GBR MAJOR EVENTS – GENERIC TRAVEL INSTRUCTIONS

This page is intended to provide generic travel instructions for all GB Major Events (these are all the major championships)

Last updated: 5th April 2024 – this page is currently being updated

Arrivals & Departures

Athletes competing in Europe are required to arrive at the designated team hotel no later than 14:00, leaving a full day before the competition day.  This allows the fencer to recover from travel-related exhaustion, visit the venue, and complete weapons control. A full day is then available to sort out any kit issues and undertake final preparations before the competition.

If athletes are competing on Saturday, they should check in at the hotel by 14:00 on Thursday.

Athletes competing outside Europe may have to deal with longer flight times and potential time zone differences. Therefore, they are advised to arrive at least two clear days before the competition starts. This means that athletes can arrive in the evening and focus on rest and sleep to aid in their recovery. The first full day should be spent on adapting to the new environment and settling in, and the second full day should be used to sort out any travel issues or missing kit issues and undertake final preparations before the competition.

If athletes are competing on Saturday, they should arrive at the hotel no later than Wednesday evening.

Exit Point

Unless specifically instructed otherwise, fencers are expected to depart on the day after the last day of their event. Fencers should not fly home the day of their event.

BF will book accommodation on the basis of this guidance.

 

 

FCO Travel Advice

Athletes (or parents on behalf of minors) are expected to read the UK government advice for the country and carefully check visa requirements. BF will also be monitoring this, but is not responsible (unless we specifically instruct you otherwise) for arranging the necessary visas and travel insurance.

Foreign travel advice – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Packing

It is strongly recommended that fencers carry the basic (not easily borrowed or replaced) elements of their fencing clothing in their hand luggage and consider wearing their fencing shoes to travel in. The purpose of this is to mitigate the impact of any missing luggage.

23kg will be enough for your fencing bag, providing you pack your fencing kit in your carry on case.

It is recommended that you take your top bags as these are sometimes allowed in field of play (fencing bags are typically not permitted in field of play)

Do’s and Don’ts:

• Do not take liquids or gels in your hand luggage. (100mls or under in a transparent bottle is OK).
• Do not take tool kit items in your hand luggage.
• Do put your mask, jacket, plastron, breeches, glove, socks, and a spare handle (if you have one) in your hand luggage in case any fencing bags get lost.  (This means that all you need to borrow to fence is a sword if the worst happens.)
• Do travel in comfortable clothing,  wearing trainers to travel in.
• Do not wear any GBR marked clothing whilst travelling.
• Do pack any phone batteries in your hand luggage
• Do ensure that ALL your electronic equipment (phone, etc) is fully charged, and can be shown to be working. If it isn’t, it may be confiscated at security.

 

More Information:

International Fencing Travel Checklist 

 

Further Information

If you cannot find the information you need on this page please submit any questions to us via the form here and a member of the ADP team will come back to you. Please note that we will not be able to reply to all emails personally but will update this page to answer the most common queries we receive.