As Ireland bathes in the euphoria of successfully navigating our way into the final 16 of the Euros, thousands of fans are trying to navigate a way to Lyon for Sunday’s knock out clash with France.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as Robbie Brady knocked it past Salvatore Sirigu in the Italian goal the price of flights to Lyon, in particular, and France in general soared.
Aer Lingus flights to the French city jumped to around €800 and still quickly sold out. At the time of writing the only available Aer Lingus flight between now and Sunday touches down in Lyon five minutes after kick off for a cost of €454.99 one way. It’s no consolation but you can fly over on Monday for €152.99.
Returning will set you back just under €460 on both Monday and Tuesday, but if you’re in the mood for hanging around in Lyon until Wednesday you can presently get a flight home for €145.
Essentially, to fly direct to Lyon with Aer Lingus, touching down five minutes after kick off, and flying home the next day will set you back over €900.
It's not the most appealing option.
However, Ryanair has now announced additional flights “following unprecedented demand.” The special return flights from Dublin to Lyon depart from Dublin on Saturday at 8.10am and on Sunday at 5.55am.
They return from Lyon at 9.25pm on Sunday, and again at 00.30am and 12 midday on Monday. These flights will operate with hand baggage only.
We've added #EURO2016 Lyon extras! All aboard the #RobbieBrady express #COYBIG #RyanairEuros https://t.co/H6s6O6wtuY pic.twitter.com/LBROZDevCC
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) June 23, 2016
Alternatively you can fly to other cities, with Geneva and Paris being the most direct options, and use France’s great rail links to get to the game. The site CaptainTrain.com has all the ticket information and the train is relatively good value at approximately €60 return. Flights to both of these cities will set you back around €450.
Direct flights to Lyon are available from Birmingham, Zurich, Barcelona and Frankfurt airports, which are all well served from Dublin Airport, so you could find a good value flight to one of those cities and then transfer to France, but even this option isn’t cheap as the best value, which is through Birmingham, comes to around €400.
Packages
The simplest option may be to book a package deal with a travel company, however bear in mind that none of the packages include a match ticket. Marathon sports travel put a day trip on sale for €669 shortly after the game but it quickly sold out, as did Abbey Travel's day trip for €739.
Club Travel has a daytrip including flights, tax and transfers from €739pp while Killester Travel is hoping to announce packages.
Stein Travel is expected to announce a day trip and a two-night package from Saturday to Monday.
Ferries
Stenaline operate from Rosslare to Cherbourg on Saturday while Irish Ferries sail from both Rosslare and Dublin Port. The cost is around €300 for a car and is adjusted for the number of passengers. However this leaves you with a gruelling eight hour drive through the heart of France before you arrive in Lyon.
Accommodation
If you do manage to get to Lyon, there is one plus - accommodation is still reasonably good value. Rooms are available on Airbnb from €30 per night and hotel rooms are available at around €100 per person. However, as with all good things, this might not last long.
Tickets
The FAI are currently negotiating with UEFA to secure more tickets but there aren't any officially available at this time.
