Yes, there have been goals and upsets and the kind of drama that makes you remember why you love this sport. But the stories that have genuinely captured people's hearts this summer have not always been about what is happening on the pitch. They have been about the fans. And about the teams that are making history.
The supporters who drank every bar in Boston dry and left the streets cleaner than they found them. The ones who brought a chant so powerful it echoed all the way back to their parliament. The ones who stayed behind after every match, quietly folding their trash into bags while everyone else headed for the exits. And then there is Argentina, where a 37-year-old man named Lionel Messi is making the entire world stop and watch one more time.
If you have been watching the World Cup and thinking "I want to go there," this post is for you.
Four countries. Four stories. Four trips worth planning.
The Tartan Army descended on Boston and it became one of the great stories of the tournament. Scottish supporters took over the city with such warmth, such volume, and such genuine joy that locals did not know what hit them. They reportedly drank every available drop of beer in certain neighborhoods, danced in the streets, and sang in the pubs. And then they left. Sanitation workers were genuinely surprised at how little they needed to do after the Tartan Army parties. The revelry was enormous. The mess was almost nonexistent.
Then eight thousand Scottish supporters in Miami, with no Scotland match to attend that day, simply marched to a Marlins baseball game, filled the stands, and edited their songs to support the home team. Scotland was not even playing and somehow they were the story.
This is not a coincidence. This is a culture.
The Tartan Army's warmth, humor, and genuine openness are not a World Cup performance. They are a direct export of Scottish character.
Edinburgh is one of the great European cities: a medieval Old Town stacked above a Georgian New Town, with a castle perched on volcanic rock looking over all of it. Walk the Royal Mile, climb Calton Hill at dusk, and eat and drink your way through the Grassmarket. It rewards wandering.
Then go north. The road to the Isle of Skye takes you past Stirling Castle and through the Trossachs before the landscape becomes something else entirely. Glencoe. The fairy-tale silhouette of Eilean Donan Castle reflected in a loch. And then the island itself, with the otherworldly rock formations of the Old Man of Storr and the sweeping drama of the Quiraing.
Sample itinerary — 5 days:
- Day 1: Arrive Edinburgh. Walk the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, evening in the Grassmarket
- Day 2: Holyrood Palace and Calton Hill, explore the New Town
- Day 3: Drive north through the Trossachs and Glencoe, arrive Portree on the Isle of Skye
- Day 4: Full day on Skye, Old Man of Storr, Dunvegan Castle, traditional music in Portree
- Day 5: Return via Eilean Donan Castle, Loch Ness, and Perthshire back to Edinburgh
Norwegian fans brought something to the 2026 World Cup that nobody was quite prepared for. The Viking Row.
Thousands of supporters sitting shoulder to shoulder in stadium stands, mimicking the rowing of an imaginary Viking longship. Leaning forward together. Pulling imaginary oars backward in unison. Chanting "Ro! Ro! Ro!" which means Row! Row! Row! as the tempo builds faster and faster until the whole section is moving as one.
The tradition was created by Norwegian football fan Ole Frøystad from Sunnmøre, and the symbolism is exactly what it looks like: Norwegians rowing their longships ashore to prepare for battle. Ancient, physical, communal, and completely impossible to watch without wanting to join in.
It traveled so far that it reached the Norwegian parliament, where Speaker Masud Gharahkhani led a special rowing session on the floor of the chamber in celebration. A fan chant born in the football terraces of Scandinavia, performed by lawmakers in one of Europe's oldest legislative chambers.
Norway brought something genuinely ancient to the newest World Cup. And the world paid attention.
There is a reason Norwegian fans carry themselves with such particular pride. Their country is extraordinary and they know it.
Norway is a place where the scale of nature is genuinely humbling. Fjords that stretch inland for over 200 kilometers. Glaciers that are still very much alive. Waterfalls that drop off clifftops into nothing. Roads engineered around mountains in ways that feel like they should not be possible.
The Flåmsbana railway, one of the steepest in the world, drops from a mountain station at Myrdal down through tunnels and past waterfalls into the fjord village of Flåm. The Geirangerfjord, with its famous Seven Sisters waterfall, is the kind of sight that makes every photograph feel inadequate. The Atlantic Road, voted one of the best road trip routes in the world, bridges islands and dikes at the very edge of the ocean.
Sample itinerary — 7 days:
- Day 1: Arrive Oslo, walk Karl Johans Gate, explore the waterfront
- Day 2: Panoramic train from Geilo to Myrdal, Flåmsbana to Flåm, optional Sognefjord cruise, continue to Voss
- Day 3: Drive to Bergen, guided walk through Bryggen and the fish market, funicular up Fløyen
- Day 4: Cross Sognefjord by ferry, visit Briksdal Glacier, arrive Loen
- Day 5: Geiranger cruise past the Seven Sisters, drive the Eagle Road and Troll's Road, arrive Molde
- Day 6: Drive the Atlantic Road, head south toward Oppdal
- Day 7: Return to Oslo via Lillehammer and Lake Mjøsa, afternoon city tour, depart
Japanese supporters have once again been praised for staying behind after matches to clean up the stands. The gesture, which has become synonymous with Japan's World Cup appearances, has been widely applauded as an example of respect and community spirit. The Japanese men's team also left their locker room spotless after their draw against the Netherlands.
This is not new behavior. Japan has done this at every World Cup for years. But it never stops being remarkable. In a tournament where stadiums host tens of thousands of people, the Japanese supporters quietly tidy their section before leaving. Every time. Without being asked.
It is a small gesture that tells you everything about a culture.
Japan is a country that rewards exactly the kind of attention its football fans bring to stadium stands. Everything is done with intention here. The food. The temples. The train schedules, which run so precisely that a two-minute delay generates an official apology.
Kyoto is where you feel Japan's history most completely. Thousands of vermillion torii gates climbing the mountain at Fushimi Inari. Kinkakuji's Golden Pavilion reflected in still water. Kiyomizudera perched on a wooden platform above a valley of trees.
From Kyoto, the bullet train to Hiroshima takes less than two hours and delivers you to one of the most quietly moving destinations in the world. The Peace Memorial Park is not a heavy visit. It is a deeply human one. And the short journey to Miyajima Island, where the famous floating torii gate rises from the sea at high tide, is one of the most beautiful afternoons available anywhere on earth.
Then Tokyo, which is its own thing entirely. Chaotic and calm at the same time. Ancient temple gardens next to hypermodern neighborhoods. The best food city in the world by almost any measure.
Sample itinerary — 7 days:
- Day 1: Arrive Kyoto, explore the neighborhood at your own pace
- Day 2: Full day private tour covering Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, and Nishiki market
- Day 3: Free day in Kyoto, Arashiyama bamboo grove, Gion in the evening
- Day 4: Bullet train to Hiroshima, Peace Memorial Park, ferry to Miyajima Island, overnight Hiroshima
- Day 5: Bullet train to Tokyo, afternoon arrival, first evening in Shinjuku
- Day 6: Half-day Edo tour covering Senso-ji, Imperial Palace Gardens, Tsukiji Outer Market
- Day 7: Full day at Mount Fuji fifth station and Lake Ashi cruise in Hakone, depart Tokyo
Argentina arrived at this World Cup as defending champions and they have looked every bit of it.
Lionel Messi, 37 years old and playing in what is almost certainly his final World Cup, has been in the kind of form that makes you want to put down your phone and simply watch. He scored all five of Argentina's goals in the group stage as they swept through Group J with a perfect record, winning every match and conceding nothing. They advance to the Round of 32 as one of the tournament's most commanding sides, chasing history as potential back-to-back champions.
Watching Messi at this World Cup carries a particular weight. This is the ending of something extraordinary. And Argentina's fans, who live and breathe football with a passion that genuinely has no equivalent anywhere else in the world, know it.
Argentina is the kind of country that expands your idea of what a single destination can contain.
Buenos Aires is a city of contradictions in the best possible way. European architecture laid over Latin American soul. Elegant Recoleta and its famous cemetery, where Eva Perón is buried and where the city's history feels very close. The colourful, chaotic, painted streets of La Boca, where tango was born and football is a religion. The cobblestones of San Telmo, which fills with antique markets and street performers on weekends.
Then the country opens up into something immense. Flying south to El Calafate puts you at the edge of Patagonia, one of the most dramatic landscapes on earth. The Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park is one of the few glaciers in the world that is still growing, and watching a section of its wall calve off and thunder into the turquoise water below is the kind of experience that recalibrates your sense of scale permanently.
Then north to Iguazu, where the falls at the Argentine side of the border are one of the true natural wonders of the world. Standing at the Devil's Throat, a U-shaped chasm nearly 700 meters wide with water thundering down 150 meters on every side, the mist soaking you within seconds, is genuinely overwhelming. In the best possible way.
Sample itinerary — 8 days:
- Day 1: Arrive Buenos Aires, settle into Recoleta, evening stroll through the neighborhood
- Day 2: Private half-day city tour covering La Boca, San Telmo, Palermo, Plaza de Mayo, and Puerto Madero
- Day 3: Free day in Buenos Aires, tango show in the evening, late dinner as the locals do
- Day 4: Fly to El Calafate, afternoon walk along Lago Argentino
- Day 5: Full day at Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park
- Day 6: Fly to Iguazu, afternoon in the rainforest
- Day 7: Private tour of the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls, Lower Circuit, Upper Circuit, and Devil's Throat
- Day 8: Depart from Iguazu
The World Cup reminded us this summer that the way people show up for their teams says a lot about who they are at home.
Scotland brings joy and leaves nothing behind. Norway brings ancient traditions into the present and shares them without hesitation. Japan brings the same quiet, meticulous care to a football stadium that it brings to everything it does. And Argentina reminds us that football, at its highest level, can be a form of art.
These are not just good football stories. They are invitations.
If you have been watching the World Cup and felt a pull toward any of these countries, that feeling is worth following. I would love to help you plan any of them.
Reach out whenever you are ready.
- Scotland's Tartan Army is famous worldwide for celebrating loudly and leaving places cleaner than they found them, which reflects exactly how Scots welcome visitors at home
- Norway's fjords, glaciers, and iconic mountain roads are best experienced on a multi-day itinerary that moves slowly through the country rather than rushing between cities
- Japan rewards slow and attentive travel, with Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Tokyo offering genuinely different experiences that complement each other beautifully across a single trip
- Argentina contains multitudes: Buenos Aires is a world-class cultural city, Patagonia is one of earth's last great wildernesses, and Iguazu is among the most powerful natural wonders you will ever stand before
- All four countries are best explored with a travel advisor who can build the right itinerary, handle the logistics, and make sure the experience lives up to the inspiration
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I'm Amneris, though everyone just calls me Neri. I'm a Pro Fora travel advisor and flight attendant based in Chicago with a deep love for culturally rich, food-forward travel across Europe and Latin America. I work with busy professionals and adventure seekers who want their trips to feel intentional, effortless, and genuinely memorable. From romantic escapes and solo adventures to luxury cruises and group journeys, I handle the details so you can focus on the experience.
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