Euro 2024 travel guide for England fans

England will be arriving in Germany in June for the start of the Euro 2024 campaign and their loyal supporters will be following them in huge numbers. Last time out in the World Cup, 8000 fans of the Three Lions made the over 4000-mile one-way trip to watch their national team play France in the quarter-final.

England fans certainly bring with them an atmosphere and a reputation that can’t be compared to too many other nations in world football. In the aforementioned Euro 2020 final, the scenes in the stands when Luke Shaw found the back of the net inside the opening four minutes of the match were breathtaking. It was the first final of a major tournament that England had reached since winning the World Cup in 1966.

The Three Lions have an England Supporters Travel Club that anyone can join. It does require that those wanting to join need to pay a fee to do so. But this covers things like security checks, general admin costs of assigning away match tickets, and all the things you would need for when you’re away, like travel guides, as well as discounts on home tickets, and exclusive access to away and tournament fixtures.

Where England will be playing their first match of Euro 2024 certainly isn’t the most recognisable name of the 10 cities which are hosting the tournament’s matches. But the team that plays in the city, populated by over 260,000 people, should be more well-known. The city in the west of Germany is nestled between more well-known areas of the country, like Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Dortmund, and even Cologne, which should give travelling fans plenty of options for accommodation. All of those cities are within an hour’s drive of Gelsenkirchen, other than Cologne, but it’s only just over an hour away.

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Veltins-Arena

As you could probably guess from the title, the domestic side that plays in the stadium that will host England’s first match is Schalke. The 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners, and seven-time German champions, have not been going through their best period. Since the pandemic, they have been relegated to the 2. Bundesliga twice, and they aren’t looking likely to get straight back to the Bundesliga this time around.

Even though they are now a second-division side, their stadium is worthy of hosting these big international matches. The capacity of the Veltins-Arena, or The Arena Auf Schalke, will be 50,000 for the Euros, but it can usually hold up to 62,000. It was first opened in 2001, and it has a slide-out pitch that can be taken out of the arena within just four hours. The stadium has its own stop on the local tram network. To get there via the tram, you will need to get on the 302.

Things to do in Gelsenkirchen

One of the easiest things you’ll be able to do in Gelsenkirchen is to access Nordsternpark. The park is the size of 130 football pitches, as per UEFA, so it provides great space for walking or bike rides along the Rhine-Herne-Canal. You can take a cruise down the canal on a boat too, if that takes your fancy. The park also includes beer gardens, cafés, highly-rated restaurants, and a huge adventure playground for the younger ones. The best way to get from Nordsternpark to the Veltins-Arena is by car. You can walk or take public transport to get to and from the two, but it will likely make your journey upwards of 45 minutes long.

Gelsenkirchen has lots of options for entertainment. The city boasts the Musiktheater im Revier which shows lots of opera, ballet and orchestral performances. There is also an amphitheatre for those of you into more modern music which is in the Nordsternpark. There is a zoo (ZOOM Erlebniswelt) which features red pandas, lions and polar bears. Alma Park is an amusement park which is right in the centre of the city. It has everything from mini golf to trampoline parks, to football mini-games and even paintballing. Click here to see UEFA’s full guide to Gelsenkirchen.

Purely for Euro 2024, Gelsenkirchen has created a special fan zone for England fans, just like they did in 2006. The Trabrennbahn in the heart of Gelsenkirchen will be an exclusive meeting point for fans visiting us from the UK. Anyone can go, even if they don’t have a visit. Happening at a racecourse, there is lots of space for activities to take place. Entry is free and you will be able to listen to music and watch every single Euro 2024 game with food and drink. There will be a free shuttle bus service connecting Gelsenkirchen’s central station with the Trabrennbahn and with the stadium.

Best places to eat and drink in Gelsenkirchen

The city has a wide range of places to eat and drink. Many restaurants range from traditional German cuisine to fine dining. There are also lots of very appealing places like Curry Heinz to pop into for a quick bite before the game, as well as places that serve classic Italian and Mediterranean-style food. Click here to see Tripadvisor’s full list of the best places to eat in Gelsenkirchen.

The Germans love beer, and so do the English, but there isn’t a wide array of options in the city for a drink. There are a few spots dotted around, and a couple that are within closer proximity to the stadium, but not as many as fans may hope. England fans’ best bet for a pre-game pint could be Glückauf-Quelle, which is a pub that has karaoke. It’s a seven-minute taxi journey from the stadium or a 30+ minute walk.

Frankfurt

England will travel 168 miles to play their second Group Stage game of the tournament against Denmark, in Frankfurt. The last time these two nations met at an international tournament was the semi-final of the last European Championships, where England won 2-1, after extra-time, at Wembley. Unfortunately, those England fans who want to attend this game, and haven’t already sorted out flights to the city, will be spending a pretty penny to do so.

Deutsche Bank Park

The home of Frankfurt’s football team, Eintracht Frankfurt, is also known as the Waldstadion. The stadium has been used in two past World Cups. It was one of the venues for the 2006 Men’s World Cup, and the Women’s World Cup in 2011. It also staged the opening ceremony for the 1974 World Cup, and it hosted two NFL games during 2023. One of the big upsides of this stadium is its retractable roof, which is a feature that isn’t commonly seen on football grounds. It is accessible via the S7, S8, and S9 train services that run in the city, with a specific stop for those heading to the ground. You can also reach it via tram, and it’s just over a quarter-of-an-hour-long journey to the stadium in a car from the city centre.

Things to do in Frankfurt

One easy thing to do whilst in the medieval city is to visit its grandest halls: the Römer. The Römer has been in use for over 600 years and is often used by celebrating sports teams who celebrate on its balcony with the fans below. The Kaisersall, also known as the Emperor Hall, is within the Römer and is described by Frankfurt Tourismus as the decorative highlight of the hall.

Everywhere you go in Germany you will see the historic style of buildings, or Bauhaus as it’s known in the country. The common features are the white-painted exterior with wooden beams and a brown roof. But Frankfurt has a skyline that could make you think you were in a major American city. It’s interspersed within the traditional buildings of the area and is a pleasing contrast to the eye, but it’s not considered one of the best host cities to watch Euro 2024. As is the case with every other host city, the fan zone will be a popular place.

In Frankfurt, it is called the ‘Mainufer Fan Zone’ — and it is located on the river in the middle of the city. There will remarkably be a football pitch floating on the river, whilst countless activities will be available to do.

Best places to eat and drink in Frankfurt

It’s probably safe to say that a lot of the England fans who will be travelling over to Germany for Euro 2024 won’t necessarily want a smart, sit-down meal before the game. They’re likely to opt for something a bit quicker and more casual, and Frankfurt has those bases covered. Whether you want to go traditional at Best Worscht in Town, some classic pizza at Pizzeria 7 Bello, or maybe some Lebanese food from AROMA.

After the match, or on another day, fine dining might take your fancy. The city has some fantastic options for this too. They have very classy Japanese restaurants, traditional Mediterranean dishes, and, of course, some of their finest food from Central Europe too. Click here to look at Tripadvisor’s top-rated places to eat in Frankfurt.

Unlike Gelsenkirchen, there looks to be a much wider range of places to have a drink in Frankfurt, both in the style of the places and geographically. There are a few Irish bars dotted around the main city, and Google Maps shows that there are lots of bars near the main train station – Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Deutsche Bank Park is quite far out of the city centre, so there aren’t too many places that are very close to it to have a drink.

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Cologne

For England fans who want to see their team play a couple of times, your best chance will be seeing them play their first game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, and then their last one against Slovenia at the RheinEnergieStadion, in Cologne. This is due to convenience, as the two cities are only just over an hour from each other, so it’s much more a commutable distance than going to one of the two and Frankfurt. It would also save as you wouldn’t have to book two separate accommodations necessarily.

RheinEnergieStadion

Like the Deutsche Bank Park, the RheinEnergieStadion was also used in the 2006 World Cup. It also hosted the 2020 Europa League Final. It is the home of Bundesliga side 1.FC Köln. Up until 2001, there was an athletics track which ran around the stadium. But, after the announcement that Germany would host the 2006 World Cup, the city reacted and decided to renovate the stadium. Once it was complete, there was no track, allowing for a better viewing experience for those in attendance, as now they are much closer to the pitch than they were before the renovations.

The stadium will hold a maximum capacity of 47,000 people for the upcoming Euros, and it is the regular venue of the German Women’s Cup Final. It is a roughly 20-minute drive from the city centre. You can also get the number 1 train from the city centre, which will get you pretty much directly to the stadium in just over half an hour.

Things to do in Cologne

Cologne is home to the most popular tourist attraction in Germany, according to UEFA: the Kölner Dom. The city’s Cathedral of Saint Peter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has 20,000 guests per day passing through it. It was finished in 1880, and it took 600 years to build. The area surrounding it is full of cafés and bars too.

You can cross the Hohenzollernbrücke, which sees over 1,200 trains per day going over the 400m-long bridge that stretches across the Rhine River. It’s known as a romantic place and is somewhere that many people go to attach padlocks to the railings of the bridge, as they do in Amsterdam, or at the docks in Liverpool, to give a more homely example. The Altstadt is the old town of the city and is home to 12 Romanesque churches and the city’s 14th-century city hall.

Alongside this, the ‘Heumarkt Fan Zone’ will be packed with fans from across Europe, as this aesthetic and stunning city will take a step up to welcome the continent. This can be found just next to the river in the middle of the city. With the cathedral just a walk away, it is the perfect setting to watch every Euro 2024 match England aren’t involved in.

Best places to eat and drink in Cologne

The city is known for its own type of beer: Kölsch. It’s a specialty of the area, and it is recommended, by UEFA, that you try it in the city. Like the other stadiums, though, there aren’t many choices of pubs and bars that are near the stadium. But, there are enough in the city centre to make up for it. Some are right next to the Rhine River, or, if you fancy a shorter journey to the stadium, some options are slightly further out of the centre, but closer to the ground.

A lot of Frankfurt’s restaurants and grub spots are on the outer edge of the city, on the west side of the river. There are some options on the east side of the Rhine, but the west looks to be your best bet for food. As per with German cities, there will be plenty of local cuisine to tuck into before the game against Slovenia. Places like Lommerzheim are highly rated on Tripadvisor. Conversely, you’re spoiled for choice if you want to spend your cash on some top-quality dishes.

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