lincasanova

you can easily sleep for 50E a double in the smaller towns outside of the bigger cities, sign up for accor hotels and start getting their member discount special offers. staying in small towns will help soften your accommodation budget. I have spent about that much in most paces if not n in central area. Also look at hotwire and priceline express.

annhig

We did a couple of what we thought were long trips when we were in our 20s, doing about 2000 miles in 2-3 weeks. Mostly we did 2-3 night stays though there were some one-nighters.

Honestly that's as much mileage as I wanted to do THEN, and far more than I'd be comfortable doing now.

I think that PalenQs idea of the railcard is actually ideal for this sort of trip - you are not constrained by dates and want/need the flexibility to move on as the spirit moves you. In May there should be no problem getting accommodation as you go and most places will have cheap BnBs if not hostels which you can find out about through Tourist information offices when you arrive. That way if the football grounds begin to pall, you will not be locked into arrangements that you would prefer to change.

if you do decide to book places, try using a booking site like booking.com. they list BnBs as well as hotels in lots of places and usually have free cancellation terms that let you cancel up to 48 hours beforehand without penalty.

hfen85

Coquelicot - I don't suppose you have any details on those hostels that your friend stayed in do you? The plan was to stay away from the city as I expected to be expensive. Many thanks for the links also
lincasanova - appreciate your feedback too
annhig - useful info thank you, defo something to think about.

Coquelicot

The hostels I know about are in Belleme and Tourouvre, in lower Normandy. A football stadium in that area is a grassy field with a small set of bleachers to seat friends and family, so you probably won't be including them in your tour!

I used them as examples of what you could find in the deep countryside. By design your trip is taking you to major cities. If you stick a pin in a map halfway between Tuesday's stadium and Wednesday's, you might find you're going right through a rural patch late in the day, but you couldn't count on it. I'm beginning to think camping is your best bet.

Until recently, I could use the Gites de France website to look up gites d'etape, which included hostels for individuals as well as places that could handle large groups. But trying a search yesterday and today, all I could find on their website was the group gites. I had hoped to have some other examples for you besides Belleme and Tourouvre--sorry!

hfen85

I appreciate you looking anyway and I shall have a look at what you have suggested. I too think camping will be best now!

hfen85

I appreciate you looking anyway and I shall have a look at what you have suggested. I too think camping will be best now!

Iwan2go

Since it sounds like you are not making lodging reservations, you could always have a grand plan - and simply cut it back if you want to.

Have fun.

aflaat

Juve or Torino?

Lois2

stadiums and no games? sounds fun.

michele_d

So you head out on this trip and realize midway through it isn't what you planned. Big deal. Scale it back, slow down, do whatever the two of you want to do. Either way, you will still be making memories. Go for it. You'll never know if you don't try.

aflaat

Stadium tours are actually quite fun, for me at least. Hmmm

Hez

If it were me I would pick the top five or six stadia, work out a route between them, and then have a plan on how to add in others along the way if you feel you have time. That way you'll probably make it to the "best" ones and achieve your goal.

Also, as I'm sure you know, petrol is expensive so the more straight lines you can drive, the better.

I do long distance walking in rural areas in Europe and usually can find rooms quite cheap. I generally look where I'll most likely be spending the night on Google maps and search nearby for "Hotel". I have to take places that are near the trail (which are not expensive - I usually shoot for about 35E a night) I'm on but often see places a few miles out from the main town which are even more reasonable. Camping is great, but every few days it's great to have a proper shower and a full breakfast!

I've also had great luck with AirBNB, especially in medium sized towns.

I hope you and your GF have an awesome time. Many people can't understand why I like to go walk 15-20+ miles a day by myself in a foreign land. It's not for everyone, like driving long distances to see Stadia - but if it's for you and you love it - that's awesome!

bvlenci

Two people sharing a room can usually find a double room in a cheap hotel or B&B cheaper than a hostel, where they charge you by the bed. I use www.booking.com usually, but for really bargain prices I've also found www.laterooms.com useful. I'm a bit reluctant to do couchsurfing, and I also have reservations about airb&b. My first preference is always for a hotel.

I hope you've checked the visitability and opening hours for all the stadiums you want to see. It may be that other stadiums have the same policy as Lazio.