Travel tips to follow for Euro 2012

With just six weeks to go until Euro 2012, travel arrangements for many are still looking rather blurry. Last week, it emerged that UEFA president Michel Platini is furious with Ukrainian hotel price hikes, with reports suggesting that some venues in Ukraine were seeking to charge fans $1000 (€760) a night for a three-star hotel room.

This has led to warnings that plenty of fans won't be traveling to the games, although organizers will be hoping for a last-minute surge if reports circulating of unfulfilled allocations turn out to be true.

But this week, Ukraine sought to reassure fans that hotel prices have been normalized, confirming that "thousands" of hotel rooms in one, two and three star accommodation were still available and affordable.

That means that travelers who haven't sorted out accommodation yet should do so quickly as interest grows leaving it to the last minute could mean an uncomfortable time on arrival in Poland and the Ukraine if everywhere's full.

The official booking site, https://www.aa-euro2012.com, offers a handy match selector, which pre-fills dates and locations for hotel seekers before running an availability check and returning the results, complete with the distance from the stadium.

Other websites are also accepting reservations for hotels in the host cities, with Booking.com also offering a search close to the Fan Zone in various cities.

For those that don't want to shell out for the hotel, Carlsberg has released new places for its Polish 'FanCamp' camping grounds, promising rates from 139 PLN (€33) a night at www.carlsbergfancamp.pl.

Likely to be considerably more costly are flights to the host cities, with demand expected to be high and capacity considerably tighter -- Ryanair is reported to be working to provide 'fly-in/fly-out' packages which negate the need for a hotel, but they could be pricey.

One solution for those with the time could be to take the train, with extra rail services being laid on between host cities. Another option could be to book an all-inclusive package, with providers Thomas Cook and Thomson still showing some availability from the UK and Europe and Abbey Travel from Ireland.