By a small lake in the shadow of a mountain, high up in the Swiss alpine land, lies a football arena. Surrounded by forest-covered hills and green valleys, it is here – at Swissporarena in Lucerne – that the Swedish national team will face Poland in the European Championship. Yes, in a landscape among grazing cows and lakes filled with meltwater, the summer's major football championship will be decided.
Switzerland is also one of the most expensive countries in Europe. The country has an index of 175 – which means that it is on average 75 percent more expensive than Sweden. Prices vary between the game cities: in Basel, which is one of the slightly cheaper cities, it is 54 percent more expensive than Sweden. At the same time, Lucerne, with an index of 206, is more than twice as expensive.
More fans than the previous European Championship
Accommodation can be expensive, in some cases twice as expensive as, for example, Stockholm. 2,500 kr per night compared to 1,200 kr for a three-star hotel, according to Forex's survey.
A positive thing is that free train travel to and from the arena is included in every match ticket. It's fantastic. As for accommodation, we have rented Airbnb to reduce costs, then we can also cook our own food and save money that way, says Estrid Kjellman.
Despite everything, a large gathering of fans is traveling down. 1,474 Swedish supporters have applied for tickets to the premiere against Denmark on July 4, 1,606 against Poland, and 1,905 against Germany. This is compared to, for example, 705 people against Portugal during the European Championship in England in 2022, according to the Swedish Football Association.
Swedish fans will meet before each match and get pumped up together, says Estrid Kjellman.
In Lucerne, we gather in a park, and in the other cities, Geneva and Zurich, we will have more traditional bar gatherings and then march together towards the arena.
"Experience the country"
But far from everything is about the European Championship during the trip.
Match days are 100 percent focus on football, but the days in between, many will experience the country, hike in the Alps, some will go to Italy. In connection with the Lucerne match, we will be staying in the Alps and then I thought I would take the opportunity to hike, says Kjellman.
She continues:
The most important thing for us in Soft Hooligans is that it should be fun. Everyone should feel that it's fun to go to football and it should be a great gang to hang out with. The sense of community is very important to us.
Visit the football museum Fifa Museum in Zurich.
Check out the Richard Wagner Museum in Lucerne.
Take a day trip to the beautiful alpine village Grindelwald.
A dinner for two in Switzerland costs around 1,400 kronor compared to 800 kr in Sweden, according to Forex. A beer costs around 94 kronor in the larger cities, in smaller towns around 75 kronor.
