The Tour starts from Paris with a drive 300 miles (500 Km) South-West, to Parthenay (on the Diplomacy map, Parthenay is about half way along the border between Brest and Gascony). Parthenay is a medieval village, and host to a ten day open-air games convention. As part of the convention, there will be the French Cup Diplomacy Tournament on July 10th and 11th. As well as the gaming, there is the sun, the medieval surroundings, and the fact that it is a family atmosphere perfect for people on holiday. Rather than the regular "games & beer all night" spirit of most conventions, this is intended to be a convention which will be enjoyable for everybody - both gamers and their families.
The travel from Paris to Parthenay will be arranged by the French - they will either borrow or rent whatever vehicles they need to transport everybody who wishes to attend. Included in the travel will be stops at French wineries and Chateaus.
After Parthenay, it is back to Paris for the Bastille Day Celebrations, attending the firework displays and public balls which are held on the evening of July 13th, and throughout the day on July 14th. Accommodation in Paris will be organised by the French Diplomacy players.
The tour then moves onto EuroStarCon on July 15th - the only Diplomacy tournament in the world to be held on a train. With the recent opening of a new section of track in the UK, the Con is now just 3 hours and 40 minutes from Paris to London, including the 25 mile Channel Tunnel.
And then we have the main event. July 16th to 19th is ManorCon XXII. The largest amateur games convention in the UK, and the host of WorldDipCon XIV. Usually we have 60-70 Diplomacy players, as part of a convention of 200-250 people. And with WorldDipCon, we expect to have a lot more. Play games all day and all night, or play during the day and see the recently rejuvenated nightlife of Birmingham in the evenings.
Of course, with people combining the tour with their annual vacation, there will be other halves who want to go sightseeing while their partner plays games. Larry Peery has written an excellent article on things to see and do around Birmingham.
July 20th and 21st will be spent Sightseeing in the UK. Exactly what we will do has not yet been planned, so shout out now if there is something you especially want to do. You could easily spend two days seeing the sights of London. Or maybe you'd prefer to head into the mountains and castles of North Wales, or see the history of Stratford-upon-Avon and York, or travel up to Edinburgh.
July 22nd will be travel to Dublin. That evening and July 23rd, there will be Sightseeing in Dublin. There has even been talk of some sort of sporting challenge between Europe and the Rest of the World, for those who think they're still young enough to chase some sort of ball around a field.
And to round off, there is BoruCon - host to The Irish National Diplomacy Championships on July 24th and 25th. If like me, you have failed to become World Champion at ManorCon, this will be an excellent first chance to stab whoever did...
WorldDipCon is the premiere Diplomacy Tournament in the World. Hopefully that is enough to persuade you that you should be there. But if it isn't, then maybe the programme of events we have put together will.
To ask for further information, see the further information and contact details page.