EURO 2016 kick-off countdown has started – and as British fans plan their French forays, Kwik Fit Insurance Services has studied travel costs for each of the home nations.

With less than 80 days to go until European football’s premier competition kicks off in France, there have already been over 5 million ticket applications from 189 territories.

Fans who applied for tickets have now found out if they’ve been successful in securing a seat to watch their team compete among Europe’s elite – with supporters also expected to travel to France to watch their team on large screens in dedicated fan zones, bars and restaurants.

The European Breakdown team at Kwik Fit Insurance Services has conducted research on the cheapest transport methods and the distance football fans will take to follow their team from their home country, around the stadiums and back home.

The data shows that England fans benefit from the cheapest transport costs across all three methods. Perhaps unsurprisingly, driving proved the cheapest transport method for all nations.

Due to the high demand of flights around the tournament dates, flying proves to be an expensive option, with prices expected to continue rising over the coming months.

Between January and March 2016, the average train price has already risen by £146 and flying costs has risen by £171. Northern Ireland, whose fans will be attending their first major tournament since 1986, have the highest road, air and rail costs to pay.

Kwik Fit comparison of transport costs

The average cost across the home nations and Republic of Ireland of driving (£412) was one third (37%) cheaper than taking the train (£657). When compared to the flying average (£699), driving was (41%) cheaper.

Due to London being closer than the other home nation capitals, England fans will have the fewest total miles to travel if they drive to France.

However when in France, Northern Irish fans win out, only having to travel 582 miles between Nice to Lyon and Lyon to Paris, compared with Welsh fans who will have to travel nearly double the distance at 1,031 miles throughout the group stages.

Stewart Barnett, marketing director at Kwik Fit Insurance Services, said: “We created ‘Road to France’ as a fun way of thinking about how football fans in the UK and Republic of Ireland could plan their trips to the biggest footballing event of the summer.

“It’s a great visual representation of the physical journey that they will have to take when following their team – not forgetting the emotional journey too! The 2016 competition is relatively unique as being so close to home allows fans to drive to the  French host towns and cities, saving them a significant amount of money – and even more so with road and car shares.

“That said, I’m a Scot, so I’ll be looking for alternative ways to spend my summer!”

For more information on this – such as the Le Mans 25 Hours sports car classic – as well as all the data click here.

• Petrol prices, train fares and plane fares were all calculated on March 4 2016.
• Petrol price was at 101.91p a litre based on one passenger driving which was the average petrol cost in the UK in January.
• All flights were from the home countries’ capital city to their first city destination in France, the day before their first match. All flights were direct flights if possible.
• All train costs were calculated here.