The most organized fans have probably already taken care of their dream soccer trip to Madrid for the UEFA Champions League final. But there are also those who didn’t think about it in advance or decided to go right now. For you, we have prepared the best tips on how to save your budget and not miss the battle between Liverpool and Tottenham on June 1.
Hotels
The closer the big date gets, the higher the ticket prices and the lower the chance of booking any decent hotel room. It’s already hard to find a room in the city cheaper than 1000 euros a night.
The best option would be to look for a night’s accommodation in the neighboring nearby towns. Avila, Cuenca, Sarcedilla, Segovia and Toledo are worth a look. They were away from the gaze of fans, so the prices there have risen much less. For example, a room in Toledo will cost about 100-150 euros.
Take a closer look at hostels, there are still a few beds available in Madrid for 60-70 euros per day.
Airfare
There are no direct flights to Madrid from Moscow cheaper than 77 thousand rubles for the dates we need. We have to choose the lesser of two evils – fly 8 hours with a two-hour layover in Rome for 15 thousand rubles or take a direct flight for 15 thousand two days earlier.
It seems that the choice is obvious – extra days for walking around Spain never hurts.
With flights from St. Petersburg the situation is better. The fastest flight lasts 6 hours, but you will have to pay more than 30 thousand for a one-way flight.
Lifehack: again, do not fixate on Madrid. Pay attention to other cities. For example, on May 31 you can fly from Moscow to Barcelona for only 9 thousand. And the flight will last only about 6 hours. Moreover, you can spend the night in this beautiful city, and get to the stadium on the day of the final.
Food
For a sense of local color, feel the Spanish essence. For breakfast, residents prefer coffee with cookies, muffin or sweet bagels. Any lunch in Spain will consist of a large number of dishes – first, second and, naturally, compote. But for dinner they will be limited to soup or tapas (these are small snacks like canapés), which will be savored from 10 pm to midnight.
Don’t forget the siesta
When calculating the time of your trip, don’t forget about such an important element of Spanish life as siesta. At lunchtime, it is customary not only to eat but also to sleep. And although it is recommended to sleep no more than 20 minutes, the siesta break lasts 2-3 hours.
And the main tip – if you haven’t already done so, hurry up and buy tickets for the match itself, there are incredibly few of them left. Beware of scammers.
But even if you don’t get a ticket to the match, and it is quite likely that in such a short time it will be the most expensive part of the trip, it is always nice to visit the city in the midst of soccer battles, to have a pint of beer in a pub with real fans and to go out in the evening to celebrate the victory of your favorite team in the very epicenter of events.