| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) 13:42 - Nov 22 with 8586 views | slranger40 |
Hi all- Help / Advice needed.
Looking to organise a weekend trip to a European game for my sons 21st birthday early next year.
Anyone got any tips, experience or advice on most cost effective ways to book and best club to visit?
Totally open on which ground to visit and as interested in a decent city to visit!.
I'm thinking about organising the trip myself rather than using an agent- (unless someone can persuade me otherwise)
Any suggestion much appreciated. |  | | |  |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:01 - Nov 22 with 6860 views | derbyhoop |
At the moment it has to be Germany for the best experience. Personally would like to go to Dortmund. See Son Of Northolt for best advice.
Italian football in the doldrums.
Spanish football over hyped. By and large a 2 horse race, although some of the next 5 are OK.
PSG might be interesting and you get a great city to visit. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:11 - Nov 22 with 6843 views | slranger40 |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:01 - Nov 22 by derbyhoop |
At the moment it has to be Germany for the best experience. Personally would like to go to Dortmund. See Son Of Northolt for best advice.
Italian football in the doldrums.
Spanish football over hyped. By and large a 2 horse race, although some of the next 5 are OK.
PSG might be interesting and you get a great city to visit. |
Yeah, was thinking Germany.
Not to sure what Dortmund is like for a night out though, as looking for a complete weekend (just want the football to be a decent experience with some liveliness!) | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:11 - Nov 22 with 6843 views | Pigbag |
Italian football is not in the "doldrums". Serie A is probably the third best league in the world behind the EPL & Bundesliga. Spain is a two horse race followed by a half decent Athletico side, look at the other sizzeable teams like Valencia etc and they are al struggling. Look at this seasons Serie A table and you'll see how competitive it is. I follow Roma and have been a few occasions and the atmosphere is amazing. Other friends have mine have been to Milan, Florence & Naples and have all said the same thing. | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:31 - Nov 22 with 6833 views | Konk |
Definitely organise it yourself rather than as part of a package — miles cheaper.
One main pain in the ar se is TV companies not announcing televised fixtures until about eight minutes before kick-off, meaning that you can book flights and hotel, only to find that the game’s being played after you’ve left/arrived. If you go to a city with multiple clubs, you’ve more chance of getting a game in during your stay regardless of telly (providing teams are scheduled to be at home that weekend)
If it’s your first game abroad, then you might well want one of the major clubs — as long as it’s not a derby or crucial game, I’ve always been able to get tickets directly through clubs. Have a look at the official club sites and see if you can order directly from there, or failing that, email the club and tell them you’re across for your son’s birthday, lifelong fan etc. That’s always worked for me, and I’ve even had ticket offices email when returns have become available for sold out games.
In certain countries — Poland, Netherlands, Belgium (think that’s still the case) — you need to be a club member to get tickets — you can usually sort that out by turning-up the day before the game with your passport and becoming a member for free.
Great cities and top footballing experience:
Madrid: Real and Atletico are great stadiums and you can get a game in at Rayo Vallecano on the same day if the fixtures work out (I loved Rayo)
Barcelona: Barcelona or Espanyol
Valencia
Seville: Betis or Sevilla — both worth a visit
Istanbul: I’ve only been to Besiktas and Fenerbahce, but Galatasaray’s new stadium looks smart. I preferred Besiktas as an experience.
Hamburg: HSV or St Pauli
Munich: You’ll struggle to get tickets for Bayern other than paying through the nose, but 1860 play at the Allianz Arena too.
Berlin: Hertha at the Olympic stadium or I hear good things about Union (but it’s a small stadium)
Rome
Amsterdam
Lisbon
Nice/Interesting cities with decent football experience:
Krakow
Porto
Split
Athens
Naples
Nice enough cities worth a look if the football’s the priority:
Dortmund
Milan
Marseille
Lille
If you choose a club and google say, “Real Madrid tickets tripadvisor forum”, you’ll usually find threads detailing ticketing arrangements for that club.
You can get fixtures via http://uk.soccerway.com/ - I use this to work out the spread of games for TV by looking at earlier fixtures (i.e. one game on Friday night, one Sat, one Sun and one Mon) when trying to work out chances of games being shifted from normal day/time. Uefa’s website is helpful too (Domestic match centre), but for countries like Germany and Spain where there’s little notice of TV games, they don’t always update the site in good time.
If you’re looking at Germany then all the bundesliga stadiums are pretty smart — Dortmund, Schalke and Gladbach aren’t the best spots for a weekend, but you could always stay somewhere like Dusseldorf (more interesting) and then get the train across and do and in-and-out for the game.
Anyhow, wherever you end up, I’m sure you’ll have a great time; it’s always interesting seeing how things work at the football abroad.
Oh, and sonofnorfolt is absolutely the man for this thread. |  |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:40 - Nov 22 with 6820 views | hopphoops |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:11 - Nov 22 by Pigbag |
Italian football is not in the "doldrums". Serie A is probably the third best league in the world behind the EPL & Bundesliga. Spain is a two horse race followed by a half decent Athletico side, look at the other sizzeable teams like Valencia etc and they are al struggling. Look at this seasons Serie A table and you'll see how competitive it is. I follow Roma and have been a few occasions and the atmosphere is amazing. Other friends have mine have been to Milan, Florence & Naples and have all said the same thing. |
In the winter you've got to head south really...
Serie A is alive and well, mainly, as are la maggica Roma. Florence, Turin (Toro not Juve of course) and bolgna would all be good. Avoid Milan (boring at the weekend) and Brescia and Bergamo (the Reading and Slough of Milan) and don't go to Cagliari because their ground's been condemned and they play in Trieste (about 1000km away).
Lisbon and Porto both great cities, Porto a bit of a rough diamond, but the Dragao stadium is stunning. Probably best to seek out a big 3 match e.g. Sporting - Porto.
Went to Seville recently, it was great for city and football. Valencia and Bilbao also fun but Seville was better. Madrid's a great city for a weekend too.
Or how about Marseille? |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:51 - Nov 22 with 6805 views | Toast_R |
In my experience the best experience is somewhere that's easy to get around, decent night life, not too pricey.
Italy is not the best as it's difficult to find places and the English speaking away from the tourist traps, isnt the best.
Barcelona is always a decent place, plenty to do and tickets easy to come by, you'll find official ticket stalls in the main centre city where you can buy them. The night life is great and it's served by a decent Metro.
Amsterdam is of course a great place to go if you like Ajax.
Prague is a great place to go to if you fancy watching Sparta, it's cheap and has great food and you can enjoy beers whilst watching the football. Cabs are pretty cheap. |  | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 15:09 - Nov 22 with 6793 views | loftboy |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:11 - Nov 22 by Pigbag |
Italian football is not in the "doldrums". Serie A is probably the third best league in the world behind the EPL & Bundesliga. Spain is a two horse race followed by a half decent Athletico side, look at the other sizzeable teams like Valencia etc and they are al struggling. Look at this seasons Serie A table and you'll see how competitive it is. I follow Roma and have been a few occasions and the atmosphere is amazing. Other friends have mine have been to Milan, Florence & Naples and have all said the same thing. |
EPL  |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 15:13 - Nov 22 with 6789 views | slranger40 |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:51 - Nov 22 by Toast_R |
In my experience the best experience is somewhere that's easy to get around, decent night life, not too pricey.
Italy is not the best as it's difficult to find places and the English speaking away from the tourist traps, isnt the best.
Barcelona is always a decent place, plenty to do and tickets easy to come by, you'll find official ticket stalls in the main centre city where you can buy them. The night life is great and it's served by a decent Metro.
Amsterdam is of course a great place to go if you like Ajax.
Prague is a great place to go to if you fancy watching Sparta, it's cheap and has great food and you can enjoy beers whilst watching the football. Cabs are pretty cheap. |
some good tips there folks - thanks for the thoughts!! | | | |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 15:44 - Nov 22 with 6769 views | toboboly |
Easy to book stuff yourself, have done games in Germany and Italy and not been a problem.
Depends how relaxed you are as a parent I imagine, how about Hamburg  |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 16:09 - Nov 22 with 6752 views | SonofNorfolt |
Germany is easily your best bet, both for football and noctural activities.
Head for one of three regions.
Berlin, either Hertha or Union should be at home, or a more leftfield game such as BFC Dynamo.
Hamburg, the uber trendy but overrated St Pauli, or the fallen giant HSV. It's only an hour or so on the train to Bremen or Hannover too.
The third choice is your safest bet though. North Rhine Westphalia.
You can almost certainly get a couple of matches in.
Base yourselves in Dusseldorf for nights out in the Aldstadt, then select from matches.
That can include, Koln, Leverkusen, Duisburg, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Oberhausen, Essen, Monchengladbach, Bochum, Schalke and the fantastic stadium of Dortmund.
You can even go as far afield as Aachen or Paderborn as if you are in possession of a match ticket, train travel is free.
Check the matches aren't derbies, or against Bayern, as tickets may not be as easy to come by.
Italy and Spain can be fine, but the choices are a bit more limited.
If you want any advice on football in most European cities just ask. |  | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 16:17 - Nov 22 with 6745 views | Konk |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 16:09 - Nov 22 by SonofNorfolt |
Germany is easily your best bet, both for football and noctural activities.
Head for one of three regions.
Berlin, either Hertha or Union should be at home, or a more leftfield game such as BFC Dynamo.
Hamburg, the uber trendy but overrated St Pauli, or the fallen giant HSV. It's only an hour or so on the train to Bremen or Hannover too.
The third choice is your safest bet though. North Rhine Westphalia.
You can almost certainly get a couple of matches in.
Base yourselves in Dusseldorf for nights out in the Aldstadt, then select from matches.
That can include, Koln, Leverkusen, Duisburg, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Oberhausen, Essen, Monchengladbach, Bochum, Schalke and the fantastic stadium of Dortmund.
You can even go as far afield as Aachen or Paderborn as if you are in possession of a match ticket, train travel is free.
Check the matches aren't derbies, or against Bayern, as tickets may not be as easy to come by.
Italy and Spain can be fine, but the choices are a bit more limited.
If you want any advice on football in most European cities just ask. |
I forgot Koln - that's a good shout. Decent night out too. | |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 16:50 - Nov 22 with 6726 views | MedwayR |
From personal experience I'd recommend Atletico Madrid or Barcelona and avoid Italy. I've always booked things seperately as it's cheaper than booking as a package. Barcelona is a lively city with more tourist attractions than Madrid imo, but I still prefer Madrid. If you go for Madrid stay close to Sol, I'd recommend Hostel Bergantin - don't let the Hostel bit put you off, it's better than a lot of hotels and very reasonably priced The Bernabeau is a few metro stops away & I would recommend doing the stadium tour, but found the matchday experience better at Atleti particularly if you walk to & from the Vicente Calderon via La Latina where there are plenty of bars, I'd also recommend the stadium tour at Atleti, a proper old skool stadium with battle wounds and character, I'll be a bit disappointed when they move to the Olympic stadium in a few years...Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla and Valencia could also be worth considering. |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 16:53 - Nov 22 with 6723 views | Pigbag |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 15:09 - Nov 22 by loftboy |
EPL |
On your own pal. | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 17:34 - Nov 22 with 6707 views | N12Hoop |
Went to Barca last year. Bought tickets off their website, flights through Easyjet, hotels through some website and it was so much cheaper than the organised trips you can do. The only problem was that we had to book before we knew whether the game was on the Sat or Sun, and the games start late at night (9 or 10pm kick-off). |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 12:47 - Nov 24 with 6642 views | slranger40 |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 17:34 - Nov 22 by N12Hoop |
Went to Barca last year. Bought tickets off their website, flights through Easyjet, hotels through some website and it was so much cheaper than the organised trips you can do. The only problem was that we had to book before we knew whether the game was on the Sat or Sun, and the games start late at night (9 or 10pm kick-off). |
Thanks for the advice people. Think we are going to head off to watch Dortmund.
Seems like the options will allow us to deal with changes in kick off times and the weather too. (Probably going in February)
Looking forward to a decent beer, that is for sure.
Now for flights and hotels. Tickets direct from the clubs? | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:02 - Nov 24 with 6616 views | NW5Hoop |
Don't rule out Real Socieded. You can fly very cheaply to France — Pau is about 90 mins drive away, Biarritz about 30 mins — then rent a car and drive across the border (French airports are much nearer than the Spanish ones). San Sebastian is a beautiful down, with an amazing old town filled with bars, and some of the best restaurants in Europe.
The ground is walkable from the centre of the city. The Sunday morning kids league on the beach is something to behold. It's a fabulous place.
The only problem with Spain is not knowing until late on what day or time the game will be on, because of TV demands. | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:10 - Nov 24 with 6612 views | slranger40 |
Sonof...... appears you have some decent experience in this area!
Decided on flying over to dusseldorf. Any tips on decent hotel/ Best locations?
Looking for some decent nightlife.
Are the trains easy to navigate/ I understand they are cheap?
Any other top tips- going Friday to Monday so not be disappointed by tv changes.
Truth is I'm more excited than my son! Oh well. | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:19 - Nov 24 with 6605 views | WeaverQPR |
I would wait until we go back to defend our copa Ibiza trophy |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:29 - Nov 24 with 6597 views | Brightonhoop |
Ha! Envious. Took my boy to Nou Camp about 5 years back. Great stadium and football, brilliant City to be based in for a few days. Got talking with loads of Barca about Venables and QPR.
Mid winter off season should be more affordable too. |  | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:32 - Nov 24 with 6594 views | ngbqpr |
Brilliant thread, been looking at doing a few of these trips myself, and am saving this as a guide :)
Spent a few days in Lisbon in the summer - great city. It was before the season started, but I'd been to games at both Benfica & Sporting at Euro 2004 and they were both cool stadiums (tho agree Dragao in Porto tops both). This summer we went out to have a look at the Belenenses stadium in the cool, waterside Belem part of town. I'd love to go back to watch a game here. They're Lisbon's 'third team' - but still currently top flight, so as Benfica & Sporting are so often on TV, you can probably get two games in during one weekend in the city |  |
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:47 - Nov 24 with 6586 views | parker64 |
On city breaks I've been to a few grounds and even if there isn't a game on it's possible to get a stadium tour in.
If the TV moves games it's always possible to fit a lower league game in which can be just as much fun as going to the "known" clubs. This site has loads of info about fixtures and grounds.
http://uk.soccerway.com/ | | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 15:40 - Nov 24 with 6560 views | slranger40 |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 14:29 - Nov 24 by Brightonhoop |
Ha! Envious. Took my boy to Nou Camp about 5 years back. Great stadium and football, brilliant City to be based in for a few days. Got talking with loads of Barca about Venables and QPR.
Mid winter off season should be more affordable too. |
Checked out the flights from Gatwick and 2 of us (return) is less than £150 leaving on a Friday and returning Monday morning. Good ole easy jet.
Just need to figure out the details in terms of hotel and getting around once there. From what I can work out from the Dortmund website, no reason we can't get 2 tickets @ 30 euros a piece.
If the fixture list is good to us might be able to get a couple of games in over the weekend.
Sadly, missing the Reading game at home and be away for Valentines day. (one of these 2 events is no great loss) [Post edited 24 Nov 2013 15:48]
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| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 00:45 - Nov 25 with 6510 views | 100percent |
I'm off to Dortmund tomorrow with my son and some friends from work. we managed to get tickets for the Napoli game on Tuesday. we got the tickets a couple of months back and the game has now become a "winner takes all" event.
really looking forward the game - going to be an amazing atmosphere...
will report back our findings and experiences - two QPR, two chelscum, one man city and a Chesterfield fan..... happy days. |  | | |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 00:51 - Nov 25 with 6509 views | SonofNorfolt |
| European Football Trip - advice required - Where and How? (non-qpr) on 00:45 - Nov 25 by 100percent |
I'm off to Dortmund tomorrow with my son and some friends from work. we managed to get tickets for the Napoli game on Tuesday. we got the tickets a couple of months back and the game has now become a "winner takes all" event.
really looking forward the game - going to be an amazing atmosphere...
will report back our findings and experiences - two QPR, two chelscum, one man city and a Chesterfield fan..... happy days. |
You'll love it mate. | | | |
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