cabins from Hull to Rotterdam. It is a unique way to cross the North Sea. Travel to Amsterdam for its many museums, canals and visit the Anne Frank House. Head to small traditional villages where you will see clogs being hand made, windmills, cheese and tulips. Holland is the biggest hockey destination on earth! Awesome facilities, play on artificial surfaces everywhere, and travel to towns where the only sport that is played is hockey. The annual Wanderers hockey tour is hosted by the world's largest hockey club with over 3000 registered players !!! Soccer is also very popular, as well as tennis. Fixtures in rugby, cricket and basketball can also be readily sought. Belgium also has some great clubs in both hockey and soccer, and tours to Brugge, Antwerp and Brussels are highly recommended.

France

The French play most of the sports that we do including rugby, hockey, tennis, golf and soccer plus a few of their own like “boules”! France is an ideal touring location. Apart from the sport, it offers a rich variety of experiences particularly language, culture, viticulture and both ancient and modern architecture. The two main areas of France we recommend are Paris and the Somme in Northern France. In Paris, explore some it's most famous sights of such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees, Notre Dame and the Louvre - which holds some of the world most famous works of art. In the Somme, spend a day exploring the battlefields of World War One, where you visit a number of Australian memorials on the Western Front. Other recommended destinations are Lille, Nice and Monaco, Rouen and Reims as well as the rugby hotbeds of the South of France.

Italy

Soccer is the most popular sport in Italy and other popular sports include rugby, cycling, golf, tennis, hockey and skiing. The Italians have a style of their own. They are famous for their fashions, cuisine and culture. You shouldn't miss out on trying some traditional, authentic pasta dishes and pizzas. Rome and Northern Italy (Milan, Venice, Florence) would give you the perfect combination of history, culture and sport. In Milan , check out this fashion capital, as well as a day trip to the Italian lakes situated on the Swiss border. You can also have the chance to attend a Serie A soccer match at the imposing San Siro which holds 80,000 fans for the city's two famous clubs - AC Milan and Inter. Travel to Venice with its gondolas and St Marks Square, and through Florence, a beautiful city.

Spain

Spain offers a wealth of reasons to visit on a sporting and cultural tour. It is famous for its beaches, sunshine, sangria, sherry, pelota, paella, bullfighting and of course FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Soccer is a national pastime and hockey is a very popular sport at all levels. Although rugby is still a minority sport, it is developing well and there is a very good youth policy and structure. Basketball is also very popular.

Other countries that you can tour include, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, and the Czech Republic. Sports that can be played there include soccer, hockey, basketball, water polo, tennis, and handball.

During the June/July holidays, a different but just as exciting tour is to the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. During these months , the worlds largest soccer tournaments take place including the Gothia Cup in Sweden and the Dana Cup in Denmark. These tournaments have an opening ceremony featuring teams from all over Europe and the world and boast an opening ceremony that your students will take part in, in front of a crowd of 30,000 spectators!

There are a number of different touring itineraries available to you in Europe. Some of our more popular itineraries include the UK plus Holland, Belgium and France; The UK and Italy, or Spain, or a combination of Spain and Italy on the one tour. Tours of between 2 and 4 weeks are recommended.

For more information, head to our contact us page,  or give us a call on 02 42 943 779.