Edinburgh and Cardiff join France

With matches in Cardiff, Edinburgh and ten French cities including Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille and Bordeaux, the 2007 Rugby World Cup Guide is a dream assignment

You thought Cardiff was in Wales and Edinburgh in Scotland, right? Well, as of fall 2007 they will become honorary French cities. The Rugby World Cup, the world's third biggest sporting event, is being held in France in September/October 2007... except for those matches that are being played in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Edinburgh's Murrayfield sees a match between Scotland and New Zealand, amongst others, while Cardiff's magnificent Millennium Stadium hosts Wales v. Australia, as well as two other qualifying games and one of the quarter-finals.

How do I know all this, apart from being a keen rugby fan? Well, my wife and I are working on the Official Travel Guide to the Rugby World Cup, that's going to be published early next year in the UK by Purple Guides, and in France by Hachette. It's the kind of assignment that doesn't come along very often, and in Cardiff we got to stay at the Vale Hotel, which is the base for the Wales rugby team, and in Edinburgh at the Sheraton Grand, whose spa is used by the Scotland squad.

I'll be featuring some of the attractions we saw in Cardiff and Edinburgh in these pages down the line, but I won't be trying to persuade you that it was hard work. No-one ever believes me. 'Yeah, five days in a four-star hotel... must have been really tough.' No, that's the easy bit. The tough bit is when... but you wouldn't believe me.

Read more about the Official Travel Guide and order a copy by clicking here.

Interested in Activity Breaks in Wales? Check my blog about a helpful new website.

Read about the Edinburgh GhostFest by clicking here.