Football trips to FA Cup

A full FA Cup travel package generally combines a match ticket with hotel accommodation and, for international travellers, flights. Some providers also include transfers between the airport and hotel or stadium. Others keep the booking to a ticket plus hotel and leave the rest to you. The exact contents vary by provider and by round, so read each listing carefully to confirm what is actually bundled before you book.

Early-round ties at lower-league and non-league grounds offer something genuinely different from a top-flight match day: smaller grounds, crowds close to the pitch, and the real possibility of an upset. Later rounds, particularly the Wembley semi-finals and final, suit a multi-day trip with hotel given the occasion involved. Packages are more commonly listed for ties involving Premier League clubs and for the showpiece rounds, but it is always worth checking what is available once the draw confirms your fixture.

Wembley Stadium is well connected by public transport from central London. Wembley Park station on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines is a short walk from the stadium entrance. Wembley Central, served by the Bakerloo line and National Rail, is another option nearby. On match days, services fill up quickly in both directions, so allow extra time. From most central London zones, the journey takes around 20 to 30 minutes by tube.

For Wembley ties, central London works well as a base. It keeps you close to transport links and the tube journey to the stadium is straightforward. For FA Cup ties at club grounds elsewhere in the country, staying near the ground or in the city centre of the host club both work depending on how much of the city you want to see around the match. Many FA Cup packages include hotel accommodation as part of the booking.

The FA Cup final at Wembley is structured as a full-day occasion. Fans arrive hours before kick-off, and the area around the stadium fills with colour and noise well in advance. With a capacity of around 90,000, both sets of supporters share the ground, and the walk along Wembley Way in the build-up is a recognised part of how the day unfolds. It runs considerably longer than a standard league match day from arrival to departure.

At Premier League and Championship grounds, away fans get a designated section, bars near the ground serve as the pre-match gathering spot, and stewards typically direct travelling supporters toward them. At lower-league grounds in the earlier rounds, the setup is more informal: smaller crowds, older facilities, and terracing in some cases. That rawness is part of what draws fans to the early rounds, particularly when a non-league club is hosting a top-flight side.

Buying directly through a club is often limited to existing members, and there is no guarantee of securing a ticket that way even if you qualify. Travel companies and ticket agencies provide an alternative route that does not require club membership, letting you confirm a place at the match without going through each club's own system. Terms and delivery details vary between sellers, so check those before completing a booking.

Each round's fixtures are only confirmed once the draw is made, which typically happens a few weeks before the matches are played. For high-profile ties at Premier League grounds or for the Wembley rounds, listings from travel companies tend to appear shortly after the draw. It is wise to look as soon as the fixture is confirmed, particularly for ties involving the bigger clubs where fan interest is highest.

Ties involving Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur consistently attract the most interest and are the most frequently listed by travel companies. Giant-killing ties, where a lower-league club draws a Premier League opponent at home, also generate strong attention once the draw is announced. The semi-finals and final at Wembley draw the widest interest of any round, with packages often including hotel stays in London.

The FA Cup draw is unseeded across most rounds, which means any club can be paired with any other regardless of league level. That single rule creates ties that the league structure never produces: a part-time non-league club at home to a Premier League side, on a ground that holds a few thousand, with everything to play for. The league only ever matches clubs at the same level. It is the draw that gives individual FA Cup ties their specific pull as fixtures worth planning a trip around.