Tips on Irelands away game in switzerland!!
This is for anybody that is travelling to the Ireland game against Switzerland in October. I am trying to tell as many Irish fans as possible so if you read it in differant forums its cause i want to let as many know as I can..
I have gone to a few ireland away games in the last 2 years and know that it can be costly going with travel agents, what I have discovered is that you can sometimes find much cheaper ways of getting there.
I was given qoutes to the swiss game for nearly double what I am actually going there for. I have managed to get myself most of my trip boked for 435. That includes 3 nights at a 5 star hotel, and returen flights from London to Basle (not worried about flights to London Heathrow as there will be an offer between dublin and there sometime between now and october).
Heres a tip. If you are booking any flight to any place ireland are playing, on the net, always look at how much it costs to get there from london cause you might find that its cheaper leaving from there!!!
Also, plan the trip as soon as possible, so to get the best rates. Out of interest I looked up Aer Lingus Flights to Lisbon for next years Euro Championships and they were only 200 return on certain dates. Note they will rise sharply getting closer to the draw (if ireland qualify).Portugal is a big country but Lisbon is near enough to the middle and would be a great base!!!
Anyway I went to the Swiss Airline website, swiss.com and booked flights for 178 return from london heathrow to Basle. Its a bit annoying cause they give you loads of options when you choose dates and they are all differant prices according to time of day etc. What I found was that the later you went there and the earlier you came home, the cheaper it was. At one stage I found flights for 150 return but I wouldnt of gotten into basle until 12am!!! The flighst I chose leave London on the 10th(friday) at 14:00 and leave basle on the monday 13th at 1pm. I am staying in a 5star hotel (or so it says), I think that i put the website where I got the cheap deal for 160 a night!!
If you are booking a package be careful that you read everything. One quote I got was excluding Vat and one didnt even include Tickets to the match!!! I manager to go to the world cup and see irelands games for close to 1000. I had a 6 stop round the world ticket but still managed to keep down the costs of the trip which some agents were charging a couple of thousand for!!!!
I have only posted this to be helpful not as a gimmic or anything like that.
I will check back if you have any questions and will try to help anybody thats interested in going to Ireland away matches as much as I can.....
If anybody is woundering why I am doing this, its cause i have spent so much poxy time looking up all this info and felt that it would be wasted if I kept it all to myself....
Sound advice. Similarly I looked into the cheapest options and came up with a 6 nighter. Dublin to Amsterdam for 2 nights, overnight train to Basle, stay there after match, 2 nights in Strasbourg and return to Knock for all in cost 370, excl. accommodation in Basel which is proving tricky.
I've booked
2 return Flights (Cork - London Stansted - Strasbourg) = 155
Hotel 2 nights in Basel = 105
Train from Strasbourg to Basel will be 30 return.
Ticket hopefull on the way = 21
311 in total.
hotels in Basle are booking up fast so book now.
BTW sensible advice - Travel Agents have been ripping off fans for years - margins are way above those on your standard package holidays.
Good deals out of Dublin if you go to Germany and use the train - friends got Ryanair to Frankfurt Hahn out of Kerry.
Thats a good idea.friends got Ryanair to Frankfurt Hahn out of Kerry
Another Ryanair destination is Friedrichshafen. Its on the Germany/Switzerland border and is near enough to Basel. I was thinking of staying there for a few days and getting a train up on the day. That plane leaves from London stansted and it costs around 110...
I looked into several ways of getting to basle, but in the end, i would of only ended up saving pennies.
Of course there are much cheaper hotels the the one I am staying in, but I thought that 160 a night (for 2 people) in a 5star hotel was too good to pass up!!!
I found great difficulty trying to find a decent website for trains in europe. Eurostar and some other one were useless!!!
Doesnt really matter now, but anybody thinking of flying into Geneva be careful. Prices for travel in Switzerland on trains are expensive and you might well be better off flying into germany or france and getting trains there!!!
Heres a few websites that might help any of you!!
Hotels Europe
site Atlas
Deals on hotels
Basel
Yes, ithink i saw a fare of about 60/70Doesnt really matter now, but anybody thinking of flying into Geneva be careful. Prices for travel in Switzerland on trains are expensive
anyone traveling by train from southern germany in groups can take advantage of their rail deals.
Sch๖nes-Wochende-Ticket (happy weekend ticket)
For up to 5 persons traveling together and for parents traveling with their children aged 18 and under on Saturdays or Sundays between 12 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day for only EUR 28, Valid on all local trains, 2nd class only.
i'm not sure if it's valid into switzerland, but it'll save a lot of cash if you break up the journey.
Totally agree with you, we do exactly the same all the time.....We got return flights from london to zurich for 60 euro. not too bad!!! and got top notch hotels there too for about 170 euro a night....we're staying for 4 nights and its still working out over 400 euro cheaper than a 2 night package deal....
karl@thepeoplesflag.com
www.thepeoplesflag.com
For upto date news about the Irish National team check out www.thepeoplesflag.com
Just priced flights on Ryanair.com
One-way Regular Price 1.50 EUR Thu, 09 Oct 03 Flight FR 204
08:25 Depart Dublin (DUB)
09:35 Arrive London Stansted (STN)
One-way Regular Price 1.50 EUR Mon, 13 Oct 03 Flight FR 281
18:15 Depart London Stansted (STN)
19:25 Arrive Dublin (DUB)
Total Cost of Flight (excluding handling fee (if applicable) 35.03 EUR
One-way Regular Price 2.99 GBP Thu, 09 Oct 03 Flight FR 756
11:45 Depart London Stansted (STN)
14:00 Arrive Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
One-way Regular Price 9.99 GBP Mon, 13 Oct 03 Flight FR 755
11:05 Depart Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
11:20 Arrive London Stansted (STN)
Total Cost of Flight (excluding handling fee (if applicable)) 34.34 GBP
Have Boot Disk, will travel
the basel tourism site (baeltourismus.ch) has a good list of hotels etc bnBs which are fairly reasonable, we've got 2 nights in a bnb bout 25 eur a night - on a tram line to stadium, 15 mins from town
it would be good to see everyone stayin in around basel, craic might be better, smaller place too, heard stories of ppl stayin in zurich etc - dunno bout that
all the same craic will be good, nil le deanamh anois ach ticeid a aimsiu - if anyone can help (russia game too)
It is valid because the German railway station in Basel is still in Germany, Basel being right on the border.Originally posted by tiktok
anyone traveling by train from southern germany in groups can take advantage of their rail deals.
Sch๖nes-Wochende-Ticket (happy weekend ticket)
For up to 5 persons traveling together and for parents traveling with their children aged 18 and under on Saturdays or Sundays between 12 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day for only EUR 28, Valid on all local trains, 2nd class only.
i'm not sure if it's valid into switzerland, but it'll save a lot of cash if you break up the journey.
For any information on Basel the FC Basel forum is an excellent place (www.fcbforum.ch).
And don't worry about your seats being in the "Swiss" sector, there will be no problems.
Greetings from Basel
Is that because you would have already qualified by beating Russia on wednesday?Originally posted by Volltreffer
And don't worry about your seats being in the "Swiss" sector, there will be no problems.
This is the cooooooooooooolest footy forum I've ever seen!
Hopefully ...Originally posted by lopez
Is that because you would have already qualified by beating Russia on wednesday?
No matter what, Swiss national team supporters are not the violent kind, as are the Irish. (By the way the Irish are very popular here, so as much as I wish Switzerland to finish first I hope Ireland will qualify in the end.)
Does anybody know of good hotels in Basel. I am booked to fly to strasbourg on the friday and out on the monday. I have heard that they are quite expensive but I was wondering does anybody know of double or twin rooms for less than 100 per room per night. Maybe staying in Strasbourg is a better option.
The least expensive will be:
http://www.baselbackpack.ch/ (near the Swiss railway station)
http://www.youthhostel.ch/e/frames/home.cfm?ID=4 (beautifully situated on the Rhine)
Other possibilities:
http://www.etaphotel.com/etaphotel/f...he_hotel.shtml (Pratteln is directly linked by tram to Basel and the football stadium)
http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule...he_hotel.shtml (St. Louis is right on the other side of the Swiss-French border, the tram takes you from the border to the Basel city centre)
For a comprehensive list of hotels in and around Basel look here:
http://www.mybasel.ch/freizeit_gastronomie_hotels.cfm
I hope this helps.
Theres about 12 of us booked in here on the Saturday night!Originally posted by Volltreffer
The least expensive will be:
http://www.youthhostel.ch/e/frames/home.cfm?ID=4 (beautifully situated on the Rhine)
Good choice.
Are you flying with RyanAir?Originally posted by NeilMcD
I am booked to fly to strasbourg on the friday and out on the monday.
They've stopped doing Strasbourg.
yeah i know it has been changed to baden but i have the thomas cook train timetable which is brilliant if you are ever travelling by train in Europe and the trains are very regular from Baden Baden to Strasbourg and to Basel. It is only 30 mins by train from Baden Baden to Strasbourg and about 1 hour 10 mins to Basel. Is there anybody staying in strasbourg?
neil
We're staying in Basel.
Is there a train from baden Baden to Basle? Direct?
It seems to say on bahn.de that there is?
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