Travelling to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup is a dream come true for countless people.

But there is a cheap way for Irish people to attend the month-long tournament without emptying their pockets.

While we shudder under high winds, rain and snow, Stephen Garland of HostCityBooking.com joined us on the line from a tropical paradise in Brazil's North East.

"There's a way to dance around the expenses. There are 64 games in the World Cup but only seven of them are actually in Rio. But the whole world wants to go to Rio. This is causing massive bottlenecks," said Garland who thinks the international media is bashing Brazil unfairly.

"There is a way to do things cheaply and manageable. This is the best moment. The Real (Brazilian currency) has never been weaker. You get 3.20 Real to a euro. I ate lunch today for 8.50 Real, a beautiful lunch that's about €2.50. So if you get here, the big expense is the international flight. But if you get here, there's a lot of ways that you can make it affordable," said Garland, who warns that protests are likely to be centred in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

"The hotels are expensive. Certain cities have less capacity than other cities. Natal is a city with 45,000 beds, but then you have Recife which is a much bigger city in terms of population with a tiny amount of beds. So is Fortaleza. The hotels in those cities are very expensive. If you choose your destination and how to plot your way through the World Cup, you can make it cheap."