Bilbao is likely to be full of English football fans on Wednesday 21 May. Northern Spain’s largest city is hosting the Europa League final.
Only the first legs of the semi-finals have been played, but the two English teams each scored three goals.
In the second legs tonight, Tottenham Hotspur will take a 3-1 advantage to Bodo/Glimt, just inside the Arctic Circle on Norway’s Atlantic coast.
Manchester United lead 3-0 going into their home leg against Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford.
Many fans have already booked flights to Bilbao on the assumption their team will be playing in the final in the San Mames Stadium at 8pm on 21 May.
Fares have surged, even though easyJet has laid on extra flights from London Gatwick and Manchester. Flying out on 20 May, easyJet is charging £772 one-way from London Gatwick to Bilbao. On the day of the match, the price is £100 higher.
From Manchester, the Tuesday 20 May flight is £812. On Wednesday 21 May, an early flight is £609 and the late-morning departure is selling for £918.
Returning on Thursday 22 May, easyJet wants £945 to both Gatwick and Manchester; the following day, the price to Gatwick falls to £300.
It is likely that a limited number of additional flights will be laid on by budget airlines. But there are many other ways to reach Bilbao.
Fly to another airport
Biarritz in France is well placed for fans who want to see something of the Basque region en route to Bilbao.
The southwestern France airport has no direct flights on 20 May, but there is a routing via Basel in Switzerland. The easyJet flight from Basel to Biarritz is currently £78. You could self-connect after morning flights from Gatwick (£51) or Luton (£40).
From Biarritz airport you can walk to the city’s rail station in about 20 minutes, and board a train to the border town of Hendaye. From here a narrow-gauge railway runs to San Sebastian, from where there is another narrow-gauge train or, much more quickly, many express buses.
Santander is a closer airport but fares are already soaring.
Rail
From London St Pancras International on 20 May, the cheapest morning Eurostar train to Paris Nord is £110. From Paris Montparnasse, the lunchtime train to Hendaye costs £75. Then proceed as above via the narrow-gauge line.
Coach
Flixbus has a 7am departure from London’s Victoria Coach Station on Tuesday 20 May, with a change at Paris Bercy, arriving almost 24 hours later for £154.
Ferry
The most sedate way to reach Bilbao is the Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao on Sunday 18 May at 10pm. You get two nights on board for a one-way fare of £201. But no cabins are available.
Drive
The most direct route from the London area involves sailing from Newhaven to Dieppe and then driving via Rouen, Le Mans, Poitiers and Bordeaux to the Spanish border.
From the Manchester area, the best Channel crossings are from Portsmouth to Caen (head south to Le Mans and pick up the route above) or to Cherbourg (then via Rennes, Nantes and Bordeaux).