Tottenham vs Manchester United: How fans can get to Bilbao for Europa League final | OneFootball

There is a surge in demand for trips to Bilbao for the all-English showpiece

Travel companies are preparing for a surge in demand for trips to Bilbao, northern Spain after both clubs made it through their semi-final second legs.

Here, we look at how football fans can make it to the showpiece game on May 21.

Direct flights

Flying is the obvious choice for travelling from the UK to Spain, but airline seats are already in high demand.

Direct two-hour easyJet flights from Gatwick airport, West Sussex, to Bilbao cost £772 on May 20 and £872 on May 21.

The airline also has flights from Manchester to Bilbao taking two hours and 10 minutes.

They are priced from £812 on May 20, and £609 on May 21.

A spokesperson for the carrier said its pricing is “demand-led”.

Indirect flights

Supporters on tighter budgets can save a lot of money by booking a route that involves changing planes.

Airline TAP Air Portugal has a £324 option departing Gatwick at 10.35am on May 20, arriving in Lisbon at 1.25pm, boarding another plane at 3.20pm before finally landing in Bilbao at 6pm.

Taking into account the time difference, this is a total travel time of six hours and 25 minutes.

Some fans will travel by ferry from Dover to Calais (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Car

Some supporters may consider driving.

This could involve taking their car across the Channel from Dover, Kent, to Calais, northern France, by ferry or Eurotunnel.

From there, the driving time across France and over the Spanish border to Bilbao is around 12 hours.

Coach journeys from London to Bilbao take nearly 24 hours (Alamy/PA)

Coach

FlixBus has a departure from London Victoria at 7am on May 20 arriving in Bilbao 23 hours and 45 minutes later at 7.45am on May 21.

This costs £154 and involves crossing the Channel by ferry and changing coaches in Paris.

Several coach companies are likely to run charter services to the final from Manchester and London.

Some fans could include a Eurostar train to Paris in their itinerary (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Train

International train travel website seat61.com describes the journey from London to Bilbao as “a fast and comfortable option”.

It suggests passengers could depart London St Pancras on the morning on May 20 on a Eurostar train to Paris.

They would then take a train to Hendaye and change onto another to San Sebastian.

After an overnight stay in San Sebastian, fans would take a train to Bilbao, arriving on May 21.

Brittany Ferries’ ship Pont-Aven arriving at the port of Santander (Alamy/PA)

Ferry

Some supporters without time pressure may consider travelling by ferry.

Brittany Ferries has a sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao departing at 10pm on May 18 and arriving 33 hours later at 8am on May 20.

Fares are available from £201.

Brittany Ferries said it experienced an increase in bookings even before Thursday’s semi-final second legs, with cabins sold out.

The company also has sailings from Portsmouth to Santander, which is around a one-hour car journey from Bilbao.