Watching soccer on TV is exciting, but there's nothing better than seeing your favorite team in person. To help save you time and money on soccer tickets and transportation, we've done the research for you on how to buy soccer tickets. Plus we share plenty of tips on how to see the biggest games. Traveling […]

Watching soccer on TV is exciting, but there’s nothing better than seeing your favorite team in person. To help save you time and money on soccer tickets and transportation, we’ve done the research for you on how to buy soccer tickets. Plus we share plenty of tips on how to see the biggest games.

Traveling to see live soccer abroad can be the experience of a lifetime. But securing travel, lodging and most importantly, the actual soccer tickets themselves can be overwhelming. That’s why we’re here to help share our experiences and lessons learned.

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If you’re interested in traveling abroad to watch your favorite team in action, read on for our comprehensive guide:

Pros and cons of package tour operators

Let’s start with something that would likely ease the access to get over to Europe: package trips. 

You may have seen many of these package tour operators advertising on television or online. There are advantages to what they offer which is a less stressful experience where they include game tickets, transportation and accommodations for what promises to be a trip of a lifetime. Depending on the service you use, flights and accommodations may or may not be included. 

However, these trips can stack up, and fast. There are ways for you to save money in each facet of the trip. In fact, using some of the tips and recommendations in this guide, you can save over $1,000 by booking on your own compared to using a travel agency. Of course, it requires a little bit more work to nail down the right prices and to lay out your precise itinerary. Yet, that applies to everything. Work hard, play hard, as it were.

The other advantage of booking the trip yourself is that you’re in control. You don’t have to adhere to the strict itinerary that a package tour operator provides. Instead, going on your own allows you to focus your itinerary on only the games and places you want to experience.

The first thing to note is that trips to Europe are not cheap. It makes more sense to make a week out of the trip than just bouncing over for a long weekend.

As you will see in this guide, you can take advantage of Europe to get around easily and even go to multiple soccer games in multiple countries during your time over there. 

Part of the fun of following your own plan is the flexibility at your disposal. For example, many package tours provide bus tours or planned meals. This can be great for someone who just wants a very relaxing trip with not a worry in the world. However, having dinner at a smaller, more authentic, restaurant, or sharing drinks with the locals, is the best way to truly experience Europe.

What you will find when over there is that it truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Our goal here is to make it affordable and enjoyable for everybody. 

Grab a pen and some paper. Here is how to affordably travel to Europe to watch the beautiful game.

When to go

Pick the best time of the year to visit. 

European soccer generally follows the same calendar. The top tiers in England, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and practically everywhere else in Europe run from August through May. Typically, the most expensive times to travel are in the summer months from June to August. 

Fortunately for soccer fans, the cheaper months to travel are during the fall and winter from September to March, coinciding with most of the European soccer seasons. It also depends where in Europe you are traveling. For instance, Paris, London, Madrid and other major cities all have different prices for different times of the year. 

Be creative when asking for time off work. 

You’ll need to factor in how many vacation days you can take and how to seek permission from your boss to take the time needed. If you’re like most of us, taking time off work is usually a challenge, but here are some helpful tips.

• Tip: Schedule your vacation time around a holiday. For example, if you live in the United States, look into dates around Labor Day or Thanksgiving Day. Remember, flights domestically in the U.S. have price rises during that time, but internationally you should be able to find some bargains because those holidays aren’t recognized in Europe.

It’s easy to plan your own trip to Europe. Here’s how to do it:

First, figure out what time of the year you want to take the trip. You’ll want to look at the schedules of games in Europe. For instance, here are the latest schedules for the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1, among other leagues.

Once you know what time of the year you’re planning to go to Europe, it’s good to remember that most flights over to Europe are overnight when leaving from the United States. Therefore, you get in the following morning. That way, if you want, you can often work the day then leave that night. 

We recommend taking a week to experience European soccer. In that time frame, you could realistically fit in four to five games depending on which teams or competitions you want to see. Travel inside of Europe, if that is something that interests you, is also something to consider for your trip planning. Again, we recommend exposing yourself to as much variety as possible.

Where to go

Figure out which matches you want to see in Europe. 

If you are a fan of a certain club in Europe, chances are you want to watch that club. For instance, look at German soccer. In some weeks, there are domestic league games on the weekend. Then, during the week, teams compete in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Conference League or in the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup. The same applies to every other nation in Europe, depending on the club you support. Use the list of soccer TV schedules to ping your dates for travel. You can maximize your opportunity to watch soccer in great ways. Or, it can go south.

• Tip: With the breadth of soccer, there are always options to watch. That could be domestic leagues, domestic cups, continental cups and international soccer.

• Tip: Always be checking to make sure the kickoff times stay consistent. Soccer has a knack for last-minute changes to kickoffs. This was especially true during the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID-19. Oftentimes, the best place to learn updates is via the club you are interested in. Social media can play a major role in providing the latest news and updates for each game.

It also helps to know that many of Europe’s biggest clubs are in the biggest hubs for travel. Or, at least, they are easy to get to from there. In England, the ‘big six’ are near London or Manchester. Barcelona, Spain and Paris are some of the most frequent destinations for Americans. Therefore, airlines schedule frequent flights to these cities. 

Munich, Berlin, Milan and Rome all have major airports that have direct flights from the United States. 

A helpful website for seeing what direct flights are available from and to destinations is https://www.flightconnections.com/ 

Money Saving Tips

Finding an inexpensive flight

This is probably the most stress-inducing part of planning a trip to Europe. Once the flight is booked, everything else can start to fall into motion. However, timing is key when it comes to booking airline flights. The general thought is that ticket prices rise as the date gets closer. This is not always the case. Oftentimes, airlines will raise ticket prices when they recognize a new desire by potential customers to eye up tickets. Therefore, let other sources do that searching and predicting for