Tour de France 2027 Will Start in Edinburgh, and Opening Ceremony Tickets Sold Out in Hours
The 2027 Tour de France will start in Edinburgh, the first time the race has begun in the Scottish capital. Tickets for the opening ceremony on 30 June 2027 went on general sale and sold out within hours, according to Royal Central.
The start of the race is called the Grand Départ, French for "great departure," and it is the official opening event. The Duchess of Edinburgh helped announce the Edinburgh start, and her image appears across the announcement of the ceremony, Royal Central reported. The same outlet noted that the Prince and Princess of Wales, then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, were present when the Tour last started in Britain, in 2014.
The race is a long one. It runs from 2 to 25 July 2027 over 3,479 km, from Edinburgh to Paris, according to the Tour organisers. The Grand Départ itself is set for 2 to 4 July.
Stage 1 is the opening road stage, from Edinburgh to Carlisle, on Friday 2 July. The City of Edinburgh Council gives its length as 184 km, or 114 miles. Stage 2 runs from Keswick to Liverpool on 3 July, and Stage 3 goes from Welshpool to Cardiff on 4 July. The first rest day falls on 5 July in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, in northern France. The final stage, on 25 July, finishes on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Britain hosts six stages in all, and the route passes through Scotland, England and Wales. It is the first time both the men's Tour and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift have started in Great Britain in the same year, according to the Grand Départ organisers. The Tour's own route notes say this is the northernmost Grand Départ in the race's history. Nine of the 38 locations on the route appear on the Tour map for the first time.
Edinburgh was confirmed as host on 19 March 2025, the council says. The full route was announced in Paris, and the route presentation was made by the watch brand Tissot. The next Grand Départ, in 2028, will be in Champagne Grand Est in France.
Volunteers are needed for the British start. The council has called them JOY Makers, a name the organisers use for the people who help run the event. Those who want to take part can look for details on the council's website.
For anyone planning to watch, the key dates are simple. Edinburgh opens the race on 2 July 2027, and the ceremony is on 30 June, with tickets already gone.
