City Itineraries: 48 hours around the match in Lisbon, Munich and Milan

Each itinerary assumes a Saturday afternoon or early-evening kick-off, arrival by 19:00 Friday and departure after lunch on Sunday. Where a league habitually moves its big games to Sunday night — Italy, we are looking at you — we say so and show how to flex. Budgets are per person, mid-range, and include a match ticket bought at face value.

Lisbon: Benfica or Sporting at home

Friday

19:30 — Metro from the airport to Baixa-Chiado (€2 on a Viva Viagem card, 25 minutes). Drop bags in Chiado or Príncipe Real; both are walkable to everything and a straight Blue line ride to the Luz. 21:00 — Dinner at Taberna da Rua das Flores, a tiny tasca with a chalkboard menu and no reservations; queue by 20:30, spend around €30. 23:00 — Ginjinha standing up at A Ginjinha on Largo de São Domingos, €1.50 a shot, then bed.

Saturday

09:00 — Pastel de nata at Manteigaria (€1.40), then tram 15E to Belém for the monastery and the riverside walk. 13:00 — Back to town; grilled sardines or a bifana in Mouraria. 15:30 — Blue line to Colégio Militar/Luz, fifteen minutes. Drink imperiais with the locals on Avenida Lusíada. 18:00 kick-off (Portuguese fixtures range from 15:30 to 20:30 — check the week before). 21:30 — Late dinner at Cervejaria Ramiro, €35 with the prawns, or petiscos in Bairro Alto if the queue is unbearable.

Sunday

10:00 — Coffee and the Sunday market at LX Factory under the bridge. 12:30 — Lunch at Time Out Market, then the metro to the airport in under 30 minutes. Sporting's Estádio José Alvalade is on the Green line, ten minutes from Campo Grande, and the plan is otherwise identical.

Munich: Bayern at the Allianz Arena

Friday

18:30 — S-Bahn from the airport, 40 minutes, covered by a €15.50 airport-city day ticket or your Deutschlandticket. Stay in Glockenbachviertel or the Isarvorstadt — bars, bakeries, and the U-Bahn to Fröttmaning in 25 minutes. 20:00 — Dinner at Augustiner-Keller: Schweinsbraten, a Maß of Edelstoff, about €25. If it is cold, the vaulted cellar is open; if it is not, the garden holds 5,000 and you will still find a bench.

Saturday

09:30 — Viktualienmarkt for Weisswurst (before noon, by tradition) and a pretzel. 11:00 — Walk the Englischer Garten to the Eisbach to watch the river surfers, then back via the Residenz. 13:15 — U6 north; the walk from Fröttmaning to the stadium takes fifteen minutes across the esplanade and is the best view of the building. 15:30 kick-off — the protected Bundesliga slot, though Bayern take the 18:30 Topspiel roughly once a month. 19:00 — Back into town with the KombiTicket; dinner in Glockenbach at Fraunhofer, a wood-panelled Wirtshaus doing Bavarian classics for €18–24.

Sunday

10:00 — Olympiapark: climb the stadium roof tour (€45, book ahead) or simply walk the hill for the view. 13:00 — Lunch at Schneider Bräuhaus, then the S-Bahn to the airport. For Deutsches Museum fans, swap the Olympiapark and spend three hours on Museumsinsel instead.

Milan: Inter or Milan at San Siro

Friday

19:00 — Malpensa Express to Cadorna (€13, 40 minutes). Stay in Brera or around Porta Venezia; both sit on the metro lines you need. 20:30 — Aperitivo in Navigli — Negroni Sbagliato and the buffet at Mag Café, €12 — which counts as dinner if you are generous with the plate.

Saturday

09:30 — Duomo rooftop by stairs (€16, book the 09:30 slot to beat the crowd). 11:00 — Brera's cobbled streets and the Pinacoteca (€15). 13:00 — Panzerotti at Luini, eaten standing up. 16:30 — M5 lilac line to San Siro Stadio; wander the eleven towers before the gates. 18:00 kick-off if you are lucky. Serie A's marquee slot is Sunday 20:45, and Inter and Milan land there more often than not — if so, swap Saturday and Sunday and book the Monday-morning flight from the outset. 21:00 — Walk to Lotto on the M1 to dodge the M5 crush, then dinner at Trattoria Milanese: risotto alla milanese and ossobuco, €40.

Sunday

10:00 — Cimitero Monumentale, free and astonishing. 12:00 — Fondazione Prada (€15) and lunch at Bar Luce, then the Malpensa Express from Cadorna.

What the weekend costs