Multi-sports tour to Palais des Sports

“Club Europe offer a great personal service, helpful and always proactive and patient. They are really positive and professional.”

Alexandra, Head of Physics, Alleyn’s School London

“I have had excellent service as always. We used the sites as sources of historical evidence to aid GCSE performance. All aspects of the trip...”

Patrick, History Teacher, Hampshire

Centre of Excellence for multi-sports, just north of Paris

The Stade de Levindrey and Palais des Sports, situated just under the beautiful, hill-top city of Laon in northern France, boasts a plethora of sports facilities and is a state-owned certified Centre of Excellence. It is suitable for single or multi-sport training and competition.

The large site includes facilities for indoor and outdoor sports; namely, 4 football pitches, 1 rugby pitch, a 3G pitch, athletics track and 3 gyms. The Centre can be a base for almost any sports tour, including football, rugby and basketball. It welcomes many regional and national clubs for training and hosts international events, including the International Fencing Championships.

Laon is regularly used for International Football in the European Championships at U18 and U20 level and has hosted Women’s 6 Nations Rugby.

Palais des Sports also has superb teaching facilities, including meeting rooms and it can arrange on-site catering. Professional training available in rugby and football for groups based in Laon. Other sports available on application.

Laon is just a 2-hour coach drive north of Paris, to where teams can travel for matches and stadium tours. Most notably, Paris Saint German matches at their home Le Parc des Princes, or Stade Français for rugby. The Palais des Sports is also a short drive north of Reims where groups can enjoy matches.

The Palais des Sports is also reachable from Reims, Amiens and Lille where groups can enjoy matches. The Centre's local groundwork team will coordinate your visit in advance and will be with you throughout your stay.

Sample itinerary

Availability of tickets for professional matches will be dictated by tour dates.

Day 1

Arrival at CPIE Pays de l’Aisne and settle in. Transfer to Reims to watch a football match, depending on arrival time of the group and tour dates.

Day 2

Morning training session at Palais des Sports in Laon. Enjoy lunch on-site before a match against local opposition in the afternoon. Bowling and dinner in the evening, possibility to compete against a local team again!

Day 3

Morning visit to the WW1 trenches of Caverne du Dragon on the Chemin des Dames. Explore the sobering, local history further and climb an observation tower. Let off steam during a match against local opposition..

Day 4

Morning training session. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, then travel to Paris for a football stadium tour or a Paris Saint German match. (Availability of tickets for professional matches will be dictated by tour dates).

Day 5

Departure, stop off at a hypermarché en route home.

Extra activities and excursions

Browse a selection of our favourite activities and excursions.

Caverne de Dragon
Souterrains de Laon, secrets sous la ville
Tree-top activity trail
Bread production workshop

A fascinating and poignant insight into soldiers’ life underground with walls bearing witness to names and dates. History is still being here uncovered every day and the museum displays evidence of this with helmets, candle holders and hand grenades.

Explore an underground world of limestone passages beneath Laon with traces of life dating back to 40 million years ago.

Akin to the UK’s GoApe.

Make your own French bread.

Where to stay

Popular places to stay.

Our ecological centre CPIE des Pays de l’Aisne is in the quintessentially French village of Merlieux-et-Fouquerolles, and is a 20-minute drive just outside of Laon. There is plenty of space indoors and outdoors for students to relax after training and matches; whether it be a disco, film evening or exploring the 17 hectares of surrounding land.

The centre provides full-board catering - delicious, locally sourced cuisine. In addition, the centre can inspire and teach others about its sustainable practises - solar panels, wool production and its own lake.

Watch our films

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about planning a school sports tour.

Watch all our films

Darren Horsman talks about organising a football tour

FAQs

Find the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.

We can include as many training sessions as you wish.

Yes. We include a comprehensive insurance package in every tour unless instructed otherwise. We can provide you with the details.

You will have your own bilingual sports tours rep for the whole of your tour. Their role is to coordinate your training/matches and activities/excursions and to ensure your stay is enjoyable, safe and memorable. All our reps are carefully selected, fully trained and are on duty 24 hours a day should an emergency arise.