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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations
Slide Nr 1You may only consider sport as a motivation for travel when there’s an important match, international competition or national tournament to attend. However, visiting the iconic stadiums, lovingly curated sports museums and highly anticipated athletic events that local fans love gives you the opportunity to experience and explore a new side to any city, no matter what the sport. See the world from a fan’s perspective by learning more about the athletic history, sporting legacy and local fandom of these top sporting destinations around the world.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 3Chicago, USA – Chicago makes this list for similar reasons: thanks to adorably ecstatic fans, in this case represented by Bill Murray, celebrating the World Series win of his favourite baseball team. The Chicago Cubs put over a century of losses and near-misses behind them to the boundless joy of their most prominent fan. Watching the beloved comedian suffer, cheer and celebrate at every game, then finish the season in the changing room as one of the team, made us all want to live and love a sport that much.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 4New York City, USA – One could be led to believe that the New York Yankees were the most popular sports team in the entire world, judging by the amount of NY baseball caps in circulation globally. Of course, the majority of owners and wearers of said caps have never watched the team play, nevermind visited Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx. The Yankees and their merchandise are simply synonymous with the city they call home. Other legendary sports venues to visit include the Mets’ home ground in Flushing, Queens and basketball at Madison Square Garden.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 5Los Angeles, USA – L.A. isn’t all showbiz, although you could argue that – like most industries – L.A. sports are at least a little bit showbiz-influenced. The sprawling Greater Los Angeles area boasts a dozen more or less successful basketball, baseball and (American) football teams, and as many sports stadiums and arenas. The big tickets to snag are a baseball match at Dodger Stadium or a basketball game at Staples Center, where front row tickets could have you rubbing shoulders with Rihanna, Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé. These seats are, unsurprisingly, hard to get, as will be tickets for the Super Bowl, when it comes back to town in 2022.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 8Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – One of the most football-crazy countries in the world, where players are revered like saints and every little boy dreams of growing up to be the next Pele or Neymar Jr., Brazil prides itself in being the only team to qualify for every World Cup ever. Of course, there’s also no better place to play beach volleyball – especially if you’ve got the guts to show off your body on Copacabana or Ipanema beach, where the sport’s first international tournament was held in 1987. [Photo: Phil Whitehouse/Flickr]
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 9London, England – A city of sporting superlatives, the UK capital has hosted the Olympics three times, and it is home to British Premiership teams Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham and Fulham, as well as to legendary venues like Wembley, Twickenham, Wimbledon and Lord’s. Depending on your favourite sport, you can probably find a competition to capture your interest at some point during the year. If not, you can take a tour of most of the above mentioned sites and their adjacent museums packed with memorabilia, like the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum or the World Rugby Museum.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 10Manchester, England – In the Manchester-Liverpool football rivalry, Manchester was for years the overwhelming favourite and the scrappy underdog, but that imbalance has been adjusted recently. Sizeable investments brought back Manchester City from the third league to three Premier League victories in the past six years. The club’s former Maine Road stadium has been demolished, but fans can watch them play at City of Manchester Stadium or see rival Manchester United at Old Trafford. [Photo: barryluff/Flickr]
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 12Glasgow, Scotland – While Edinburgh prides itself on its culture, its festival and its royal heritage, Glasgow leans in to its rougher, more down-to-earth image. Home to one of the world’s greatest football rivalries, it’s a city that absolutely demands you choose which team to support – and spend the rest of your life defending your decision. The contest between Celtic and Rangers, the two teams that usually decide the Scottish championship between themselves, is remarkable not only in its longevity. The enduring 230-year duel comes with implications of faith, political belief, national allegiance and an intricate web of international clubs from all over the world associated with the one team or the other. To experience a fixture between the teams collectively known as the Old Firm is an intense, yet exhilarating treat for any football fan.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 14Amsterdam, Netherlands – You may be more likely to think of art, cheese and beer than sports when planning a trip to the Netherlands, but the Low Countries are an athletic place, sending highly competitive teams to international football, hockey and volleyball competitions, as well as producing successful cyclists and race drivers. The true national sport, however, is ice skating. The nation dominates competitions, and once a year in winter, the country collectively crosses its fingers while waiting for the canals to freeze enough for the Eleven Cities ice skating marathon to take place.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 15Paris, France – Although the French capital’s annual sporting calendar is packed full of highlights, there is no detracting from the main event each year: the Tour de France and its spectacular final stage, arriving in the capital to popular acclaim. Regardless of the Grand Départ, which varies from year to year, the winners always get the triumphant ride down the Champs-Élysées as the crowning glory of their tough slog around the country, up and down its mountain passes and across some of its borders for diplomatic purposes.
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 18Milan, Italy – Like any Italian city worth its salt, Milan has of course got a football club. In fact, it has two famous teams that are by turn nationally and internationally successful or embroiled in corruption, bankruptcy and other scandals. What sets the Northern Italian city apart is the Autodromo: the world-famous Formula 1 circuit of Monza, where the Italian Grand Prix is held each year in September. Not only is it one of the most revered racetracks in the world, but as the home circuit of Ferrari, the place to watch its passionate “Tifosi” go wild. [Photo: CaterhamF1/Flickr]
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 19Barcelona, Spain – A city with a rich history in international sports, Barcelona is also worth visiting for its unique traditional competitions. On the global level, Spain’s second city was once slated to become the first to host a “People’s Olympiad”, in opposition to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It later hosted the 1992 Olympics, as well as many other international tournaments and competitions. FC Barcelona, one of the most successful football clubs in the world, boasts the largest football stadium in Europe, with an atmosphere to send shivers up any football fanatic’s spine. However, for a truly unique athletic experience, attend one of the regular “Castells” competitions held in the Catalonian capital’s squares throughout summer, where teams build human towers up to ten people tall. [Photo: Castellers Vilafranca/Flickr]
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 25Tokyo, Japan – Japanese sports fans are well-known for being unabashedly enthusiastic, and infusing all professional athletic proceedings with an adorable dose of “kawaii”. Cute mascots, logos and anthropomorphised sports equipment are all part of the experience. Tokyo is a big Olympic city, having already hosted three Games and looking forward to the fourth in 2020. With five professional baseball clubs in the Tokyo area, there’s always a match to be seen somewhere during the season. Why not use the club’s mascots to decide which team you want to support? For something more traditional, visit the Ryogoku district where the sumo stadium, stables and museum are located. [Photo: T toes/Flickr]
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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.
Slide Nr 26Cape Town, South Africa – Thanks to its spectacular location, straddling two oceans and with a mountain arising from the heart of the city, Cape Town is an absolute dream destination for an active holiday. Visitors can surf, sail, dive or paddle the Atlantic or Indian Ocean, climb, hike or abseil Table Mountain, road cycle or mountain bike to Cape Point. It’s also a fantastic spectator sports city, which has hosted both football and rugby World Cup matches, as well as international cricket tests and regular matches between local teams.
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