The Lionesses travel to Murcia, Spain, for a brace of international friendlies against Japan (Friday 11th November) and Norway (Tuesday 15th November) at the Pinatar Arena. Both matches kick-off 8pm local time / 7pm GMT.

• Tickets can be found on the here on the Pinatar Arena website – priced €15 general / €7.50 U16s.

Travel: Getting there & getting around

There are two airports you can fly into to get to Pinatar Arena – Murcia and Alicante.

From Murcia a car seems to be the easiest route to get to the stadium with a car journey being 32 minutes while it’s an hour’s drive from Alicante – again a car seems to be the best option.

You can also get a combination of trains and buses but the journey will take you roughly half a day. You would need to get the C1 train to Murcia and then switch to get a train to Cartagena. More here: Nucleus of Cercanías de Murcia and Alicante | Renfe

Supporters would then take a bus journey, which is roughly one hour long, to S.Pedro del Pinat. See here: Hasta donde tú quieras. Soluciones de movilidad – Alsa (it’s is roughly a 20-minute walk from here).

Taxis can be costly. The stadium has suggested to contact this company – Taxi and Transfer | La Manga Rent a Car.

Open training sessions

There will not be any open training sessions to view over the course of these two international games.

Matchday

On matchday there will be a bar available for drinks and it will open 90 minutes before kick-off. The chance to meet the players will be at the end of the game in the Pinatar Arena entrance (this is dependent on the team and players).

Regarding bag sizes there is nothing fixed yet but there will be control checks. The recommendation is to bring nothing bigger than 35cmx20cmx20cm.

Stadium (Pinatar Arena and surrounding facilities):

Our thanks to the Pinatar Arena for this drone footage.

Temperature

In November Pinatar is set to see highs of 20 degrees and lows of 12 – see more: weather.com

Eating & drinking

Depending on what you like to eat there are a whole host of local cuisines options including Cafe Cielo and Juan Mari (if you like Michelin stars). If you are a vegetarian there are a number of restaurants you can pick from and if you are coeliac then further information is here.

Nearer to the stadium, there are other options which have been recommended by staff at the stadium:

• El Rubio 360
• Mar de Sal
• Juan Mari
• Rincón Italiano
• Venezuela
• Porto Chico
• Torombölo
• Casa Araez

Things to see and do

Depending on how long you plan to stay, there’s plenty to see and do. More information can be found on the two tourism information websites – Costa Calida and Pinatar.

However, top favourites, depending on where you stay, appear to be:

• Mud Baths
• Guide Snorkel Route
• Caves of Murcia

Around the stadium staff have suggested a number of options including:

• There is an open air shopping mall called La Zenia Boulevard with shops, restaurants, bowling, etc.
• Go-karts, paintball, golf, diving, etc.
• In terms of cultural activities the best is to go to the city of Cartagena and see their Roman theatre or sea treasures museum. 
• In Murcia you can see the Cathedral and the historical city centre.

Emergency numbers

• Emergency services number – 112
• British Embassy Alicante – +34 965 21 60 22

COVID-19

You should always check the latest travel information for your destination at www.gov.uk and it’s worth looking into any relevant COVID-19 procedures whenever and wherever you travel.

Fans at home

Friday’s match will be on ITV4 and, although details for Tuesday’s game have not yet been published by the broadcaster, we’d expect similar arrangements.

• Any questions or queries please email: [email protected]

Thanks to Fran and Eros at Pinatar Arena and Marzena at the FA for helping with this guide.