Mid September city break + football

monaghanmissus

Hi, looking for ideas for a city break mid September for bf's birthday. Was thinking along the lines of a European city break taking in a football match/stadium tour. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Oymyakon

Munich or Barcelona are probably 2 of the best clubs in Europe right now, also good destinations for a city break.

NIMAN

Madrid or Barcelona would be my bets, 2 great cities and top clubs to watch. Weather would be nice as well.

Alternatively, Rome or Paris, take in a roma or psg game.

Berserker

Milan would be also be a good shout but I would go for Munich personally.

tricky D

Barcelona has a week long festival called La Mercè every September for its patron saint. This year it's from 18-24 Sept. There is shed loads of extra stuff going on for the whole week. Well worth considering.

Tigerandahalf

A lot depends on whether you go mid week or the weekend. Teams may be playing away from home on the weekend you might want to travel.
I think a better and cheaper option is to go midweek and try and fit in a champions league match. Check the fixtures on uefa.com. It can be very easy to get tickets as the big teams may be playing a weak enough side. Make sure you bring your passport to the ticket booth when buying as uefa games are strict on passport/fan control and you may not get a ticket without it.
September should mean lovely weather too. The summer heat has passed.

Strumms

NIMAN wrote: »

Madrid or Barcelona would be my bets, 2 great cities and top clubs to watch. Weather would be nice as well.

Alternatively, Rome or Paris, take in a roma or psg game.

Madrid or Barcelona for me, both are cheaper cities then Rome or Paris plus be easier to get tickets for matches due to the size of the respective stadiums unless it's a Classico etc... Been to a game in both cities and both stadia are almost worth being there for just alone. The tour of the Bernaubeau is worth doing although I didn't do the Nou Camp one.

I also saw a game two seasons ago in Milan, was lucky enough to see Milan vs Juve.. San Siro is something else... Incidently we also went to see Como play on that trip ( not far from Milan) now in Serie B and it's well worth it, must be the most scenic place to watch a football match in Europe, right on the lake with great views from the stands and float planes buzzing the roof of the stadium, also a great spot is Como.. Just something different to think about

schemingbohemia

Strumms wrote: »

Madrid or Barcelona for me, both are cheaper cities then Rome or Paris plus be easier to get tickets for matches due to the size of the respective stadiums unless it's a Classico etc... Been to a game in both cities and both stadia are almost worth being there for just alone. The tour of the Bernaubeau is worth doing although I didn't do the Nou Camp one.

I also saw a game two seasons ago in Milan, was lucky enough to see Milan vs Juve.. San Siro is something else... Incidently we also went to see Como play on that trip ( not far from Milan) now in Serie B and it's well worth it, must be the most scenic place to watch a football match in Europe, right on the lake with great views from the stands and float planes buzzing the roof of the stadium, also a great spot is Como.. Just something different to think about

You're forgetting the mighty Atletico Madrid, there's also Rayo Vallecano for a smaller stadium. Espanyol in Barcelona too.

Strumms

schemingbohemia wrote: »

You're forgetting the mighty Atletico Madrid, there's also Rayo Vallecano for a smaller stadium. Espanyol in Barcelona too.

Not forgetting The Calderon is in a nice part of the city.. with a nice walk down by the river.. ive never been to a game there and the one time i went to do the stadium tour Bon Jovi were playing in the stadium that night and all tours were cancelled.... on my to do list though..

louis626

I'd say Munich, and being mid September if you happened to land there during the Oktoberfest I doubt he would be unhappy! Downside here would be cost of hotels but may be worth looking into.

Great stadium for tours also and a lovely city.

cdeb

You would be doing very well to get a ticket for a Bayern game.

Could cheat and go see TSV 1860 Munich - same ground, but a division lower. Still good craic I'd say, but not quite Bayern.

Shouldn't be any bother getting a Barca ticket unless they're playing Real.

Bit of rigmarole around getting a ticket for Serie A - often passports are required, and some games are high profile so there can be restrictions on general sale of tickets.

That's just on the football side of it anyway.

monaghanmissus

Thanks all! Think I might settle on Madrid the weekend of 11-13th Sept to take in Atletico Madrid v Barcelona.

Tigerandahalf

monaghanmissus wrote: »

Thanks all! Think I might settle on Madrid the weekend of 11-13th Sept to take in Atletico Madrid v Barcelona.

Be very hard to get a ticket for that game I'd imagine.

cdeb

Great occasion if you can get to it alright, but worth trying to book tickets online now I would say.

monaghanmissus

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Be very hard to get a ticket for that game I'd imagine.

There's still some available, granted they're behind the goals but they'll be fine!

schemingbohemia

Just be careful as they haven't confirmed the match day or time yet. The first 2 weekends have games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and the first weekend has Monday too!

rainbow kirby

Spanish fixtures are generally only confirmed 10 days ish before the match.

Carawaystick

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Spanish fixtures are generally only confirmed 10 days ish before the match.

And sometimes only the day before

If you wanted to go see a football match, I'd go to Dortmund, to see the Yellow Wall
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29624410
http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2012/dec/02/borussia-dortmund-yellow-wall-in-pictures

monaghanmissus

The Atletico website is giving me a date and time, does this mean it's confirmed?

cdeb

Possibly alright - soccerway.com has the same and there's no two games at the same time, which would make sense (TV reasons)

schemingbohemia

This place might be worth visiting before the game, it's a great Cider place, they also do food Roast Chickens etc, would be a handy taxi ride to the ground afterwards.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g187514-d697480-Reviews-Casa_Mingo-Madrid.html

Am hugely jealous, Aupa Atleti!

monaghanmissus

Looks great schemingbohemia, thanks! Any recomendations of places to stay??

Berberis

Been to see FC Malaga play at home. Nice place but like mentioned earlier by someone else, games in Spain get moved about quite close to original match date. Our last game there was changed from a Saturday night to the following Monday with only a week or so before the planned much date.
lucky enough for me we were staying the week in Malaga