We'd like to enjoy several of the World Cup games next year while in Europe. Which areas would be the most exciting to watch the games in? We loved seeing matches while in Dubrovnik, Budapest, and coastal Croatia cities during the last world cup, and are looking for new places to enjoy the games next year.

We're looking for outdoor screens where residents and tourists cheer on their teams!

Thanks.

Thank goodness someone is interested in the 2010 Soccer World
Cup! Here in South Africa there are real concerns that it has not been marketed correctly - and can you believe this dippy government refusing the DelaiLama a visa to attend a very important conference organised last year around October, incorporating SPORT!!!!
I hope you find a big screen somewhere!

Since we don't yet know who has qualified for the World Cup it is hard at this time to say where will be a good place to watch it, apart from in SOuth Africa of course.
i think you need to wit until we know which countries are through before deciding. If you choose now to go to a country which subsequently doesn't qualify you will be out of luck for big screens and the like I expect.
Next round of qualifiers is on Saturday. The final qualifiers aren't until October.

In 1998, we were in the UK (London and Edinburgh) and Paris during the "heart" of the World Cup. Never had so much fun as we did watching the games outdoors on the big screens at the Hotel de Ville in Paris -- there had to be 30,000 people there, hanging out, sitting in trees, just generally having a blast. (FWIW, on another day, we missed our train from York to London because we were watching the end of a game that went into overtime and PKs). On that same trip, we took in food from Harrod's and watched in our apartment, we took in pizza, and watched in our B&B in Edinburgh, and we watched the final in our hotel in Rome (in the common area) - yes, we are soccer crazies. We were also in Europe in 2002 but by the time we arrived in England, England had already been eliminated so it wasn't as crazy. In 2006, my daughter was in Paris the night France lost to Italy in the final. She said it was a blast watching it there (but in a bar, not in a public square) even though they lost.

Bottom line: the Hotel de Ville in Paris.

I love the Paris suggestion since I adore France! I wasn't sure if they'd get to excited over the World Cup in public areas. Didn't they win in 1998! Does anyone else have any other French locations? In 2000 we were in France during the Euro cup and a match was on during dinner, but on a TV upstairs. Our waiter disappeared as the game was very exciting with France winning in the end!

My husband is leaning towards England, but we want smaller venues, not the big cities where it could get out of hand.

I'd love to hear where others watched outdoors in past years.

Thanks so much for your suggestions.

One other thought. The Tour de France begins in Holland the first few days of July. We also love the Tour. These dates overlap with the World Cup in early July. Does anyone have any location in Belgium (tour ends near Antwerp one day)or small town in Holland? We're not interested in staying in Rotterdam. We have stayed in Delft in the past. Does Holland or Belgium turn out publicly for World Cup viewing?

AS I said, you need to wait and see who qualifies. If you choose a country which doesn't qualify no-one in that country will be interested in the World Cup other than at a very superficial level, and certainly there won't be any big screens or outdoor excitement.
I have no idea what the route of the tour is so I can't help with that - if you give me some idea of where it goes maybe I can suggest somewhere. You could always stay in Antwerp of course.

Thanks hetismij. I realize we don't have all the info yet. We're just starting to think about ideas. We will be going regardless of which countries qualify. Outdoor cafes in Budapest had screens in 2006 even though Hungry wasn't participating.

As for the Tour de France, only the portion in Holland has been announced. We probably need to wait until October for that entire schedule also.

I see the tour goes through Zeeland - lot of nice villages and towns there. When the route is confirmed (I have only found the prologue route so far) then I can suggest some nice places - but you will probably need to book early - Zeeland is small and a popular holiday destination too, so the Tour will put pressure on accommodation I expect.

The bigger places in Holland will probably have screens up, and a lot of the cafés will have big TVs inside, and probably outside too with the smoking ban!

Meanwhile we'll see how Oranje do on Saturday

Good luck Saturday against Scotland! Thanks for your help.

Italy, Spain, England, France -- all are top European teams (England's recent performances notwithstanding) and their fans are rabid. Should be TONS of places to watch. And those countries should all qualify. If the schedule for the Cup is similar to 2006 (semis were on July 3 and 4), the Belgians will be out of it by then if they even qualify.

<i>Semis are on the 6th and 7th of July. </i>

FWIW, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, are both ranked higher in the FIFA rankings that both England and France (as are Croatia and Russia, both ranked higher than England) and Turkey and Portugal, both ranked between England and France).

There are unlikely to be big screens in England - there were barneys last time when we got knocked out. However EVERY pub will have the games on, and that can be great fun.

Of the teams likely to qualify the Dutch and Swedes have the reputation of having the most fun fans.

FWIW, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, are both ranked higher in the FIFA rankings that both England and France>>

Only Americans take these rankings seriously. Everyone that watches football just laughs at them.