beat the brochure

Have you already started to look into where to go for your summer 2012 holiday? If yes, stop right there. Before booking up, make sure you have taken into consideration the small matter of Euro 2012.

That’s right, from 8th June until 1st July 2012, England will once again humiliate themselves in front of millions of people by crashing out at an embarrassingly early stage of the competition. But when has this ever put us football fans off following the tournament from beginning to end? If you do not want to head over to the Ukraine or Poland to show your support to the team, why not jet off to a country that shares a passion for the beautiful game and will be in carnival mode for the duration of the tournament?

You will have the opportunity to watch all the games you want in glorious sunshine – and you never know, with a bit of luck you could be there when one of the other countries gets crowned kings of Europe at England’s expense.

Here we rundown what we consider to be the best destinations to watch the tournament that will also double up as one of the best summer 2012 holidays of your life:

Greece

The Greeks are footy mad. They may not have the best team in the world but this does not mean that they will not have high expectations for the tournament. The winners in 2004 will be fully set up for the Euro’s and a large amount of English fans will be frequenting the bars of popular holiday resorts. Athens and the party islands of Kos and Zante will be rocking whenever Greece or England play, meaning if you want to laze around all day in the sun and then head into town for some footy action you will be in the perfect place. You’ll probably be able to drown your sorrows with the local Greeks too when they crash out at the same stage as England.

Spain

Nobody likes a glory-hunter, but it is probably a bit more acceptable at international level, right? Spain as we all know will win the tournament at a canter, so why not shamelessly jump on the bandwagon? Madrid, Costa Blanca, Barcelona – just head to your favourite Spanish resort, order a few San Miguel’s and join in the celebrations. They’ll be dancing and singing in the streets on 1st July – so buy a Spanish shirt and join in the fun. You’ll probably never experience it as an Englishman so knock yourself out!

Turkey

The word passion may very well have originated from someone who attended a Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce derby. The Turks love the beautiful game and will get behind their team as well as any country playing against their arch rivals, Greece. Turkey have to go through a tricky play-off to get to the finals but if successful the whole country will be rocking throughout June, meaning a summer 2012 holiday to Turkey well worth considering.

For football mad holidaymakers, your summer 2012 holiday has the potential to be the best in years. Choose your destination wisely and experience the Euros through the eyes of our more successful continental neighbours.

Got a better destination to watch the tournament? Let us know by leaving a comment below.