Tickets
There are five categories classified by colour (yellow for best seats, green for those with best "atmosphere", meaning worst view). There are still some available from the World Cup website - www.france2007.fr. Prices range from €29 (£20) for the cheapest seats at pool matches to €498 for the best seats at the final. Bordeaux
Stade Chaban-Delmas Capacity 34,440 Built 1924
What it's like Oval shape of the Velodrome it once was. Overlooking the Gironde and the Atlantic beyond, its awning roof reflects classic Mediterranean stadium architecture.
Home to (Girondins de) Bordeaux and so has been called "chez moi" by Zinédine Zidane, Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and, er, David Bellion. Hosted football World Cup finals matches in 1938 and 1998, Bath's 1998 Heineken Cup final win and two games in the 1999 World Cup.
Key fact Staged the Battle of Bordeaux, the 1938 World Cup quarter-final between Brazil and Czechoslovakia, which saw five players go off injured and three red cards during the 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile Bordeaux produces more than 700 million bottles of wine a year.
Cardiff
Millennium Stadium
Capacity 73,350 Built 1999
What it's like First of the huge purpose-built stadiums to gain approval with fans. Locals think it's "bloody marvellous" but it can be a bit of a sauna with the roof closed, as it will be, rain or shine, at the World Cup.
Home to National stadium for rugby and football, six FA Cup finals, three Challenge Cup finals, speedway and a seemingly resident band, the Stereophonics. Usually singing As Long as We Beat the English.
Key fact In each of the Millennium's bars, "joy machines" pour 12 pints in less than 20 seconds - as fast as the average fan drinks 'em.
Meanwhile Cardiff is Europe's youngest capital city. It was granted the status in 1955, in preference to Caernarfon in north Wales.

Edinburgh
Murrayfield
Capacity 68,000 Built 1925
What it's like Scotland's national rugby stadium is built on the grand scale, but still leaves the crowd in close proximity to the pitch. Redeveloped in the early 1990s, the underachieving Scots have been having problems filling it recently.
Home to The Edinburgh pro side. Also hosts concerts, including Live 8, and Heart of Midlothian FC's European ties. Two Challenge Cup finals came north when Wembley was a building site.
Key fact In 1975 the largest crowd ever to watch a rugby union match was recorded at Murrayfield -- 104,000 saw Scotland beat Wales 12-10 in the Five Nations.
Meanwhile Nicolson's on Nicolson Street, the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is now an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant called Buffet King.

Lens
Stade Félix-Bollaert
Capacity 41,400 Built 1932
What it's like Four boxy stands hug the pitch to create something of an air of a cut-price Highbury - only without the marble and art deco-adorned executive flats. Rugby matches here tend to be stressful occasions: Ireland lost a second round play-off to Argentina in 1999.
Home to RC Lens, "the blood and gold". Footballing rivals Lille played their Champions League home ties here in 2001-02 and 2006-07 as their own stadium is too small for the biggest occasions.
Key fact The stadium's capacity is larger than the city's population, of about 36,500.
Meanwhile During the first world war the Lens Offensive of August 1917 saw six soldiers of the Canadian Corps were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the Battle of Hill 70, outside the town.

Lyon
Stade Gerland
Capacity 41,100 Built 1926
What it's like Cycle track went in 1960 and the athletics track and moat went for France '98, leaving the former palais d'omnisports a bespoke football ground. Classical entrance archways were placed on the Historic Monuments list in 1967.
Home to Olympique Lyonnais, French football champions for six seasons in succession since 2001-02.
Key fact A regular on the concert circuit, the stadium has hosted Genesis and the Rolling Stones this summer. In football, Roberto Carlos scored his famous banana-shot free-kick here in 1997's Le Tournoi, during Brazil's 1-1 draw with France.
Meanwhile The stadium is on Avenue Jean Jaurès, named after a socialist politician who was assassinated by the nationalist Raoul Vilain in July 1914. Jacques Brel wrote a song about him.

Marseille
Stade Velodrome
Capacity 59,500 Built 1937
What it's like Three of four croissant-shaped stands are uncovered, which brings the Mistral into play. Deciding which way to play on a windy day may be crucial.
Home to (Olympique de) Marseille, France's only European Cup winners, in 1993, but subsequently relegated for match-fixing. The French rugby team had an undefeated record here until Argentina's victory in 2004.
Key fact In March 1991, when the floodlights failed during a European Cup match against AC Milan, the Italians left the pitch, refused to continue and were given a one-year Uefa ban.
Meanwhile The city's symbol, the Roman-Byzantine basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, was designed in the 1860s by Jacques Henri Esperandieu, a protestant.

Nantes
Stade de la Beaujoire
Capacity 38,100 Built 1984
What it's like An elegant, single-structure roof makes it look more like a giant's tennis court than your bog-standard budget bowl.
Home to (FC) Nantes (Atlantique): "The Canaries", champions in 2001 but relegated in 2007 after 44 successive seasons in the top flight. Hosted the infamous Battle of Nantes in 1986, when the All Black No8 Wayne Shelford had a testicle sewn back in on the touchline.
Key fact The stadium draws a crowd of 38,000 to its annual Celtica concerts in June, celebrating the music of Asturias, Galicia, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Brittany. No Rick Wakeman invite yet, though.
Meanwhile The Edict of Nantes was signed in the city in 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant Huguenots freedom of conscience and civil rights.

Paris
Parc des Princes
Capacity 47,870 Built 1897
What it's like A classic 70s concrete bowl with sci-fi-style protruding exterior ribs to support the roof.
Home to Lost its status as France's national stadium in 1998 and now survives with a sole tenant, Paris St-Germain. Hosts some of Stade Français' Heineken Cup matches.
Key fact Leeds fans rioted here during their 1975 European Cup final defeat to Bayern Munich and boyhood Leeds fan David Seaman also had a nightmare here when chipped by Real Zaragoza's Nayim from the halfway line in the European Cup Winners' Cup final 20 years later.
Meanwhile Parc des Princes is in the XVI arrondissement, which has a sporting bent.Bordering the Bois de Boulogne, Roland Garros and Stade Français's Stade Jean Bouin are its neighbours.

Toulouse
Stade Municipal
Capacity 35,700 Built 1937
What it's like Known as "petit Wembley" because of its grand entrance and the similarity of its white exterior to the old Empire Stadium but not, hopefully, because it stinks of burgers and urine on matchdays.
Home to For its first 12 years it was used as a bull ring but since 1949 its sole tenants have been Les Violets, Toulouse FC. It also hosts the Heineken Cup ties of the three-times European champions Stade Toulousain.
Key fact An explosion at a neighbouring petro-chemical refinery in September 2001 damaged the ground. It had to be closed for a year while repairs were carried out.
Meanwhile In the courtyard of the Capitole, still the seat of local government, in 1632 the Duke de Montmorency was decapitated for his rebellion against Cardinal Richelieu.