Enjoy Euro 2024 on the cheap? Fans work out how

MUNICH, Germany : Cost-conscious fans for whom budgets are tight but Euro 2024 is unmissable are parking for free in German forests, lugging crates of supermarket beer to drink outside the fan zones and opting for nights under canvas to dodge expensive hotels and inflated prices.

The cost-of-living crisis has battered spending power, driven up transport prices and even made buying the cheapest supermarket food more expensive, so many supporters are working out how to make following the tournament as affordable as possible.

Germany's location helps, with eight of its nine neighbouring countries represented at Euro 2024. That means some fans can drive in and out just for the games.

"We probably wouldn't have come if the tournament was further away in France or Spain,” said Urosh Mali, a 50-year-old electrician from Slovenia. He travelled five hours by bus with his son, 11, from near Lake Bled, to see his nation take on Serbia, at Slovenia's first European Championship since 2000.

"We couldn't miss this, this is such a special occasion. We picked this game though because Munich is the shortest drive from Slovenia, so we could get here and back in a day," he said.

Slovenian technician Marian Kokal, 43, from Ljubljana also picked the Munich game because it was the closest drive.

Belgians needed just a few hours on the road to reach Frankfurt, where many parked for free in a car park in a forest on the outskirts.

Groups of foreign fans have dragged heavy crates of beer to drink on Munich's scenic Marienplatz, spending hours standing alongside those sat at pavement cafes paying considerably more for a drink.

With hotel prices rising during Euro 2024, campsites close to the host cities are seeing a boost, though visitors have had to