I have to order my game tickets in February, and I am looking for some advice. The plan I am leaning towards now is to fly into Hamburg, stay there 4-5 days, then take a train to Cologne and stay there 4-5 days, then take the train back to Hamburg to see one more game and then fly home. Other options I have considered: just travelling in the Munich-Nurnberg-Stuttgart triangle, or staying the areas in and around Berlin and Leipzig. I will be with my wife and perhaps a yet to be conceived child. Any thoughts or advice?

Keeper,

sounds like a great schedule to me!

I visited the Euro 2004 championships this summer in Lisbon and it was a fabulous experience and atmosphere that already has me fired up for the event to come here in my city of Hamburg.

The AOL Arena stadium in Hamburg is currently most probably the second best stadium in Germany. Only the Arena Auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen might still be better as it roof can be closed completely. Apart from that, the local team HSV has created a magnificent stadium with steep aisles, wonderful blue lighting, a dense roof and great visibility from all its 55000 seats.
The Munich Allianz Arena should become pretty impressive, too, judging from its construction site, but has not yet been finished.

Given that the championships will be held in summer, I think you will enjoy Northern Germany. The calm but lovely Baltic coast is just a one hour drive away from Hamburg and is especially attractive for toddlers.
Also the islands of Sylt and Amrum in the rougher Northern Sea can easily be reached within a couple of hours (2 to 3).

I have just posted a few hints on accomodation and sights on another thread here, which I am going to complement by adding some tips for dining and nightlife.
I would refer you there for further info. Just click the link below.
Apart from that, you also might post your e-mail address and I will contact you, should you need special advice.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...amp;dirtyBit=1

Greetings
hsv

An alert re: tickets -- tba the 24th and a daunting challenge to score any (sorry, unavoidable):

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050117/1/2yq9.html

I'd love to be there for the world cup too.
My fiend Enrico and I went to Portugal by car from Sorrento(Italy) for Euro 2004, and it was a lot of fun,...and a lot of miles!!!
We hope to be able to bring our colors also for Germany 2006!
Check this for some pictures: http://www.sorrentobynight.it/eventi...portogallo.htm

I too am hoping to win the lottery and score some tickets for the 2006 World Cup. At what point in time do you plan to starting booking your hotel and air accomodations?

Ciao Francesco. Beautiful report. I'm sure you had a lot of fun.

Son is in charge of whole lottery deal. I don't think there's any point in trying to book anything until the results of the lottery come back, which looks like it's April 15 (although that doesn't sound like it's the only date, just the first "ballot&quot. You don't know whether you've got tickets to first game, last game, a couple in between, etc. and so you don't know whether you need 6 mights or 14 nights in Germany -- if any at all.

I'm wondering what we do if we only get tickets for one game and it's only the first round -- is it worth thousands of $ to travel from the US just for that? On the other hand, it sounds like selling the tickets once they've been awarded to you will be an almightly hassle.

But as soon as possible after we know, I'd imagine, depending on how far ahead airlines will let us book.

from soccr .."it sounds like selling the tickets once they've been awarded to you will be an almightly hassle." Can you expand on that a bit? (since you have such great connections )

I see you have to get written permission by the German Organizing Committee to transfer your tickets, then they have to issue new tickets. What's the turn-around time on that? We were thinking of applying for "team specific tickets" rather than "venue specific tickets". However, if we get awarded semifinal tickets for our team, and our team is out of it by then, do you know how hard it will be to get this "written permission"?

Yikes! :-\ Maybe we should just go for "venue specific" tickets and hope just to see some good soccer. Since they won't be announcing the groupings until December of '05, it will be impossible to know where your preferred team may be playing until then.

The whole process looks like an "almighty hassle". Leave it to the Germans. (says the wife of a full-blooded Bavarian) We went to several games of '94 World Cup in Southern and Northern Cal., and the Women's WC finals here last year with relative ease.

Guys and gals...it's 'football', not 'soccer'.
Only Americans play soccer, the rest of the world plays football.

Mac,

How kind of you not to add to the the middle of your sentence "and not very well...."

I read in the Scotsman.com how the British are upset that WC'06 is only accepting Mastercard or bank transfers for ticket purchases.

Imagine the dismay of European FOOTBALL fans when they realize that the only beer being served at the venues will be Budweiser! amp; Bet the authors of the "Reinheitsgebot" are spinning in their graves!

lvk,

regarding the terms of payment, I absolutely agree. In fact, the whole procedure to buy tickets is outrageously tedious. E.g. you have to name your friends/ relatives plus their respective Social Security/ Personal Identification Numbers with whom you intend to watch the game - this is one and a half year before the matches will commence! I am not even sure that I will have time and might very well want to pass on my tickets should I indeed not be able to attend!
I also find this highly questionable from a legal standpoint as I am thus prevented to proceed according to my personal preferences with tickets that I obtained property of.
Also I find it ridiculous that one has to agree that they use my personal data for cross-selling purposes and that one only can prevent them from doing that (and most likely spamming my mailbox) by sending them a written confirmation.

The good news, though, is that there was indeed an uproar in Germany about being required to drink Budweiser, a beer not in accordance with the 'Reinheitsgebot'. And in this case we people were successful! German Bitburger Brewery reached an agreement that their stuff will also be on tap in the stadiums!

hsv,

Thanks for the update. DH will be happy about the Bitburger. (Couldn't you have lobbied for Hefe-weizen? )

I'm glad we're not the only ones who think it's outrageous to have to list a name and passport number for each ticket we purchase. Maybe there will be enough outrage about that to make them loosen their rules a little bit? I agree that it is a huge infringement on personal freedom and privacy.

I still would like to know how hard it will be to transfer these tickets before I go through the ordering process. Since it's a lottery and we have until April 15, I think we'll sit tight for a little while until we get more information about the transfer procedures.

I appreciate any updates you can offer as this plays out. Right now our plan is to be in Germany for the last 2 weeks of the tournament and apply for single game tickets from the round of 16 to the finals.

Thanks again!

lvk,

listening in on the press conference of the DFB (German Football Association) representative on the organization committee, I understood that shopuld you want to transfer the tickets you would have to inform the FIFA (as hosts of the event) of this and they would agree without too much red tape involved.
I am still a bit sceptical, but I presume they will have offices available in the host cities where you would be able to achieve such transfers - at least that's how I would handle it (although I wouldn't have thought of such personalization procedures in the first place).

In any case I guess they simply won't have enough capacity to check on every spectator as to whether his ticket and passport data match, so if you're adventurous enough to run a small risk, you might still get in on somebody else's ticket (without of course implying not to pay for it).

Looking forward to having you here!
hsv

sorry, lvk, but the US did just as well in the last World Cup as England, so I don't think anyone who knows anything about football/soccer says we can't play it very well any more.

There is no way the rules will be loosened. Naming the people on the tickets is for security reasons, and the organisers are obviously making a ton of money from Mastercard, so can't see them budging. Besides, footie fans will do whatever they have to in order to see their teams.

lvk -- I doubt if I could add any further information to what has already been provided by our persistent and perspicacious colleagues. I'm guess transfer will be a little more of a hassle than seems worth it, except the tix are expensive. And I'm sure the fraudmeisters are already hard at work figuring out a Plan to somehow circumvent the transfer regs.

And may I say, please, that US male "footballers" have done at least as well as some of the stronger national teams historically, and let us NOT forget about the US women's teams!

Eventually the depth of US soccer ability will reflect the fact that since about 1980, soccer has begun at age 4 in many parts of the US.

Thanks, soccr for your response. We're going to go ahead and apply for the maximum number of games with our family's 4 passport numbers and hope for the best. We have a few friends who are doing the same. We'll worry about the transfer process if and when we actually are awarded tickets. I'll post on this thread about our experiences and any additional info. I learn during the process.

Please don't think I was denigrating US Soccer. (I'm always around Europeans who do plenty of that.) We are LA Galaxy Season ticket holders, and get tickets to many US Soccer events at Home Depot Stadium. I even took the kids to watch the US Women's team practice there.

Regarding the development of soccer players in the US, I think the main difference between us and other nations lies in the many choices of organized sports available to our kids.

We have had the good fortune of scoring some World Cup tickets: June 19 in Hamburg and June 20 in Berlin. Our plans are to fly into Hamburg on Friday, spend Saturday and Sunday sightseeing and attend the match on Monday. Then take the train to Berlin for the match on Tuesday, spend Wednesday and Thursday sightseeing then head down to Munich. I need hotel recommendations for Hamburg and Berlin that are convenient to the venues and rail stations. HSV, your Hamburg posts have been helpful. We are trying to narrow the field down to "4" star properties. We also may have Hilton and/or Marriott points available to spend. Thanks, Stephanie

ragdoll,

thanks for the compliment.

If you have Marriott points, there is a rather nice Marriott in downtown Hamburg. As I am living in the city, I obviously have not stayed in their rooms, but I go there on a regular basis for an early pre-theater dinner. Service has always been efficient, friendly and not to the least extent high-browed. In Germany this might actually cater to a 5* clientele, but for American standards, 4* would fit the bill.
The place is absolutely centrally located on Gaensemarkt square right amid upscale shopping opportunities and just three minutes from the Inner Alster Lake.
It is only two bus stops from Dammtor station from where you would easily get to the stadium. Just hope they do not have any black out dates for using points during the World Cup!

Another alternative might be the Hotel Elysee. It is a privately owned 5* place (again 4* American, very "Marriottish&quot of Germany's steak house king Eugen Block, a resident of the city.
It is located in an upscale residential neighbourhood, just a five minute stroll from the Outer Alster Lake and just steps from Dammtor Station (see above).
It is extremely popular with people looking for relaxed luxury. I have sort of neutral feelings about it, but it in fact is pretty good.
Currently they are expanding with a new wing to be called Grand Eysee and even a bit more luxurious.

There is no Hilton Hotel in Hamburg.

But the Park Hyatt might also be an option. It is located only steps from Central Station, which is a bit farther from the stadium (but only one stop or about three minutes further from Dammtor Station). The Park Hyatt might actually be more of a 5* than the other two and usually is a bit more expensive.

In general, I believe you'd be better off staying in downtown - as you should be more centrally located for sightseeing. The stadium is not exactly centrally located, being situated in the "Volkspark" park, about 15 minutes by train from downtown and Dammtor Station.

Should I have any further ideas, I shall post here!

hsv

P.S.: Here are a few links to webpages of the hotels mentioned:

Marriott:
http://marriott.com/property/propert...rshaCode=HAMDT

Elysee:
http://www.elysee.de/upload/images/C...r/img_home.jpg

Park Hyatt:
http://hamburg.park.hyatt.com/

Help! Are all hotels in Germany sold out for World Cup already? I have tried to book accomodations in Hamburg for June 18-20 and everything I've tried is sold out. Anyone have a suggestion on how to go about securing accomodations? I have been told that either 1) they are really sold out, or 2) the hotels haven't determined the number of rooms that they will offer to the general public so they haven't made anything available yet.