We witnessed our boys in green weaving football magic across the pitch at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille on Wednesday night. We roared with jubilation as Robbie Brady scored in the 85th minute, booking our place in the final 16 of the Euro 2016. We danced and sang as the celebrations for this historic match echoed across the nation.
However, as blurry eyes emerged into this morning's bright summer sunshine, there is one question on football fans minds: How do we get to Lyon for Sunday's game against France?
Flights
The latest news is Ryanair has announced that it will schedule a number of special return flights from Dublin to Lyon to see Ireland face France on Sunday.
The airline announced on Thursday afternoon that following unprecedented demand from Irish fans, it had scheduled a number of flights to depart on Saturday and Sunday morning and return on Monday.
It has warned that seats are extremely limited so our advice is to get online and book asap.
Ryanair added that due to operational constraints, and “in honour of Thierry Henry’s infamous handball”, the flights will operate with hand baggage only.
The following are the schedule flights for the coming days:
June 25th Dublin - Lyon 08.10
June 25th Dublin -Lyon 13.20
June 26th Dublin-Lyon 05.55
June 26th Lyon - Dublin 21.25
June 27th Lyon - Dublin 00.30
June 27th Lyon - Dublin 12.00
With all other direct flights to Lyon from Dublin sold out, fans will have to take a more circuitous route to see Ireland face France on Sunday.
Fans can fly via Birmingham with Ryanair on Saturday and return via Barcelona on Monday for €460, while Iberia will bring you via Madrid on the way out, returning via Athens on Monday with Aegean Airlines for €499.
Basically, in order to get to Lyon by air, you’ll have to endure a quick pit-stop tour of a couple of European airports.
Those who need to return home in time for work on Monday morning will be facing €454 for a direct Aer Lingus flight, with flights the following day dropping to a slightly more affordable €153 .
Of course, there’s always the option of flying to a nearby city and renting a car to drive to Lyon.
Geneva is one hour and 45 minutes driving from Lyon however all direct flights from Ireland to the city are sold out. Fans have the option of flying via cities like London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Barcelona for around €400 return before renting a car to reach Lyon.
There are direct Ryanair flights from Dublin to Nice which is a four and half hour drive to Lyon. These flights will set you back nearly €600 but there is the added bonus of stopping off on the Mediterranean coast for some relaxation after Sunday’s match. There are also direct flights with Aer Lingus to Marseilles, which is just under three hours by car.
Air France flights to Paris currently stand at about €450 return. Fans will then have the option of renting a car and driving the four and half hours to Lyon or catching the TGV high speed train. Be warned, tolls on french motorways are not cheap and you can expect to pay at least €10 per stop.
Via Michelin Maps & Route Planner estimates that tolls from Paris to Lyon will cost about €30 with nearly €40 on petrol.
Trains
The French high speed TGV train takes just under 2 hours to reach Lyon with one way tickets ranging between €50-€100.
For those Ireland supporters lucky enough to have witnessed Wednesday’s win at Stade Pierre Mauroy in person, TGV tickets from Lille to Lyon start at about €75.
Those considering flying to London and jumping on the Eurostar at King's Cross can book the journey via Paris to Lyon for about £150 one way (€195).
There is also the option of flying to a city close to Lyon (see above) and catching a local train to the city.
Ferry
If you’re willing to drive the nearly eight hours from Cherbourg to Lyon, there is a direct Stena Line ferry sailing from Rosslare to Cherbourg which departs at 8.30pm on Thursday, arriving in France at 4.30pm on Friday. The journey will cost €319 single for a car plus driver with additional passengers costing €38 per adult.
Stena Line is also offering their landbridge option, which is available from Dublin, Rosslare and Belfast and has onward travel from to Britain to mainland Europe included in the price.
Irish Ferries has a ferry departing from Dublin Port for Cherbourg at 15.30 on Saturday which also costs €319 for a car and one driver . Unfortunately, you won't be able to get back to Ireland with Irish Ferries till Tuesday, with the journey costing €129 from Cherbourg.
Match tickets
The Uefa website announced on Thursday that it would be releasing extra tickets for the final 16 matches from 1pm (GMT). The FAI also released a statement on its Facebook page saying it was working with Uefa to try and secure additional tickets for the Ireland v France match.
Face-value tickets for Sunday's match at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais cost between €25 and €145.
Accommodation
Hotel rooms are filling up fast in Lyon with prices per night ranging between €70 and €1,000.
Airbnb offers the cheaper option of renting a room from €30 while apartments are available for rent from €50 per night.
Bottom line; that trip to Lyon will leave a considerable hole in your pocket. With travel, accommodation, food and drink, Ireland supporters are looking at spending at least €1,000 for the weekend in France.
However, I think we can all agree, Sunday’s match will be a pretty special day for our boys in green.
