Europe and Euro 2012 READ FIRST POST!!!

Paulie1972

We've been trying to make arrangements as best we can before the draw is made. We fly into Warsaw on June 6th and a mate of ours is going to collect us there (he's driving from Dublin). We have accommodation booked in Lodz (free cancellation) from the 6th to the 18th, so if the hotels are too expensive in whichever host city we're playing in, if we end up in Poland, at least we have a good base in a lively town that is pretty close to 3 of the 4 Polish venues. We also have a hotel booked in the Ukraine (again free cancellation). It's in a city called Cherkassy which is about 120km of Kiev. Again this is just a back up option in case the prices are too expensive in the host cities in the Ukraine in the event of us being based there. The hotel in Lodz was a very cheap 3 star at about €350 for a single room, and about €420 for a twin room, from the 6th - 18th, while the hotel in Cherkassy was more expensive at about €650 for the single room for the same duration (I can't remember the price of the twin room there). However, €650 is still a great price for 13 nights. If we're based there we'll have to add on another night though as the final group game is in the Ukraine on the 19th. After that, it's either home or the quarter finals!

shiibata

kensingtondell wrote: »

shiibata wrote: »

I would opt for Rszeszow as its only a short trek to the Ukranian border if we end up there(hopefully not), if one wants to take a chance that were in Poland, Lodz looks the best option alright. Am waiting for the draw myself as want to limit my holidays to go the day before the 1st group game and back day after last one.

I'm looking to limit my days as well so flying would be my first choice to a point where flight prices aren't ridiculous!!
With flying as first choice what would the best option be for Donetsk and Kharkiv?

Im thinking of using Rszeszow for Lviv and Kyiv where a train/bus would complete the journey.

At the moment, for Donetsk and Kharkiv, we are gonna fly into Kiev and probably get the sleeper trains to those cities.

kensingtondell

shiibata wrote: »

At the moment, for Donetsk and Kharkiv, we are gonna fly into Kiev and probably get the sleeper trains to those cities.

What flight path would you take for Kiev? I dont think there is a direct flight from Ireland. Cheers.

shiibata

kensingtondell wrote: »

What flight path would you take for Kiev? I dont think there is a direct flight from Ireland. Cheers.

Plenty of options presently ranging from €210 return to €350 return, of course tomorrow evening these prices will have probably trebled:(
PM sent

Balmed Out

How hard do ye think it'll be to get tickets over there

kensingtondell

Balmed Out wrote: »

How hard do ye think it'll be to get tickets over there

Not sure to be honest. The fan zones in the cities should be a good alternative!!!

uli84

so you guys got it quite nice, Poznan and Gdansk - both with direct flights from Ireland, Poznan with beautiful lake and Gdansk by the sea, the tickets are rather expensive though....

Tigerandahalf

I have been checking out some hostels in Gdansk, but they all seem to be booked out. People must have pre-booked them and will cancel them later, since there seems to be a 24/48 hr cancellation policy. This could hold up accommodation. Has anyone any recommendations?

kensingtondell

Delighted we got Poland. Accommodation and match tickets next. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated too?

nkay1985

Are there many people thinning of flying to Germany and getting a train over?

How about the camper van option? With accommodation looking scarce, this could be a decent way to sort this? I don't know much anything about hiring camper vans or anything like that. Also have no idea about camping in Poland. Not having the most joy trying to get information on the net either. Anybody know anything?

Balmed Out

if going from cork then london - berlin (ryanair) or cork vilnius (wizz air) seem best options

nkay1985

Hi,

With the Euro 2012 draw having been made, I'm looking at all travel options. One of these is to fly into Germany and hire a campervan/motorhome. My problem is that I know nothing about this type oftravel so am hoping someone can help me out.

Am I right in assuming a regular full Irish driving license allows you to drive one of these?

How much would it take to fill the tank and how much driving would you get from that?

Do you have to use campsites or can you pull them in somewhere and stay the night?

Does anyone have a good resource for finding campsites in Gdansk and Poznan in Poland?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
nkay.

M three

hi nkay, having spent 5 weeks in a campervan in NZ for the rugby I did learn one or 2 things! Full irish license sufficient. but for the practical side it helps if you've driven something the size of a transit. How much would it take to fill the tank? In litres teh spec of the campervan will tell you that, in euros will depend on the price per litre where you buy it, you should get 2-300 miles per tank of your average campervan.
The only reason we stayed in campsites where available was security, kitchen/cooking/washing clothes/shower facilities and to have heat in the van we had we had to be plugged into a power source. But as it'll be the summer in poland you wont have to worry about the cold.
Great way to see euro 2010, go for it!

Robotnic

Been goin through various options for travel too,, do you think flying and then renting in France/Germany is wy to go? is it any way cost effective to rent camper here + ferry it over

nkay1985

M three wrote: »

hi nkay, having spent 5 weeks in a campervan in NZ for the rugby I did learn one or 2 things! Full irish license sufficient. but for the practical side it helps if you've driven something the size of a transit. How much would it take to fill the tank? In litres teh spec of the campervan will tell you that, in euros will depend on the price per litre where you buy it, you should get 2-300 miles per tank of your average campervan.
The only reason we stayed in campsites where available was security, kitchen/cooking/washing clothes/shower facilities and to have heat in the van we had we had to be plugged into a power source. But as it'll be the summer in poland you wont have to worry about the cold.
Great way to see euro 2010, go for it!

Thanks for that. What did you do if you weren't using a campsite? How much were you talking per night? I know it's a different country but it'd give a rough idea I suppose.

Robotnic wrote: »

Been goin through various options for travel too,, do you think flying and then renting in France/Germany is wy to go? is it any way cost effective to rent camper here + ferry it over

I really don't know to be honest. Camper van rental here isn't as common as Germany and France so I'm not sure how you'd even get one in the first place. It could end up cheaper but you're adding a lot of travel time too. You'd be talking ferry to France and a long drive to Poland. Petrol costs would mount up too.

hefferboi

How much would renting be? We were thinking of buying a Minivan Between 7 of us and just slumming it. Buying one would be around 2,400E.

mikedragon32

Please limit discussion to travel for Euro 2012, discussion of ticketing or teams, players etc should be posted on the Soccer forum.

Tigerandahalf

Ive booked with ryanair, flying into gdansk and staying for a week. Will catch the spain match hopefully. Managed to get place in 8 bed hostel. Looking forward to it now.

Keano!

How much would accommodation be around Poznan? Like hostels or whatever.

Gonna go the inter-railing way too

Tigerandahalf

You better book quick as there will be little left for good value. I got the hostel for around €45 per night. Accommodation will be the big thing to get. Flights and stuff could be done at a later stage if you want, as you can go through different routes. We're lucky we got Poland as Ukraine is struggling in a big way to accommodate people. Tents and campsites will have to be used.

connundrum

The option at the moment is to fly into Hamburg (Germany) with Aerlingus (approx €150pp), then rent a 3, 4 or 5 berth campervan in Hamburg and drive to Poznan/Gdansk.

Cost of renting a camper van for 12-14 days is pretty much between €1000-€1500 (you can get anything you want between those prices).

Camper vans can be taken to Poland with no issue (thankfully), as you would not be allowed take them to the Ukraine.

Note that most rental places will require a €1000-€1500 refundable deposit to be paid as well as the cost of the rental before they'll let you off with the van. Additionally, think of toll charges and fuel.

However, it still is working out as the most flexible, cheapest option for us i.e. between 4 lads, travelling from 7th - 19th June = approx €450pp for flights and van hire. If you said to the lads €550pp then that'd probably cover tolls and fuel too and it's a one off cost.

As someone said earlier, you'd probably not need to hook in the ESB as it will be in the middle of the summer (average 18-25 C). Camper vans will come with 2 tanks of gas for cooking, but if you throw a decent BBQ on the back you'd be sorted.

Can't think of anything else, I'll update as I book (hopefully).

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot about TICKETS!! Aahhhhh!!

But, I found this thing about a football fan's campsite - LINKY

Looks a bit 3rd world but needs must.

shiibata

Only got to a computer today to book the flights:(, were gonna give the Croatia game a miss and take in the other 2 hopefully. Flying into Gdansk via Oslo morning of the Spain game and out of Lodz direct to Dublin the day after Italy game, €340 for the flights.

pbowenroe

Would you not have to park the camper van in a camping site and pay for that?

Tigerandahalf

Yes you will. These could be around €50 per night but it's hard to know. All about supply and demand. I wonder will a lot of French/Germans/Dutch use this option. If they do it will put pressure on space.

connundrum

Can you not just park on the side of a road/in a car park?

I've seen plenty of people do this in Ireland. I'm presuming you only need to park in a campsite to make use of showers and electricity/sewage mains?

yabadabado

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Yes you will. These could be around €50 per night but it's hard to know. All about supply and demand. I wonder will a lot of French/Germans/Dutch use this option. If they do it will put pressure on space.

All the big travellers(english,Dutch,germans) are in Ukraine so that should help regarding camping/campsites.

Tigerandahalf

connundrum wrote: »

Can you not just park on the side of a road/in a car park?

I've seen plenty of people do this in Ireland. I'm presuming you only need to park in a campsite to make use of showers and electricity/sewage mains?

I doubt it. They are normally extremely strict about this. Otherwise you would have campers blocking up every place, illegally parked etc. They should have this well flagged in advance re places to park etc. If you are using the fridge in the camper or even the lights in the cabin, you will need to be charging your battery fairly often, likely every second night. There is normally a second battery in the campers for fridge, lights, etc

saywhatyousee

There are ferry's from Sweden to Gdansk if that helps any of ye might be worth looking into.

NaiveMelodies

Can someone reccomend a Camping Van Hire company?

kensingtondell

only1stevo wrote: »

Can someone reccomend a Camping Van Hire company?

I'm looking to rent in Poland so if anyone knows a company in Poland also, that would be great.