What football fan doesn’t dream of watching the World Cup live? However, with this year’s tournament taking place in Qatar, for many fans, it seems an unachievable dream. But those with an adventurous streak are considering making the journey to the tournament as an epic road trip with mates and family.
For those freelancers that are used to the digital nomad life or are freelance members of the media, you might see this as a great opportunity to meet up with mates from all over Europe this summer while fitting in some footy and a bit of work on the road.
While this might sound like hard work, used car buying service ChooseMyCar.com has done some of the trip planning for you. They have mapped out the routes there and back, taking in different cities each time, so you’ll return quite the seasoned traveller.
Tickets for the event are now sold out, as are most of the hotels and accommodation options. But football-loving fans could be in the host cities, soaking up the atmosphere in the fan villages, suggests ChooseMyCar.
“The journey costs are based on a group of four hiring a camper van for the trek, and the costs are surprisingly affordable for what would undoubtedly be a journey you will never forget,” said the used car company.
Hiring the campervan could be seen as the tricky bit, but because it’s out of peak holiday season in the UK, ChooseMyCar claims you can grab a bargain. What you will have to make sure of is that you hire the right camper, with unlimited miles for the hire and no stipulations with regards to taking abroad.
The routes take you through 12 incredible countries, and cities such as Brussels, Nuremberg, Sofia and Istanbul. All this for a cost of just £1434.50 per person. This includes fuel, hire of the camper van, ferry crossings where needed, tolls, and even all necessary VISAs.
Founder of ChooseMyCar.com, Nick Zapolski, said he’d like to do the journey himself:
I can’t imagine a better way to go and watch the tournament than with a bunch of good mates, travelling across the globe, turning it into an, even more, epic experience.
And with air travel being the nightmare it is currently both in terms of logistics and costs, why not plan a driving adventure?
Let’s take a look at some of the breakdown of costs:
- IDP is £22. You need an international driving permit to legally drive abroad, this is essential for all drivers
- VISA costs. You’re fine across most of Europe without a VISA, but you’ll need to pay £472 for the Saudi VISA, £464 for Syria, and £200 for Turkey
- Tolls have been budgeted for £300
- Ferry costs are as low as £200 because it is out of season for the UK holiday market
ChooseMyCar has budgeted £1,500 for fuel, which is the major cost for this trip. What is interesting is the price of fuel during the journey.
“Crazily, fuel is 14 pence a litre in Saudi and 11 pence in Syria, which helps keep the costs down. The UK is the most expensive price for fuel so you could save costs by being tactical about when you fill up,” said the car company.
