Football tourism in Europe

[IndigoLake]

A mate and I are thinking of going to a random city in Europe to see a match, probably in March next year. We're quite open to going to any country. Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations? Doesn't have to be a big team or big city. Just looking for an interesting place.

[LS7]

Went to the Milan derby about 7 weeks ago. Fantastic experience, and it was quite easy to get tickets via the Inter Milan website. 65 Euros. Milan is good for 1-2 nights and only half an hour on the train to Como. The hills and villages round the lake are lovely.

[LS7]

Bilbao would be good too i think for a big match. Great city and the stadium is quite central.

[Northerner]

Sparta Prague is a decent place to go. Great city too

[Bosscat]

Porto is a great city (not seen footy there but the ground was near our hotel)

[basil6345789]

Try Padiham. The Thick Neck Stadium is much improved.

[todclaret]

Porto is a great city (not seen footy there but the ground was near our hotel)

I'll echo that as I loved Porto when based there during Euro 2004.
The Dragao Stadium was easy to get to and from, served by the blue line on the subway system.

Ajax is another easy one, the stadium being served by the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA which is easily reached from the central station.

There's a host of options in Germany. Consider Nuremburg and the possibility of a visit to nearby Bamberg, which has eight or nine local breweries....

[diamondpocket]

endless places to go really but to narrow it down have a look at where you are flying from and see what the easiest and cheapest places are to get to.
France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, all close and all have loads of footy at all levels; very easy to do a Friday to Monday/Sunday night weekend with 3/4 games

[duncandisorderly]

Lower league German football. Union Berlin. You'll even know the words, more or less....

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[IndigoLake]

Appreciate all the replies, thank you! Certainly food for thought, particularly Porto. Has anyone been to Croatia, Serbia or Romania and seen a match?

[wilks_bfc]

3 of us went to Cologne a few years ago for the weekend.

Saw their game against Frankfurt (it was the game with the “goat incident”)

Not the biggest stadium but atmosphere in the buildup something else.

Our seats (we were unable to get tickets in the enclosure) were right next to the away fans.
When we got there the away section was empty. All of a sudden we heard this “rumble” as they all came through the gate, all in black, onto the terrace.
They only stopped singing/chanting once in all the time they were there, largely down to the 2 conductors they had stood at the front.
The only time they were silent was just before kick off, whilst Cologne played/sang their anthem

[colne-claret]

Hertha Berlin's Olympic stadium is a brilliant stadium. Even outside the ground there is plenty to look at.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Appreciate all the replies, thank you! Certainly food for thought, particularly Porto. Has anyone been to Croatia, Serbia or Romania and seen a match?

Yes. Serbia is another level for the derbies. The non derbies tend not to be as exciting these days. But if you dont fancy red star partizan (most intense game ive ever done), voijvidina red star is usually good too. Especially at the voijvodina stadium. We had a tour of their ground. Small compact stadium but they get a bit lairy and their chairman was like a rock star. They play in novi sad which is a beautiful city.

Im in a minority in not being overly keen on Porto as a city or when we went up to the stadium. Compared to Lisbon anyway. Stadiums easy to get to. But when we went for the tour on the last day we had just missed it and they werent for helping us join or even go inside just for one picture.

Koln as above is an impressive ground and a very inpressive atmosphere. Ive been to the derby in gladbach (got friends there from gladbach who support us. Theyd gladly sort tickets) and also koln bayern. Went in the away end for barca gladbach. Obviousky the nou camp is amazing but didnt rate the atmosphere. I know its hypocritical bit its very touristy. Other grounds in germany ive been are schalke, wolfsburg, osnabruck, freiburg, frankfurt. The whole experience there is far better for the football tourist than anywhere else. You have the passionate fans, good food, great stadiums, good football, easy transport etc and the good thing is even though theres plenty of tourists it still feels authentic.

The San Siro is incredible though and for me best stadium in the world. Been to milan derby and inter juve. A few inter games in this country. Again quite a few inter fans who follow us and come over all the time now. So could sort tickets out if you were interested.

Football tourism in europe is huge now. And must admit its a bit of a hobby for me. But been to some incredible games, seen some amazing stadiums and met some genuine mates from it.

[IndigoLake]

3 of us went to Cologne a few years ago for the weekend.

Saw their game against Frankfurt (it was the game with the “goat incident”)

Not the biggest stadium but atmosphere in the buildup something else.

Our seats (we were unable to get tickets in the enclosure) were right next to the away fans.
When we got there the away section was empty. All of a sudden we heard this “rumble” as they all came through the gate, all in black, onto the terrace.
They only stopped singing/chanting once in all the time they were there, largely down to the 2 conductors they had stood at the front.
The only time they were silent was just before kick off, whilst Cologne played/sang their anthem

Sounds like a good experience that! Never seen a game in Germany. Did do a tour of Allianz Arena though which was excellent.

[Tribesmen]

League of Ireland .
Yep not sure who the Tribesmen have yet at home as the season starts in Feb , but Galway is a super city and lots to do . Fly to Shannon or Knock

[IndigoLake]

Yes. Serbia is another level for the derbies. The non derbies tend not to be as exciting these days. But if you dont fancy red star partizan (most intense game ive ever done), voijvidina red star is usually good too. Especially at the voijvodina stadium. We had a tour of their ground. Small compact stadium but they get a bit lairy and their chairman was like a rock star. They play in novi sad which is a beautiful city.

Im in a minority in not being overly keen on Porto as a city or when we went up to the stadium. Compared to Lisbon anyway. Stadiums easy to get to. But when we went for the tour on the last day we had just missed it and they werent for helping us join or even go inside just for one picture.

Koln as above is an impressive ground and a very inpressive atmosphere. Ive been to the derby in gladbach (got friends there from gladbach who support us. Theyd gladly sort tickets) and also koln bayern. Went in the away end for barca gladbach. Obviousky the nou camp is amazing but didnt rate the atmosphere. I know its hypocritical bit its very touristy. Other grounds in germany ive been are schalke, wolfsburg, osnabruck, freiburg, frankfurt. The whole experience there is far better for the football tourist than anywhere else. You have the passionate fans, good food, great stadiums, good football, easy transport etc and the good thing is even though theres plenty of tourists it still feels authentic.

The San Siro is incredible though and for me best stadium in the world. Been to milan derby and inter juve. A few inter games in this country. Again quite a few inter fans who follow us and come over all the time now. So could sort tickets out if you were interested.

Football tourism in europe is huge now. And must admit its a bit of a hobby for me. But been to some incredible games, seen some amazing stadiums and met some genuine mates from it.

Thanks for all this info, cricketfield. I'll definitely consider Germany as an option as a few people have mentioned it being a particularly good experience. Only been to Munich so there's plenty of options to consider. The cheaper the place the better really - wouldn't mind returning to Hungary to be honest. Level of football won't be as good but all about the experience

[cricketfieldclarets]

Thanks for all this info, cricketfield. I'll definitely consider Germany as an option as a few people have mentioned it being a particularly good experience. Only been to Munich so there's plenty of options to consider. The cheaper the place the better really - wouldn't mind returning to Hungary to be honest. Level of football won't be as good but all about the experience

Brother went to watch ferencvaros. The pictures looked incredible.

I went to Slavia Prague. Very cheap but atmosphere wasnt great. Partly because Slavia were playing Sparta at Ice Hockey that night too and partly because it was bloody freezing.

Schalke is brilliant. If you fly to Koln or Dusseldorf you have lots of games 2 hours or less away. Monchengladbach. Koln. Fortuna. Leverkusen. Schalke. Dortmund to name a few.

[durhamclaret]

Go to Seville, fantastic medieval city, loads of history and loads of tapas bars, 2 teams there, Seville and Real Betis, about a 2 hour drive from Malaga if you want to take advantage of some cheaper flights, I can highly recommend.

[whentheballmoves]

Im hoping to do Real Madrid this Easter. Also an eyenon Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, if possible!
I lived in Paris twenty years ago , and they used to have quite a good atmosphere then. Did the Prague derby, which was good. You also have Bohemians, Zizkov and a couple of others.
The Ruhr area of Germany has plenty of teams. Lovely people!
Zagreb has two teams and is a nice city.
Enjoyed Ferencvaros.
Milan is brilliant.
Barca, i agree, disappointed, atmosphere wise.
What about the Scandinavian countries? Enjoyed Helsingborg and FC Copenhagen!

[The Hung Juror]

Can highly recommend Bilbao, went a few weeks ago after going for the first time last season. Direct flights there from Manchester but not on return, cheap though.

Fantastic new stadium and great atmosphere, great food and people. Last year saw Athletic v Barca on the Saturday and the went to Eibar (an hour away from Bilbao) to see them play Levante. Stadium is right in the city and it has a fairly new metro line with stop right at the stadium. The Metro was designed by Norman Foster. Did the same in October and saw Athletic v Valencia. Then on the Sunday went to Vitoria (again about an hour away) and saw Alaves v Villlarreal. The Alves support was absolutely unbelievable never stopped singing throughout the game.

Only slight issue with Bilbao is getting tickets, in that they only go on sale to the general public a few days before the game and they are not cheap. No problem with the other two.

Also went to the San Siro a few years ago, AC v Fiorentina. Fantastic stadium.

[Pstotto]

Good or bad stadium? Good or bad atmosphere? Good or bad team? Good or bad league? Good or bad country? Good or bad town or city? Good or bad transport links? Good or bad price? Availability of tickets.

Go on Youtube and check out the stadiums around Europe's leagues. Like in England there's also a lot of big clubs who are not in the top flight.

[TheOriginalLongsider]

Poznan is very cheap.

[IndigoLake]

Brother went to watch ferencvaros. The pictures looked incredible.

I went to Slavia Prague. Very cheap but atmosphere wasnt great. Partly because Slavia were playing Sparta at Ice Hockey that night too and partly because it was bloody freezing.

Schalke is brilliant. If you fly to Koln or Dusseldorf you have lots of games 2 hours or less away. Monchengladbach. Koln. Fortuna. Leverkusen. Schalke. Dortmund to name a few.

We're narrowing it down to either Germany or Italy. Based on flights and accommodation costs the favourites are Berlin, Milan and Rome. With regard to the Milan derby, is that difficult to get tickets for? Expensive as well I guess?

[IndigoLake]

Went to the Milan derby about 7 weeks ago. Fantastic experience, and it was quite easy to get tickets via the Inter Milan website. 65 Euros. Milan is good for 1-2 nights and only half an hour on the train to Como. The hills and villages round the lake are lovely.

The weekend we're thinking of going somewhere is actually the weekend of the Milan derby in March. May well look into tickets then!

[IndigoLake]

Im hoping to do Real Madrid this Easter. Also an eyenon Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, if possible!
I lived in Paris twenty years ago , and they used to have quite a good atmosphere then. Did the Prague derby, which was good. You also have Bohemians, Zizkov and a couple of others.
The Ruhr area of Germany has plenty of teams. Lovely people!
Zagreb has two teams and is a nice city.
Enjoyed Ferencvaros.
Milan is brilliant.
Barca, i agree, disappointed, atmosphere wise.
What about the Scandinavian countries? Enjoyed Helsingborg and FC Copenhagen!

Have looked into a lot of these. Zagreb is of interest but they're unfortunately away from home the weekend we're planning on going! Milan is definitely on the list.

[cricketfieldclarets]

We're narrowing it down to either Germany or Italy. Based on flights and accommodation costs the favourites are Berlin, Milan and Rome. With regard to the Milan derby, is that difficult to get tickets for? Expensive as well I guess?

No its not expensive. Milan the city or the tickets. And its relatively easy to get tickets. If you fancy that one I can put you in touch to sort them out for you.

[LS7]

Tickets should be easy if you’re organised 5 weeks or so in advance - keep an eye out for first day of open sale.

Had an amazing time. 442 Sports Pub is a good hangout pre match / post match. Sells Carlsberg Special Brew on draught so that’s probably one to avoid.

[Burnley1989]

PSV Eindhoven, fantastic city and only an hour from Amsterdam airport.

Went to the 1/4 final against Portugal (2006) in Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, great city also.

[Bfc]

While staying in Cyprus I was going to watch the local team 1st Div team Pafos, but a local said it wouldn't be a good idea, as their supporters don't like the English and I could end up getting attacked. I thought it wasn't worth the risk, even though I've always found on my holidays there, that they're friendly people.

[Hardy77]

I've been in Istanbul in 2005 for the Champions Leauge final, great place to see.

[ŽižkovClaret]

If you can push it back a bit the Prague derby is around 13th April

[South West Claret.]

Hertha Berlin's Olympic stadium is a brilliant stadium. Even outside the ground there is plenty to look at.

Another tick for Hertha Berlin Olympic stadium, there is little football Museum on the right as you approach the stadium from the train I just about noticed it by accident.

We were staying in Berlin where we purchased the match tickets at the Reichstag tourist office, dead easy. Also Berlin is a brilliant city to stay in if you like the history we stayed in the East Air+bb the East was recommended to us as that is where a lot of history is.