Get a kick out of a Spanish football holiday
If you're a football fan and a sun lover, have you considered taking a sun, sea and soccer break in Spain. La Liga is without doubt the best league in Europe at the minute, with many of the world's best players such as Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar plying their trade in Spain's premier division.
With a well-organised trip, it is possible to watch 3 matches (2 La Liga and one cup game) in a week, and at the same time absorb some Spanish culture, or simply soak up some sun. If you plan carefully you can schedule in a mid-week Champions League game.
As games are sometimes switched for TV in Spain at the last minute, it is recommended to take a 10-11 day break to ensure that you take in the 3 games. If you want a week away only, mix and match the fixtures and locations to catch a weekend game and a mid-week game.
Our suggested football feast takes in the 3 cities of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. Why not combine going to a La Liga game with a stadium tour of the Nou Camp, the Bernabeu or the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia?
Spanish Football Fiesta - Itinerary
To fit your football fiesta into 7-10 days, you will need to plan your trip around the La Liga fixture calendar.
Here is our suggested tour itinerary:-
- Day 1 (Friday) - Barcelona - arrive and chill out
- Day 2 - Barcelona Nou Camp (La Liga Game 1)
- Day 3 - Barcelona - Nou Camp tour / site-seeing in Barcelona
- Day 4 - Travel Barcelona to Madrid
- Day 5 - Bernabeu tour / site-seeing in Madrid
- Day 6 - Real Madrid (Champions League or Cup Game)
- Day 7 - Travel Madrid to Valencia
- Day 8 - Discover Valencia
- Day 9 - Valencia site-seeing
- Day 10 - Valencia Mestalla (La Liga Game 2)
Note that you can switch days around to fit the La Liga calendar.
Getting There
To minimise the travel, you will need to book 2 single tickets e.g. London to Barcelona on the way out, and Valencia to London on the way back.
Easyjet, Ryanair and many of the other low cost airlines operate at Barcelona El Prat Airport. Ryanair also fly to Girona airport which is an hour's drive to the north of Barcelona.
Getting Around
At Blue Valley Car Hire, we can provide car hire in Spain at any of the airports above, with pick-up and drop-off at different locations. We also have information about driving in Spain.
Alternatively, trains and coaches are available between all the locations mentioned above, with coaches being the cheapest option, and the high-speed trains (AVE) being the most expensive.
Getting Home
For the return journey Valencia Airport is ideal, but Alicante Airport is only 2 hours drive to the south of Valencia, and has a greater choice of flights.
Getting Tickets
Although it is possible to "pitch up and pay" for tickets on match day, this approach may result in disappointment, especially for the Barcelona and Real Madrid games, although it is usually a lot cheaper to buy tickets in Spain on the gate rather than buying online. If you don't want to risk missing out, you can purchase your tickets from the official websites and print them out, or buy from ticket outlets such as Ticketmaster and Viagogo.