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Germany during World Cup



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 14th, 2005, 01:09 AM
Alan S
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Default Germany during World Cup

Hi All

I'm planning a rtw trip for next year and just realised that
my projected timing in Germany coincides with much of the
period of the Soccer World Cup. The Cup is scheduled to run
from 9th June to 9th July, with matches in:

Berlin
Cologne
Dortmund
Frankfurt
Gelsenkirchen
Hamburg
Hanover
Kaiserslautern
Leipzig
Munich
Nuremberg
Stuttgart

Is anyone able to comment on the likelihood of accommodation
or other difficulties in Germany during this period? Has
anyone experience from previous periods in countries when
the World Cup was occurring?

I was intending to travel by car, using un-booked small
hotels and "zimmer frei" as I went. I did this successfully
last time, but I'm a little worried about availability and
prices during the cup.

Of course - if Australia make the cut - the difficulty may
turn into a benefit:-)


Cheers, Alan, Australia
  #2  
Old June 14th, 2005, 01:47 AM
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"Has anyone experience from previous periods in countries when the
World Cup was occurring?"

I was in New York for US '94, Paris for France '98, and Tokyo for
Japan/Korea '02. In those major cities at least, there were no
problems at all finding accomodations, and airlines added extra flights
between game cities to accomodate soccer fans, which avoided strain on
the transport system. Friends who travelled to other game cities had
no problem at all.

While the major German cities should be okay, small tourist towns near
those major cities may become very crowded during the World Cup, and if
you plan on going somewhere like Rothenburg, you should reserve a hotel
as far in advance as possible.

  #3  
Old June 14th, 2005, 07:22 AM
george
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Alan S wrote:
Is anyone able to comment on the likelihood of accommodation
or other difficulties in Germany during this period?

My wife just read yesterday in the Stuttgart newspaper that they will
have live music on the Schlossplatz every night for a month during the
World Cup, it will do wonders for our sleep. So you can see that they
are expecting large numbers of tourists at this time. I think that
getting a room near one of the host cities will be severely affected
for a couple of weeks before and after this time. Unfortunately for
you, most of these visitors besides being football fans are also going
to be traditional tourists, so that major tourist attractions and
facilities are likely to be crowded.

However, I don't believe that things will be too bad because most
tourists have little knowledge about the country that they are visiting
and mainly just visit to see a few attractions, whether they merit it
or not. Therefore, places like Neuschwanstein and Rothenburg ob der
Tauber will probably be jam packed. Other tourist-worthy places hardly
get visited at all, so just go somewhat off the beaten path. A place
like Oberschwaben has many delightful churches, villages, towns and
monasteries, none of which you have likely heard of. Most tourists to
this area would only visit the Bodense (Lake of Constance), so there
are large areas of the country that are enjoyable for tourists that few
ever visit, and accomodations should be easy and inexpensive.

My daughter from London attended my church wedding a few years ago in
Biberach an der Riss. It is a pleasant small town in Upper Swabia. My
daughter said that she and her husband would like to return some other
time for a few days' vacation. I asked her if she wouldn't prefer
going to the nearby Bodensee, but she liked the atmosphere and sights
of this small town, and probably its lack of tourists. It's nice to
discover things on your own and not be tripping over other tourists
every few feet.

There's plenty to see and do all over Germany outside the "main"
tourist areas. Just drive around in these "remote" areas and discover
the pleasures of real German travel.

George

  #4  
Old June 14th, 2005, 08:57 AM
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It depends on the draw and where the host team Germany and other
well-supported teams such as England, France, Italy, Brasil, Argentina
etc. are going to be based. I don't think we know this yet.

Bruce

  #6  
Old June 14th, 2005, 10:46 AM
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I don't know. But the Germans have been typically efficient and
completed all their stadium rebuilding and refurbishments 12 months
before the finals.
I'm sure public transport and policing will be fine. But at the moment,
I don't know how they are going to sell the tickets. Probably a mix of
on-line and local ticket offices.

Bruce

  #7  
Old June 14th, 2005, 12:00 PM
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"Could be chaotic. According to the web-site no team will play in the
same venue twice until they reach the finals."

Some past World Cups would give each of the top teams a home city and
let them play their first few games there. (When Italy hosted the
World Cup, they put the English team on Sardinia.) But many people
felt it gave those teams too much of an advantage when other teams were
forced to travel all of the time.

  #8  
Old June 14th, 2005, 12:22 PM
Claim Guy
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wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't know. But the Germans have been typically efficient and
completed all their stadium rebuilding and refurbishments 12 months
before the finals.
I'm sure public transport and policing will be fine. But at the moment,
I don't know how they are going to sell the tickets. Probably a mix of
on-line and local ticket offices.



You are a tad late on that one, Bruce. German efficiency rules again on
ticket sales.

Most tickets have already been sold, through online lottery.

There will be a few more sessions where people have a chance to pick up
leftover "team tickets" (ticket packages offered if you want to follow all
the games of your favourite team - most of those sold out for all of the big
soccer countries, and those who won a lottery but didn't pay, or national
associations who turn back tickets).

I managed to get in for a game in Nuremberg.



  #9  
Old June 14th, 2005, 01:15 PM
Frank Hucklenbroich
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Am Tue, 14 Jun 2005 10:09:54 +1000 schrieb Alan S:

Is anyone able to comment on the likelihood of accommodation
or other difficulties in Germany during this period?


I think you will be able to book a room, *but* you will have to pay a high
price for it. Expect prices to be jacked up high during the world-cup, as
they are expecting lots of visitors. They are already starting the
marketing, and new hotels are being built to accomodate visitors. I'm
afraid they can ask just any price in that period. Look how much they
charge for the tickets (and only about 10% of the Germans who did want a
ticket did get one).

I was intending to travel by car, using un-booked small
hotels and "zimmer frei" as I went.


If you stay in rural areas that would still be an option. But in the big
cities you will find it difficult to get an affordable room (as its not
only the fans visiting, but also journalists and so on)!

So, I would stay away from the big cities and look for some room a bit
further afield.

Regards,

Frank (Cologne)
  #10  
Old June 14th, 2005, 02:51 PM
Lennart Petersen
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skrev i meddelandet
oups.com...
I don't know. But the Germans have been typically efficient and
completed all their stadium rebuilding and refurbishments 12 months
before the finals.
I'm sure public transport and policing will be fine. But at the moment,
I don't know how they are going to sell the tickets.

-----------
No problem as they're already sold. As I could read in a Berlinzeitung
recently there's no chance for a German to buy a ticket unless they have
contact with some of the other participating countries football unions.
There's a complicated system of either tickets directly to a game or
indirectly through an option to buy a ticket if the particular team
qualifies for 1/8,1/4 semi or finale. Those options are useless if the team
doesn't qualify and could be seen as a form of lottery.


 




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