Experiences of German football trips. Any advice appreciated.

[fuchsntf]

17 hours ago, Elsie Ephsey said:

Echo the comments about Dortmund being disappointing as a city. Ground unimpressive from outside, but better once inside. Tickets will be at a premium though - you either pay the price or you don't go. Personally much more impressed with Leverkusen's ground, and wish we'd have spent longer in Dusseldorf - seemed a great City.

Go inside, BvB stadium, before a game. Go into any local Bar,on matchday...

Then go into the Alt-stadt.... Bars open well into the morning..music easy found

Dortmund Brauerei-museum...

the bars. Ex-miners haunts some of the oldest and strongest on tap. 

Ok I know Dortmund so it's easier...

Dusseldorf,is also a great place, to visit...

 

But Signal iduna Park buzzes on matchday...rather quiet on other days.

I and my son were allowed in a bit earlier on more occasions..but I was using crutches..so they were more forthcoming...

We shown them our tickets,and told us, they would let us in/out of the ground upto 20-30 minutes before ko.

We used to go around a couple of local bars, beforehand,then the bvb stadium bar.

the atmosphere in the stadium when empty is still there...but like many stadIums it's knowing and understanding the history,the

Marked areas for the fans...Dortmund it's the "Gelbewand."...and behind or under the stadium on matchdays..

 

The old town and some neighbourhoods drinking haunts are 2nd to none

 

[SemperEadem]

Long weekend in Hamburg this weekend watching Bochum play HSV.

[Voll Blau]

On 30/09/2018 at 12:00, boots60 said:

Flying out for 3 nights to Dusseldorf on 19th October taking in Bayer Leverkusen v Hannover on the Saturday & Monchengladbach v Mainz on Sunday.

Any advice on German travel, bars, match experiences, places to seek out & places to avoid etc gratefully appreciated. Thanks.

 

On 30/09/2018 at 12:18, lfu said:

I'll be in Germany that weekend too (Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern) by coincidence, advice would also be appreciated here

 

How were your weekends lads?

[boots60]

4 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

 

 

How were your weekends lads?

Great thanks Voll Blau. 

The 2-2 draw at Leverkusen was good. A game littered with mistakes, was very much championship standard. This was a warm up for the main event (for me) on Sunday, a 4-0 win for Monchengladbach who looked world beaters.

The main attraction however, as I'm sure many on this board already know, was the passionate & welcoming supporters of the German clubs. Boy, do they take their football seriously but in a most friendly way.

We stayed out to the small hours all 3 nights with the highlight being the MaNaMaNa bar in Monchengladbach where all staff & fans were terrific. If I've learned anything from this weekend it is Don't try to out drink the Germans, impossible!!! Looking forward to my next trip, probably nearer to the end of the season when hope to tick off a couple of new stadiums & Cities. Any recommendations welcome.

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, boots60 said:

Great thanks Voll Blau. 

The 2-2 draw at Leverkusen was good. A game littered with mistakes, was very much championship standard. This was a warm up for the main event (for me) on Sunday, a 4-0 win for Monchengladbach who looked world beaters.

The main attraction however, as I'm sure many on this board already know, was the passionate & welcoming supporters of the German clubs. Boy, do they take their football seriously but in a most friendly way.

We stayed out to the small hours all 3 nights with the highlight being the MaNaMaNa bar in Monchengladbach where all staff & fans were terrific. If I've learned anything from this weekend it is Don't try to out drink the Germans, impossible!!! Looking forward to my next trip, probably nearer to the end of the season when hope to tick off a couple of new stadiums & Cities. Any recommendations welcome.

Glad to hear it.

 

Basing yourself in the Rhein/Ruhr area gives you a good chance of getting at least two or three games in over the course of a weekend at different levels, as plenty of teams are accessible within a couple of hours train ride (as is Holland if you fancy a game over the border). I know me and others bang on about them, but Bochum is a good place to base yourself because, as well as them, you've got Schalke and Dortmund in really close proximity, along with the likes of Essen, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Krefeld, Wuppertal etc within easy reach, and you're more likely than not going to be able to find two games in the area on separate days (even if you have to go a bit further afield to Koln or the two places you've just visited). Hotels tend to be cheap in Bochum and I'd be happy to put you in touch with some of the guys I know over there.

 

Other areas of Germany are less concentrated in terms of the number of clubs in the top two/three divisions within easy reach, but them having a better public transport network than here tends to make things more accessible further afield anyway so you can afford to be ambitious over the course of a weekend if you know what you're doing (we managed Kaiserslautern, Duisburg and Bochum games over the course of a weekend once). I really like Berlin as a city, though I've never been for football, but I'm sure @baker11 could fill you in a bit more on visiting a Union Berlin game.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

1 hour ago, boots60 said:

Great thanks Voll Blau. 

The 2-2 draw at Leverkusen was good. A game littered with mistakes, was very much championship standard. This was a warm up for the main event (for me) on Sunday, a 4-0 win for Monchengladbach who looked world beaters.

The main attraction however, as I'm sure many on this board already know, was the passionate & welcoming supporters of the German clubs. Boy, do they take their football seriously but in a most friendly way.

We stayed out to the small hours all 3 nights with the highlight being the MaNaMaNa bar in Monchengladbach where all staff & fans were terrific. If I've learned anything from this weekend it is Don't try to out drink the Germans, impossible!!! Looking forward to my next trip, probably nearer to the end of the season when hope to tick off a couple of new stadiums & Cities. Any recommendations welcome.

Weren't you at Leverkusen at the weekend @Dan LCFC ? 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

9 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

I really like Berlin as a city, though I've never been for football, but I'm sure @baker11 could fill you in a bit more on visiting a Union Berlin game.

Union was wicked, but I have no idea how we got out there or back, we just followed the Bochumers onto whatever train they told us to get on  

[Dan LCFC]

11 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Weren't you at Leverkusen at the weekend @Dan LCFC ? 

I was indeed. Thought it wasn't quite as good as Frankfurt atmosphere wise but a great experience all the same and a nice reminder of why I do instinctively defend the Bundesliga. Thought the game was entertaining, if not the highest quality. Hannover's away end was exceptional, for their numbers (800 or so my guess) they were superb.

 

Schalke was my plan A, Gladbach my plan B and Leverkusen my plan C. Would've done another game if I'd had a bit more time although I was ultimately on a work trip, albeit I did have most of the Saturday free.

 

I'm back in the area next month to make my Bochum debut.

Edited 24 October 2018 by Dan LCFC

[fuchsntf]

On 23/10/2018 at 14:26, boots60 said:

Great thanks Voll Blau. 

The 2-2 draw at Leverkusen was good. A game littered with mistakes, was very much championship standard. This was a warm up for the main event (for me) on Sunday, a 4-0 win for Monchengladbach who looked world beaters.

The main attraction however, as I'm sure many on this board already know, was the passionate & welcoming supporters of the German clubs. Boy, do they take their football seriously but in a most friendly way.

We stayed out to the small hours all 3 nights with the highlight being the MaNaMaNa bar in Monchengladbach where all staff & fans were terrific. If I've learned anything from this weekend it is Don't try to out drink the Germans, impossible!!! Looking forward to my next trip, probably nearer to the end of the season when hope to tick off a couple of new stadiums & Cities. Any recommendations welcome.

No...it's quite easy!!!

I did,I do...Even with medication!!

Around the World,there are quite a few beer hardened dens,nobody own the rights!!!