Rio, Becks and Rooney may have failed to book their places at this year’s Euro 2008 finals, and obviously we’re sick as parrots that our underachieving prima donnas will be kicking their heels in June, but that’s no reason to ignore what will be the third-biggest sports event on earth (after the Olympics and the World Cup).

In fact, it might even be a blessing – now you can head to Austria and Switzerland free from the sense of impending doom that comes with supporting our national numpties, and gorge on real football played by Spain, France, Italy and Germany.

Although match tickets are officially sold out, huge “fan zones” are being built, with big screens and even bigger beer tents. These were by far the best thing about the World Cup in Germany in 2006, as affable fans in a rainbow of man-made fibres shared drinks, songs and statistics. There will also be concerts by the likes of Placido Domingo and Elton John.

As all the home nations and Ireland failed to qualify, flights to Austria and Switzerland are still available; and hotel rates have remained refreshingly affordable.

Alps alive - with the sound of polo

Ginny McGrath visits the Alpine foothills in Austria to learn polo and finds herself grappling with a strapping Argentinian

• Where to get riding lessons in England

• The wild horses of the Camargue

• 'Mummy, can I have a pony?'

BACKGROUND

• Golf holidays: swing with the stars

• The best tennis breaks worldwide

• A marathon in Chicago

• Trout-fishing in the Dordogne

For further information on the tournament, go to www.euro2008.uefa.com. All details correct at time of going to press

VIENNA

Football and culture The Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel stadium – eight minutes from the city centre on a new subway line – will host the final on June 29 and all of Austria’s group matches, starting with Croatia on June 8 and concluding with Germany on June 16.

But the real fun will be at the official fan zone, along the historic Ringstrasse, between City Hall and Heldenplatz, which will open daily from 9am to midnight, with space for 70,000 fans. It will have nine large screens, 86 food-and-drink stalls and live entertainment daily from 3pm.

So far, so football. But there’s more on offer here – the fan zone will open on June 7 with performances by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Boys’ Choir and Christina Stürmer, Austria’s biggest pop star. A festival of concerts will be held at the Musikverein. On June 7 and 8, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir will be performing Haydn’s Seasons. Tickets cost from £16 at www.musikverein-wien.at.

More than 100 cultural events will be staged at the Karlsplatz art zone, including theatre, jazz, electronic music and DJ sets. On June 27, Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon will headline an open-air performance in front of the Schoenbrunn Palace. Then, good old Elton plays the Hohe Warte stadium on the 28th. Even the Museum of Fine Arts has a special programme, called We Are European Masters, aimed at football fans.

How to do it: fly to Vienna on June 6 for the opening weekend. British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) has return flights from Heathrow for £142; EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) flies from Luton from £130. Lauda Air (www.laudaair.com) also goes from Edinburgh and Shannon.

Or fly Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Stansted to Bratislava, 40 miles from Vienna on a new motorway; from £56 return. Book hotels on the Vienna tourist board’s site (www.vienna.info); last week, it had plenty of availability, including the three-star Hotel Gasthof, where a double room costs £84, B&B. Or look outside the centre to Hotel Hoehenstrasse (www.hotel-hoehenstrasse.at), which has doubles for £61, B&B. www.euro2008.wien.at

INNSBRUCK

Football and hiking In the heart of the Austrian Tyrol, Innsbruck’s new 30,000-seater Tivoli stadium will play host to group-stage matches between Spain, Sweden and Russia (Spain v Russia, June 10; Sweden v Spain, June 14), while the Bergisel arena will be transformed into a fan zone where 15,000 people can watch games for free on a screen measuring 900 sq ft, the biggest in the tournament.

Street parties will be held on Maria-Theresien Strasse in the city centre, while another big screen will be erected at the Seegrube restaurant, reached by train and cable car, at 6,234ft.

Although Innsbruck is charming, the best place to stay is actually in one of the two dozen satellite villages that surround it, many with cinematic mountain scenery on their doorsteps. Among the prettiest is Neustift, in the Stubai Valley, where you can hop on and off the Eagle Walk, a challenging hiking trail that covers a total of 170 picture-postcard miles.

Fan zones will be set up in the village squares of Neustift and nearby Fulpmes, and buses run between Neustift and Innsbruck, 40 minutes away.

How to do it: EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) has flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Innsbruck from £93. The Stubai tourist office (www.stubai.at) has persuaded hoteliers not to raise prices during the tournament. A three-night package costs £84pp at a village B&B, rising to £143pp, B&B, at a four-star hotel, based on two sharing. Bookings can be made with the tourist office by phone or e-mail (00 43 501 8810, stubaitouristik@stubai.at). www.tirol08.at

CHUR

Football and trains The smart, but admittedly lazy, way to see Switzerland is from a train. From their base in the historic city of Chur, trains such as the Bernina Express twist and thread through tunnels, across teetering viaducts and along steep-sided valleys, far from the nearest roads.

Huddled on the upper reaches of the Rhine, Chur is a beguiling place of cobbled streets and medieval courtyards, and there’s a cable car that runs from the centre into the surrounding mountains. Though no games will be played here, a temporary stadium will be erected, with a giant video wall – a great place to see the tournament’s opening game, Switzerland v Czech Republic on June 7, as well as Holland v Italy from Berne on June 9, Czech Republic v Portugal on June 11 from Geneva, and France v Italy in Zurich on June 17.

How to do it: British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) has flights from Gatwick to Zurich over the opening weekend of the tournament for £87 return. Swiss (www.swiss.com) flies direct from Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin. Chur is 1hr 15min by train from Zurich airport, bookable at www.stc.co.uk. Or travel from St Pancras to Chur by rail (www.seat61.com). Chur tourist office (00 41 81 252 18 18, www.churtourismus.ch) is offering three nights’ B&B in one of five three-star hotels, plus two days’ unlimited travel on the Rhaetische Bahn railway and local buses, for £185pp.

Times recommends

• 52 brilliant weekend breaks for 2010
• Why are UK airports so child unfriendly?
• Ditch the spas - most detox talk is nonsense