Euro 2024 – A brief overview
The European Football Championship Euro 2024 is one of the two biggest sporting events in Europe for 2024, while the other event is the Olympic Games in Paris, France.
This time the host country is Germany, for the second time in the history of the competition. Everything was made ready in time to receive the participating national teams from June 14 to July 14. There are a total of 24 teams from all over Europe and they were divided into 6 groups with 4 teams each. The final will take place in Berlin, July 14th.
The matches will take place in 10 stadiums in different cities of Germany. We’ll mention these in more detail throughout the post.
The interest has been great to follow the matches directly in the stadiums and a large flow of fans is expected. But Germany does not only offer sports excitement this year, but also a great tourist offer. For this reason, we thought of creating this Guide to serve both purposes.
Keep reading to find out more about the biggest football event in Europe for 2024!
Tickets for Euro 2024
Of course, one of the most important things to be part of Euro 2024 is to have a ticket for the match of the heart team. The whole process has been organized by UEFA in the form of a lottery, starting from October 2023 until March of this year. For more details, visit the Tickets/Hospitality UEFA EURO 2024 | UEFA.com. The winning fans of the lottery received the respective tickets from the end of May through the UEFA Mobile Tickets app. There is still a time interval left for the sale of tickets related to the qualification phase with direct elimination, starting from June 23.
Fortunately, Albania participated this year, we also got lucky in the draw and were present in a group match. If you were/are lucky enough to win tickets, then this guide will help you on your way to the tournament.
Arrival in Germany and transport around the country
The host cities of Euro 2024 are as follows:
- Berlin
- Cologne
- Munich
- Frankfurt
- Hamburg
- Dortmund
- Leipzig
- Gelsenkirchen
- Stuttgart
- Düsseldorf
All cities have good connections both with neighboring countries and with the rest of Europe and other continents. If you arrive from neighboring countries, then you can easily use the railway lines that bring you to all the host cities. The main operator of the railway network is the German Railways or Deutsche Bahn. On the occasion of Euro 2024, there are additional offers for match ticket holders:
Price reduction for ICE high speed train tickets, both within the country and for trips from neighboring countries.
For more distant destinations, it is necessary to use the plane. All host cities have their own airport or that of a neighboring city. For more information, you can visit their web pages.
To move within the country again, public transport offers many opportunities:
FREE use of public transport within the cities and surroundings will be from 06:00 on the day of the match until 18:00 the following day.
Also in Germany, since May 2023, the D-Ticket has been in force, which allows unlimited movement throughout the country, with a monthly payment of 49 Euros. ICE high speed trains are excluded from this monthly ticket.
Of course, you can use your own car, rental car or taxi.
Watching matches in the stadium
The most exciting thing about Euro 2024: watching your national team live in the stadium. All stadiums can be easily reached by means of public transport, without worrying about parking etc. To have a full experience in the stadium, it is enough to follow the rules of each of them. This information is available on their web pages:
- Berlin, Olympiastadion
- Cologne, Stadion Köln
- Munich, Allianz Arena
- Frankfurt, Frankfurt Arena
- Hamburg, Volksparkstadion Hamburg
- Dortmund, BVB Stadium Dortmund
- Leipzig, Leipzig Stadium
- Gelsenkirchen, Arena AufSchalke
- Stuttgart, Arena Stuttgart
- Düsseldorf, Arena Düsseldorf
We were also lucky to win 4 tickets for one of Albania’s group matches in Düsseldorf. Experience close to the field of play that is truly unique! Unfortunately, the national player did not manage to win, but this is a normal part of the sport and did not ruin the awesomeness of this experience.
Watching matches in public squares/places
In addition to the stadium, the live broadcast squares or Fan zones offer an interesting experience for watching matches. In every major city, special spots/squares have been organized for this purpose. Information can be found on the respective web pages of each city. For the ten host cities, information can also be found on the UEFA Euro 2024 website:
- Berlin, Fanzone
- Cologne, Fanzone
- Munich, Fanzone
- Frankfurt, Fanzone
- Hamburg, Fanzone
- Dortmund, Fanzone
- Leipzig, Fanzone
- Gelsenkirchen, Fanzone
- Stuttgart, Fanzone
- Düsseldorf, Fanzone
Tourist experience
Of course, Germany offers more than just the Euro 2024 matches. Places in nature to discover, historical places, cities with authentic architecture, etc. Regardless of the fact that it does not enjoy any fame in the world, the local cuisine is worth trying, which, at least in terms of quantity, does not disappoint. At the end of the day, cuisine is a matter of personal taste. Even for tourist purposes, public transport will come to the rescue, connecting all the most popular destinations with each other. Undoubtedly, there may be problems with delays or cancellations, the demand in this period is too high, but it is generally worth it. For more details, you can read another blog-post of ours The Cost of Travel in Germany – from a local.
Last remarks
More or less the topics for a best and smooth experience in Euro 2024, we covered in this blog post. A seemingly unimportant detail is having an umbrella. The weather in Germany is expected to be very fluctuating, including storms and rain. (Usually the weather in Germany tends to be bad, there’s rarely good weather.)
We hope that our guidance will be helpful for the football adventure at Euro 2024 in Germany.If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below and we’ll be more than happy to answer! Happy Traveling!
