When the UEFA Champions League draw was made for the 2024/25 season I was intrigued to see that there would be three match days within its first week of competition, instead of the usual two. That got me thinking... would it be possible to get to a Champions League fixture on each of the three nights in three different cities across Europe?
That sounded like a challenge I couldn't refuse. So, I cleared my diary and set off on the morning of Tuesday 17th September to the continent for an ultimate Champions League trip across Europe.
Along the way, I would test the secondary ticket market and how reliable last-minute Champions League ticket buying is and showcase to you some of Europe's most iconic stadiums, and cities.
Here's my Champions League journey which took place across Match Week One of the 2024/25 season. You can watch and read my account below.
Champions League Match Day One: Tuesday 17th September 2024, Real Madrid
It felt right to begin my journey trying to attend three Champions League games across Europe in the Spanish Capital of Madrid, at the home of the Champions League champions, Real Madrid.
When looking at things to do in Madrid, the Santiago Bernabeu should be at the top of your list. It has recently completed its makeover and welcomes 85,000 fans to match days, all of whom are lovingly absorbed within the stadium's monumental new wrap-around. A delightfully curated steel structure that now acts as the stadium's exterior.
I booked my ticket to the Real Madrid v Vfb Stuttgart game the day before the match using Stub Hub which cost me £80. I know, I actually say 'Star Hub' in the video, I can only say that the rushing around caused a few mind blanks at times! The ticket price was in fact £60 but with a hefty £20 service charge on top. Still, the process was simple and I had my order confirmation within minutes. The ticket followed the following morning and was placed into my digital wallet before I began my Champions League journey.
With my first match confirmed, I excitedly hopped on a flight to Madrid from Edinburgh Airport safe in the knowledge, without any delays I would have three hours between landing and kick-off to get myself from the Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport to the Santiago Bernabeu and still have time to soak up the pre-match atmosphere.
As I arrived at the Gate for Ryanair's Edinburgh - Madrid service, I was given a sign that this trip would go seamlessly. It was Gate 15. 15 being the amount of Champions League titles Real Madrid have won... could there be a better indication that my Champions League quest was all going to go swimmingly well? I think not.
Madrid welcomed me, on time, thank you Ryanair, with a much-needed blast of afternoon sunshine, something that had very noticeably disappeared from Edinburgh in recent days. I made my way into the city towards the home of Real Madrid. An easy enough journey on Madrid's Metro system, should you also be dashing to Spain's biggest stadium straight from the arrival hall. I say biggest, that's a title it can claim whilst Barcelona's Camp Nou is undergoing a re-build.
I of course was travelling hand-luggage only... time may be on my side here, but I have a feeling it's only going to get tighter as I race across Europe over the next 72 hours and the last thing I'm looking for is long waits for bags to be delivered.
What to do pre-match when attending a Real Madrid game
The Santiago Bernabeu has its very own Metro station. It's on Line 10 and is handily called 'Santiago Bernabeu' avoiding any confusion. Once off the train, it wasn't hard to find my way out of the station with thousands of Real Madrid fans descending on to the streets above.
The size of the Santiago Bernabeu is the first thing that hits you, it towers over neighbouring buildings & streets. Its new steel exterior works wonders in the lowering sun, with sections of the building lit up in magnificent golden colours. Around the outside, it's a hive of activity.
The surrounding road on the southern side of the stadium is closed, it's the Av. de Concha Espina, normally a busy thoroughfare but on match days, football fans rule the roost over traffic.
The pre-match atmosphere is an orchestra of dressed-up mascots looking for people who want photos taken with them (a warning, they will charge you for a picture), TV crews capturing the build-up, content creators filming content (myself included), flag sellers and food kiosks. This all takes place in a sea of white Real Madrid shirts moving in all directions.
Whilst walking along Av. de Concha Espina I hear an even louder buzz coming from down the road. It turns out to be the C. de Marceliano Sta. Maria, a sort of little village square that is located behind the Bernabeu's southern end. As I turn right from Av. de Concha Espina and into the square I'm greeted with bars, cafes and restaurants all busy serving the mass of fans that are excited for the return of Champions League football. It seems most people are out on the street where the many outlets have outdoor seating set up, some have opted to just stand whilst others sit on the roadside kerb.
It's here I attempt to find the location for my pre-paid Bounce bag storage. I had booked it before arrival, in the knowledge I had two bags with me, one of which would definitely not be allowed into the stadium - you can take a small backpack in with you. As I located the Bounce bag drop it turns out it's in a newsagents, called Mini Mecado, so I pop in, have my barcode on the Bounce app scanned and my luggage is taken away to be stored safely until midnight at a cost of 10 euros.
As I turn to head back outdoors from the shop counter, I notice a fridge with cans of larger stacked up inside. I pick one up, go to pay and am charged just 1.60 euros. Ah Europe, it's good to be back.
It seems the pre-match beer is all part of the process of going to a Real Madrid match. I speak to some fans on what they think are the best tips for attending a match at the Bernabeu and every one of them said having a beer before going into the stadium is the best thing to do.
They have a point too. As I write in September 2024 the Santiago Bernabeu does not serve alcohol inside the stadium although there is talk of a brewery being built within the venue which will supply beer to all of its food and drink counters.
After a beer (or two - well, at 1.60 euros, why not?) I headed over to Gate 64, my entry point into this iconic sporting arena. My ticket was scanned without any issues and after I was quickly patted down for a pre-match search, I was in and heading up the escalators that take you some of the way up to the higher tiers.
What is attending a Real Madrid game at the Santiago Bernabeu like?
Once onto the concourses, you will be greeted with plenty of bathrooms and a few kiosks serving meal deals, drinks and snacks. They do sell beer, only the non-alcoholic kind, for now. I opted for a bottle of water and a ham sandwich which cost me 12 euros. Quite possibly the healthiest meal I've had at a football match.
With some energy taken onboard, it was time to climb another flight of stairs, to the very top concourse where I was then able to have that moment of walking out into the expanse of this footballing icon to see the Bernabeu open up all around me in all its glory. It was quite a moment. The sheer scale of this cauldron is hard to grasp, instantly it's ginormous 360 degree big screen that wraps around the entire stadium hanging from the roof sets the stadium apart from anything else I have seen in Europe. The noise hits you, even 45 minutes before kick-off as pockets of fans sing around the stadium and the stadium's PA system blasts out Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso'. There was a party atmosphere, fans continually filling seats, something special was about to happen. You could feel the anticipation.
The stadium is by no means full yet, you can still clearly see the 'REAL MADRID' lettering painted onto the seats on the lower tiers. The Stuttgart fans are already fully loaded into the away section though, and whilst the 3,000 of them don't have the capacity 82,000 Real fans to compete with just yet, they make the most of the moment.
The scale may be huge, but with the steep angled seating areas in the upper sections, the pitch never feels too far away. Where my seat was, I still had some altitude to gain so I climbed more stairs. My seat was about 6 rows in front from the very back row. It was only the week before that I climbed Ben Nevis in the UK, this briefly brought back the memories of trying to reach the summit. My current surrounding somewhat more noisy than the UK's highest mountain however, and my mind quickly turned back to the spectacle that is the Santiago Bernabeu.
As kick-off edged closer, the atmosphere built, flourishing into a collective roar of noise once the Champions League anthem had played out. Now the stadium was full. The wrap-around big screen is incredibly powerful for most people in the stadium, offering fans a clear close up view of the action, but in the very upper tier, where I was, much of the screen was not visible thanks to the steel structure of the stadium. That had clearly been thought about though as two further big screens had been placed on more steel facing towards us. In this stadium, there was no vantage point not thought out.
Many Real Madrid fans have told me that Champions League nights at Bernabeu are the best, and much better than your average run-of-the-mill La Liga games. You can understand why, under the lights of this state-of-the-art stadium in a competition that Real Madrid have forever seen as their own, having won it more times than anybody else, 15 in all.
Based on that pre-tense then, that the Bernabeu on Champions League nights was the only ticket in town, I was excited to see what would be delivered. When Kylian Mbappe got his first Champions League goal for his new Club, 80,000+ fans almost took the roof off the place. Which would have been impressive given the amount of steel that's on show. It was electric. Everything you would expect it to be.
As each of Real's three goals went in, fans went wild, in different ways. Around me, in the upper tier, that atmosphere was ever so slightly diluted only because it was very apparent it was an area of the stadium when one-time visitors had tickets. Instead of your die-hard local fans, there were many tourists. As a goal went in, the phone would come out. Capturing the moment more important that savouring the moment. I couldn't blame them, I was doing the same thing of course, it's my job, but also, if you don't have the chance to attend the Bernabeu every week, this indeed is a special moment... that needs capturing.
Real Madrid got a little fright in the second half as Stuttgart cancelled out Mbappe's opener, but in true Real Madrid form they bounced back and finished the game 3-1 winners. Their third goal coming from Endrik who bacame the Club's youngest European goalscorer. Each and every time Real scored, it was party time at the Bernabeu.
At full-time, the exit of the stadium is remarkably smooth. Many people waited in their seats to prolong the scene just a little longer. Once I had given it 15 minutes, I was back down the stairs and escalators in a flash and back onto the streets of Madrid.
Fans were once again enjoying a beer, although with it being a 9pm kick-off and a Tuesday night, most opted to head straight home and onto the Metro.
The Metro station was still busy when I walked in having collected my bags from Mini Mercado (and one 1.60 euro beer for the road), but the flow of people walking through it's underground tunnels was moving at a good pace. Each ticket machine even had a member of staff to speed up the process of buying a ticket - probably because they know many are tourists. It helped enormously though and soon Line 10 was taking me to Tribunal and my hotel for night, well, I say hotel...
A night's stay at Optimi Rooms Madrid
Interestingly called the 'Optimi Rooms Madrid', as in fact there are no rooms what so ever. Just pods. But I was very impressed having only needed to put my head down for a maximum of six hours.
It took me about 30 minutes to get from the Bernabeu to the Optimi Rooms Madrid, 20 minutes on the Metro to Tribunal followed by a 10 minute walk. I don't know why more cities don't have 'pod' hotels. They are ideal when you know you just need somewhere to sleep for a few hours instead of checking in to a new home for more than a few nights.
Optimi Rooms Madrid worked perfectly for me. Having arrived I was told about the rules for pod sleeping. No talking in the pod areas so not to wake other guests, to put luggage in a locker which was numbered corresponding to the pod you were staying in and making sure you take your shoes off before climbing into the pod.
I thought it was brilliant. As I was sorting out what I needed from my luggage before locking it up in the locker, I got talking to a Stuttgart fan, many of whom were staying there, and he spotted what stadium was printed on my t-shirt. St James' Park of course. We both marvelled at the sights, sounds and experiences we had both had at the Bernabeu and our chat reminded me that this pod hotel is perfect if you are only in Madrid for one night, perhaps a flying visit to support your team should they be playing Real Madrid.
Once organised, it was into the pod I went. A cocoon for the night to get some rest. I loved everything about the pod apart form the fact it only had one socket. Not ideal for someone who had six hours to charge a phone, camera, two mics and a laptop. Most importantly it was me that needed a recharge so with once comfortably settled into my pod, it was lights out.
I slept well, and in the morning the shower facilities were clean and well maintained and I was on my way, excited to work out what Champions League night I would be attending tonight.
If you have a short stay in Madrid and need somewhere to stay for a night's sleep, I can highly recommend the Optima Rooms Madrid.
Champions League Match Day Two: Wednesday 18th September 2024, Paris Saint-Germain
A day that begins in Madrid and one that would end in Paris. With this trip being a test of the secondary ticket market, I was intrigued to see what game I could get to at last-minute notice. I was aware of the fixtures beforehand and it was clear what I wanted to do, and that was head to Paris to see Paris Saint-Germain in action against Girona.
Going from one Capital city to another meant it would be easy enough to travel between the two cities as well so I quickly bought a ticket for the game on the website Live Football Tickets. The cost was the same as I paid for the Real Madrid game, £80 and I had my order confirmation within minutes. The wait was now on whether the actual ticket would arrive. In an ideal world it would be with me before I take off, so that I could relax on the flight knowing my Champions league trip across Europe was all going to plan.
I booked an Iberia flight on Skyscanner before booking a hotel in Paris, one that I had stayed in before called Hotel Eiffel Kensington and set off from Madrid city centre to the airport.
Once again there were no delays with the flight, which was welcome. I'd worked out that by landing at 4pm it would then take me around 90 minutes to exit the airport and get into the centre of Paris, jump on the Metro and get to the hotel. Give or take a few minutes waiting on trains etc I thought I could be at the hotel by 6pm, giving me 3 hours before kick-off and some time so able to explore the pre-match atmosphere around the Parc des Princes.
The plan was all sorted, and I boarded the flight. No sign of the ticket, but I was confident it would be with me once I had landed. Time to sit back, and begin a dance of charging my mics, camera and phone onboard using my laptop as the power source.
I flew into Paris Orly, which I have to say is the airport of choice for me when visiting Paris. It's a much better experience than Charles de Gaulle and the M14 train that takes you into the city from Orly is like a rocket. Modern, clean, efficient, fast - everything you would want for a route out of an airport and into a city centre. I bought an all-day travel card for ease which was valid for all forms of city transport until midnight between zones 1-3. It cost me 13.95 euros.
The ticket for tonight's game had arrived and with a quick drop of the bags in the Hotel Eiffel Kensington I was on my way to the Parc des Princes.
Hotel Eiffel Kensington is a good base should you be looking for a reasonably priced option in Paris. It may not be particularly fancy, but it has everything you need and if you are barely going to be there, it's a great choice. Try and get a room on the higher floors looking out towards the street and you will have a great view of the Eiffel Tower to the right of the window... hence its name.
It is also in a good location for any city centre attractions. It's just a few minutes walk to the River Seine and two good transport options for getting to the Parc des Princes. One option is from the Pont de l'Alma train station which sits by the river on its southern shore and the other is the Alma Marceau Metro station, on the other side of the Point de l'Alma bridge.
What to do pre-match when attending a Paris Saint-Germain game
I always opt for the Metro option to get to the Parc des Princes. It'll take about 20 minutes on Line 9 westbound from Alma Marceau and you will want to get off at Porte de Saint-Cloud, which is the closest Metro station to the Parc des Princes. It's here where you'll find the majority of fans congregating pre-match. There's bars, cafes and restaurants dotted all around the Metro station as you come outside.
Places like Aux Trois Obus and Les Princes are great places to go. The former does brilliant pizza and has good drinks options. It's always busy with fans pre-match, but worth the little wait for a table. Just around the corner Les Princes is a good spot too. There is often a queue before a match but the wait isn't long and it's always a good atmosphere in their garden at the front. I've often seen away fans mixing with home fans here and the atmosphere is always good natured. I have seen pop-up street food stands in this area before too, but none have appeared today. I think it is more a winter ritual.
From Les Princes, the Parc des Princes is 5 minutes walk away. You'll cross over the busy Paris ring-road, Boulevard Peripherique, where you'll get your first sighting of the stadium to your right before being signposted towards your Stadium Gate. It can get a little clogged up at this point as everyone filters into their lines, but soon enough you'll be inside PSG's home ground.
If you have watched the video of my journey across Europe on my Champions League quest, you'll know this was the point when I was given a little fright. As I went to scan my ticket barcode on the scanner, I was greeted with the words 'ACCESS REFUSED'. The words were accompanied by a big red flashing screen and the sound of a repeating alarm, which by its sound was un-mistakingly a 'no'.
I suddenly thought that was it, my journey had come to an end and there would be no heroic three Champions League games in three nights. Not even two for that matter. My ticket was the issue and that was that. Game over.
Not quite. I had simply been directed to the wrong gate. A steward spotted the issue on my ticket, pointed me in the right direction and this time I was in. Never in doubt.
What is attending a Paris Saint-Germain game at the Parc des Princes like?
The Parc des Princes is part of one of the world's great sporting districts. Next door to PSG's stadium you'll find Stade Jean Bouin, where the Stade Francais rugby union team play. Just along the road from there you will find Roland Garros, the home of the French Open.
Tonight though was all about the football and having successfully entered the stadium at the second attempt, I was excited to soak up the Parc des Princes atmosphere. Straight away I could see the differences to last night's experience at the Bernabeu.
The Parc des Princes opened in 1972, well in its current form anyway. There were two stadiums on the same site previously. The current structure is revered around the world, with its brutalist look thanks to its concrete supports and it is a protected building in France. Its capacity is somewhat smaller than the Bernabeu, and indeed smaller than many top flight European Clubs in the modern day, but what I learnt over the next couple of hours is that that doesn't stop it being an incredibly passionate and loud arena to watch football within.
Having made my way onto the concourse, straight away I noticed you can, unlike at the Bernabeu, buy alcohol in the stadium - I know, that's the first thing I notice, you're thinking. I can promise you though it was a bar that first greets you at the top of the stairs. The food options were also a little more varied than in Madrid. Burger stands, Hot Dog kiosks, popcorn vendors and the likes. Whilst on the concourse, you are essentially still outside, albeit covered by the tier above. It creates a nice environment to have a drink and eat some food before getting to your seat.
Before the match begins, the show the Parc des Princes puts on is incredible. I was sat in the Tribune Borelli stand, the stadium's west stand, on the corner next to the Tribune Boulogne end, it's from here you can see the Eiffel Tower sticking out from above the other end of the stadium. Not many stadiums can offer you the Eiffel Tower now, can they?
The stadium announcer conducted the pre-match atmosphere beginning the chants with a devoted fanbase gladly supplying the reaction he was looking for. "Pa-ris" rang out around the Parc des Princes in unison.
The match atmosphere was a proper football one. More so than I experienced at the Bernabeu. There may well be mitigating factors for that, I was in a more tourist-centric area at the home of Real Madrid where as in Paris I was sat with fans who go week in week out.
Tonight, less than 45,000 PSG fans sang, roared, screamed, complained and cheered as they watched their team begin another campaign in a competition they so desperatly want to win. Perhaps that was another factor for the different in atmosphere. Real Madrid are used to winning the Champions League, Paris Saint -Germain are not.
Goalless at half-time, but the second half proved much of the same. The French fans never dwindling in their support. I was amazed to hear the stadium announcer come on the PA during play in the second half to help the fans along with more songs and chants.
It must have worked, as PSG kept pressing and in the dying seconds a goal. The Parc des Princes erupted. The roar must have been heard for miles around on this warm Parisian night. As it turned out it was a goalkeeping howler by the Girona goalkeeper, but that didn't matter to these home fans, they had got the win and were underway in the Champions League. The Eiffel Tower shone brightly, still with its Olympic Rings displayed. Tonight was an Olympian effort by the PSG fans and I was very happy to be apart of it.
Two Champions League match days ticked off, both brilliant in their own ways. One more to go. And I've decided on the destination.
Champions League Match Day Three: Thursday 19th September 2024, Atalanta BC
On the morning of Thursday 19th September, I was tired. I'd had just another 6 hours sleep, but the travelling across Europe, racing across cities, the adrenaline of two of the continent's most iconic stadiums and atmospheres had begun to catch up with me. I was weary... yet excited to continue.
I had a quick look in the morning for options for tonight's game and there was only one I was keen on. A trip to Italy was on the cards. Italy was the perfect destination for me, to be able to tick off Spain, France and Italy, three of Europe's top leagues on this trip would be an achievement.
Atalanta BC, my choice for tonight's game were playing Arsenal and what was so appealing about it was that Atalanta play in Bergamo. A city I have not been to before, yet a city which would mean travelling through Milan, another iconic Champions League destination. Atalanta are also the Europa League champions. This was a real chance to showcase how a sporting team's performance can introduce you to a new destination. Bergamo here I come.
I booked my ticket to the game with Football Ticket Net, another smooth process although this was the most expensive price I paid on the trip. £250 all in. A little more than I had hoped for but I could understand it. Arsenal from the Premier Leaguer are the visitors, it's a much smaller stadium than the likes of the Bernabeu and you'd think most of Bergamo would be in there tonight.
Not to worry, I paid, keeping the whole trip's budget just about below the maximum I had set out and booked myself a flight (sadly this time from Charles de Gaulle, no time to be fussy) and by mid-afternoon I was landing at Milan's Malpensa Airport.
Once again the decision not to take checked luggage paid off, not only was I saving a small fortune not paying for checked bags, as I dis-embarked the aircraft and walked through to the arrivals hall I paid for the 10 euro airport - city express bus. It was leaving in 3 minutes. I had a smile on my face and a continued confidence that this trip was all going to pan out exactly how I wanted it to.
The bus takes an hour to get to Milan Centrale, the city's main train station and on the way you get a nice glimpse of the San Siro Stadium, the home of both Inter Milan and AC Milan. Although, for how much longer we don't know. At the time of writing there is more talk that the two Clubs will move to a brand new stadium in the same area in the not too distant future.
Whilst I wait for the Bergamo train having arrived at Milan Centrale, I make the most of the short wait by buying a sandwich from one of the street kiosks that await you when you get off the bus and take a look up at the impressive Milan Centrale terminal. It was designed by the same artictect who designed the San Siro... perhaps the train station will be cast into the history books soon and a new flashier version constructed. Let's hope not.
Platform 12 for the Bergamo train. I'm calling it the Champions League Express. It will be my final piece of public transport on this trip after the Edinburgh - Madrid flight, two metro trains from Madrid's Airport to the Santiago Bernabeu, one Metro train from the Bernabeu to the Optima Rooms Hotel, two Metro trains from hotel back to Madrid Airport, an Iberia flight from Madrid to Paris, the M14 train from Paris Orly to Paris city centre, a Metro from Paris' city centre to Hotel Eiffel Kensington, a Metro from Alma Marceux to Parc des Princes, a Metro from Parc des Princes to Trocadero, a train from Pont de l'Alma to Charles de Gaulle, a flight from Paris to Milan, a bus from Milan Malpensa... and now a train. One final train.
I booked first class.
It was only 2 euros more than the standard 5 euros for the 55 minute journey and after all of the above mentioned... in less than 72 hours, I felt I deserved a little luxury. Sadly there was no champagne served, just a comfortable seat and some peace and quiet. Bliss.
Until.
My phone rings. At the same time, I notice an email. It's Live Football Net.
My ticket for tonight's Atalanta match has been cancelled. The reason being is that I am a British resident and because Arsenal are the away team playing at Atalanta tonight, no British residents are allowed in the home section, which is where my ticket was located.
I couldn't believe it... the news came in minutes before arriving into Bergamo, my final destination. So close yet so far.
I was given my options. Live Football Net would give me a full refund and cancel my ticket or give me £250 in credit to buy a ticket in the away end. I quickly looked at away ticket prices and they were £600 plus. Despite arriving into Bergamo, hours form kick off, so close to completing my challenge, I just couldn't stretch to that amount. The challenge had ended. There was nothing I could do. Live Football Net apologised for the mix-up and I myself wondered if I would have thought it may be an issue if I wasn't booking tickets in such a hurry.
I was here now though, so the least I could do was explore the city a little and head up to the stadium to soak up the pre-match atmosphere. It would at least wet my appetite to make a return journey to Bergamo to eventually get to a game and expedience the atmosphere of the Gewiss Stadium. If the pre-match atmosphere is anything to go by, it's a brilliant footballing expeience to get to.
Bergamo is a lovely city, located in a perfect location with Milan and Lake Como both close by. It's a small city too, with only around 120,000 residents but tonight there is a buzz in the air as Champions League football arrives.
It's upper town, the old city known as Città Alta is a walled city and when walking up to the modern day city centre from the train station, you can clearly see the old town up on the hill.
For a small city, it's remarkable to think it is home to Italy's third busiest airport, Caravaggio International Airport, which acts as one of Milan's airports. It was from here where I was departing for a flight home in the morning.
It's modern day city centre is beautiful and so is the walk up the road towards the old town to Gewiss Stadium. If you're making the walk, take the Viale Giulio Cesare road which will take you straight up to the stadium. At the bottom of this road you'll find a bar called Morla, it's a wonderful bar with a great garden at the front and is popular on match days.
A few minutes further up the road you will get to the Gewiss Stadium, the home of Atalanta BC. It would have been the smallest stadium on my journey should I have got in, with a capacity of just 25,000, and you can tell form the atmosphere outside before a match that it'll be a cauldron of noise inside.
The stadium has been through many renovations over the years and is a brilliant looking stadium from the outside. It's facade on the eastern stand reminds me of an Archibald Leitch stadium, the Scottish stadium architect who designed many of today's most iconic British stadiums from Ibrox, Craven Cottage and Villa Park.
Sadly for me the pre-match atmosphere was all I was going to get tonight, but that did mean I found a brilliant bar right outside the stadium called Villa Sport Cafe. From it's terrace, you can hear the atmosphere from inside the stadium across the road. It'll cost you 5 euros a beer and provides a brilliant atmosphere.
That was where my jounrey ended of course, sipping on a beer in Villa Sport Cafe as thousands of fans made their way into the match. As the Champions league anthem played out, I could hear it from the stadium, I was pleased with the journey I had undertaken. Albeit a little sad I had not completed three Champions League matches in three days. But I will be back to Bergamo and Atalanta. When a British team aren't the away team.
My Champions League Trip across Europe Itineary
Ryanair: Edinburgh - Madrid, £189 one-way
Real Madrid Match Ticket: £80
Optimi Rooms Madrid: £41 for a one-night stay
Iberia: Madrid - Paris, £105 one-way
Paris Saint-Germain Match Ticket: £80
Hotel Eiffel Kensington: £160 for a one night stay
All-day travel card: Euro 14
Easyjet: Paris - Milan, £53 one-way
Milan Malpensa - City Centre bus transfer: Euro 10
Atalanta Match Match Ticket (refunded): £250
Hotel La Cascata Bergamo: £90 for a one-night stay
Ryanair: Bergamo - Edinburgh, £60 one-way
Thanks for reading my account of my Champions League journey across Europe. Let me know what stadium you'd love to visit most and share any tips you have for going to any of the stadiums mentioned on this trip.
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