Biggest Sports Events in Europe in 2024 (With Dates)

Are you a sports lover? Do you like travelling? There is no better way than to combine visiting new places with watching sports competitions live. The year 2024 in sports will be incredible. There will be many events, including those biggest and most important ones for which we have to wait for 4 years.

A few of the biggest sports events in 2024 will take place in Europe.

In this article, I will tell you which sports events will take place in Europe in 2024 and when. I will also give you some tips on how to attend them.

Personally, I love this type of travel and have been actively doing it for over 10 years now. I’ve been to many sporting events all around Europe (and there still are many more to come!), including Olympics, European or World Championships in different sports. Sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a supporter. Now, I want to share this experience with you and help you organise your perfect sports trip.

So, where can you go to see the biggest sports events in 2024? Let’s review.

Quick Links to Organise Your Sports Trips in 2024:

Book your accommodation here.

Review and book your flights.

Here you can buy tickets for a few sport events.

Here for more events.

And here you can book tickets to enter tourist attractions and tours.

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: Olympic Games

I have to admit that I was wondering if I should present sports events chronologically or take some other path. However, I couldn’t start differently. When it comes to other championships, it depends on your interests. But there is one event that we are all waiting for. The biggest sports event that happens every four years.

Summer Olympics! In 2024, Summer Olympic Games will take place in France. Mostly in Paris, although there are a few sports that will be in other cities.

There are many venues in and around Paris. But other cities will also be hosting events. Part of the handball and basketball games will take place in Lille, while sailing competitions in the coastal city of Marseille.

Football games will be played on 6 stadiums: Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Marseille.

And one more very interesting point: Surfing competition. Imagine that for the first time in history, the Games will also take place in overseas territory. That means surfing will take place… in Tahiti (French Polynesia), at the Teahupo’o site, which is a famous surfing spot.

I think it’s a great idea, as the local community can host the Olympic Games, but it may not be that great for athletes who will be far from all the Games’ atmosphere (athletes always highlight in any interviews that the Olympics are really something special for them).  It’s good to remember about this part of the Olympics if you live on this ‘side of the globe’ (greetings to Australian readers 😊).

You can read more about Olympic venues here. When you click on the venue, you get a more detailed description.

There will be all together 28 Olympic sports and 4 ‘additional sports’, which are being introduced and integrated into the Olympics. The whole competition schedule you can find under this link.

Altogether, there will be 19 days of competition and over 10,000 athletes participating.

Your trip to Olympic Games

If you are wondering about visiting Paris during this time, organise and book your trip as soon as possible. It’s already getting problematic to find accommodation, and the closer to The Games the more expensive it’s going to be (the same about flights). First, review where exactly the venues of sports you want to watch are and search for accommodation in this area as a start point.

When it comes to tickets, of course, they are not the cheapest. Some sessions are already sold out, and some are still available. Even if tickets are not available, keep checking. From my experience, tickets for the biggest sports events are released to sales in waves, and sometimes tickets come back. So they can show up even at the last moment. But if you find any interesting tickets, don’t wait; just jump on them.

I remember buying tickets to the 2012 London Olympics volleyball matches only two weeks before the Games.

Tickets can be purchased here.

There are also available tickets for the Paralympic Games, which take place three weeks after the Olympics.

You can’t find tickets for the competitions you are looking for? It’s possible you will be able to buy them later. And even if you don’t have tickets, you can just travel to Paris to feel this very special atmosphere. I visited London during the Olympic Games in 2012. I participated in a few volleyball games, but otherwise I was just soaking up the atmosphere. Cities are different during such events. If you are a sports fan, you will love it.

If you are a Paris lover, you will for sure enjoy the experience of watching sport just under the Eiffel Tower. It’s where the beach volleyball stadium will be built. It seems amazing on the visualisation.

And one more piece of advice. If you plan to additionally visit touristic sites during your visit, such as museums or palaces, book them in advance. Get Your Guide is a great resource for it.

Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Dates: 26.07-11.08.2024

Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, Dates: 28.08-08.09.2024

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: UEFA EURO Championships

It happens that another huge sports event is in the same year. What a summer it’s going to be! Even if it’s only European championships, love for football connects people all over the world, and Euro is watched across the globe.

This year’s host country is Germany. The tournament will take place in 10 cities and stadiums, in: Berlin, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, and Leipzig. The finals will take place in Berlin.

Again, organise your trip as soon as possible, as we can expect prices to increase and availability of accommodation to be smaller, especially during finals. I was lucky enough to have a few Euro games in Gdańsk, and I have to say that the atmosphere is great. Fan zones, colourful supporters on the streets, it’s worth a visit anyway, even without a ticket to the stadium.

For tickets, groups, and schedule information, reach out to the official UEFA website. The application for the lottery and ticket draw has ended, but usually later on, tickets for few games can be available. I remember buying tickets at the last moment, but it also depends on the game and teams.

UEFA EURO Championships dates: 16.06-14.06.2024

These two were the biggest events, but of course it’s not all yet. There will be many big championships in other sports as well as events that happen annually.

UEFA Champions and Europa League Finals

Let’s stay on the football topic for a moment. There are two events that take place every year in May and June: the Finals of UEFA Champions League and Europa League. It’s just one match day, but as the biggest European clubs participate, it’s a huge event for all sports lovers. It’s not easy to get tickets for games, but you can always try. Or try to apply as a volunteer.

(If you want to know more about sport volunteering, check out this section on my blog.)

UEFA Champions League Final will take place at the iconic stadium, Wembley Stadium, in London. Date: 01.06.2024

Women’s Champions League Final will take place in Bilbao. Date: 25.05.2024.

UEFA Europa League Final (men) will take place in Ireland, in Dublin. Date: 22.05.2024.

For any news regarding tickets, reach the UEFA official website.

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: Athletics

Lets’ move to another sport that attracts many supporters all over the world. The biggest athletics competition in 2024 will be, of course, in Paris (competition will take place on the Stade de France), but  there will be two other big events during the year:

World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Date: 1.03-03.03.2024.

European Athletics Championships in Rome. Date: 07-12.07.2024.

Rome doesn’t need too much marketing. If you like athletics and have never been to Rome (or you’ve been but liked it enough), it’s a good idea for a few-day trip. Just be prepared; there might be big crowds.

Glasgow (here accommodation) is a strong host city on the map of European sports events. They already had indoor athletics or cycling championships. It’s less known than Edinburgh, but here as well, you can feel the Scottish atmosphere and spend time nicely. And it’s only 1 hour from Edinburgh, so you can actually see both cities on the same trip.

Information about tickets to Rome is here, about tickets to Glasgow is here.

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: Tennis

Part of the tennis players will participate in the Summer Olympics. However, for tennis lovers, important will be the four grand slam annual tournaments:

Australian Open in Melbourne,  Dates: 14.01-28.01.2024

Roland Garros French Open, Dates: 20.05-09.06.2024

Wimbledon, Dates: 1.07-14.07.2024

US Open, Dates 26.08-08.11.2024

Tickets are not cheap and easy to get for all these tournaments, but participating in these major tennis tournaments is an unforgettable experience for all sports lovers.

Check here for accommodations in Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon in London, and in New York. All of these places don’t need additional recommendations when it comes to tourist values.

Cycling Events

The most known annual event is probably the Tour de France. Dates for the most famous cycling events in 2024:

Giro d’Italia, Dates: 04-26.05.2024

Tour de France, Dates: 29.06-21.07.2024

Vuelta a Espana, Dates: 17.08—8.11.2024

Biggest Sport Events in Europe 2024: Other sports

In previous chapters, I’ve tried to cover sports and events that are most known worldwide. In 2024, it’s for sure the Summer Olympics, as it’s the most important multi-sport event. But of course, it’s not all events that will take place in 2024.

Here, interests will probably depend on the country. For example, in Scandinavia, many people wait for handball tournaments. In Poland or Italy, for volleyball events. In the United Kingdom (except for football of course), for rugby.

Here you can find a few more sports events that will take place in 2024, with dates:

Six Nations Rugby, Dates: 02.02-16.03.2024

Super Bowl American Football: Date: 11.02.2024

Euro Handball, men: Dates: 10.01-28.01.2024

Euro Handball, women: Dates: 28.11-15.12.2024

World Aquatics Championships: Dates: 02.02-18.02.2024

Ice Hockey World Championships: Dates: 10.05-26.05.2024

Summary

And more, but it’s obviously impossible to mention all the major events in one post. I focused mainly on Europe, with a few others. Anyway, I hope this article has helped you plan your sport travel in 2024. Sport tourism is getting more and more popular, so the number of supporters, and sports tourists is also raising. Remember about it when planning your trips, and just try to book as much as possible in advance. Although I have to admit that there were times when I planned my trips at the last moment and it worked well.

2024 is going to be a really great year for sports fans, especially European summer time, so it’s a great idea to use it well. Such a sports trip is a lifetime memory. Enjoy!

Do you like music, apart from sports? Check out the biggest music festivals in Europe.

Interested in participating in sports events as a volunteer? For the Olympic Games and Euro 2024, it is already too late to apply, but other events will still have recruitments open!

Check out articles about Sports Volunteering here.

Do you like ski-jumping? Here, you can read everything you need to know about going to Planica!