World Cup 2006 travel related questions

This forum is intended to facilitate the exchange of travel information among soccer (football) fans around the world travelling to Germany for the 2006 World Cup of Football

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If you have a day to spend in Stuttgart, what are the must-see sights? %26quot;Day%26quot; means 08:00 - 17:00.

(I have tickets to a game in the evening on June 13th but want to make full use of my entire day in Stuttgart.) Any recommendation would be much appreciated!

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fifawm2006.stuttgart.de/index_fifa_ENG.htm

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Abalada,

Thanks for the link...However, what would be your personal recommendation? Give me your top 3 sights!

Sorry. I find it better to hear from actual people. Thanks again! or should I say %26quot;Danke%26quot;! :-)

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What I personally would visit in Stuttgart are the Schlossplatz, the Markthalle with the wonderful sights and smells of top quality food from around the world, the Staatsgallerie art museum, Wilhelma combination zoo-botanical gardens with its nice Moorish architecture, the Mercedes Benz museum (new museum opening in spring), and if interested in Porsches, their museum. A city tour through the tourist office (either walking or by bus) wouldn%26#39;t be bad either.

If you want to visit outside of Stuttgart using the local transportation network (S-bahn), the palace (Swabian Versailles) at Ludwigsburg and the old town part of Esslingen are excellent.

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Marcopolko,

Thanks for your response. How far are %26quot;the palace (Swabian Versailles) at Ludwigsburg and the old town part of Esslingen%26quot; by S-bahn? Can they be done in 4-5 hours? My hotel is at %26quot;Augsburger Str. 671-673%26quot; - I have no idea if it is a convenient location to get around Stuttgart or not? I%26#39;m so excited, we%26#39;ll find out on Friday who%26#39;s playing who on June 13 in Stuttgart...

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%26quot;Augsburger Str. 671-673%26quot;

This is close to the Obertürkheim station on the S-Bahn line S1.

http://www.vvs.de/download/71.pdf

Just 2 stops from Esslingen and 2 stops from Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion station.

esslingen-tourist.de/english/Sehenswert.htm

My top 3 for Stuttgart are

- Museum am Löwentor

naturkundemuseum-bw.de/stuttgart/index.html

Natural Science Museum (fossils, dinosaur)

Interesting. But esp. impressive the huge local content, i.e. from Stuttgart and surroundings.

- Wilhelma

Zoo and botanical garden.

http://www.wilhelma.de/

- Das LEUZE

www.stuttgart.de/baeder/kbb.php…

Nice combination of a mineral spa and fun bath. Stuttgart has the 2nd biggest mineral springs in Europe.

All 3 are next to each other.

The new Mercedes-Benz Museum which opens in May 2006 is next to the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadtion. And as more football fans are into cars than into fossils, animals/botanics, spas or old towns - I guess it will be very crowded there.

Try to make up an itinerary where you can reach the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium from the Obertürkheim/Esslingen side. The trains from Stuttgart centre will be much more growded as 90% will reach the stadium from this side.

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First, abalada mentioned the paleontological museum, which is excellent, and which I enjoy being a geologist. The only problem there is I don%26#39;t believe there are any signs in English if that would be a problem, but the local fossils themselves are great coming from world-famous rocks close to Stuttgart.

As abalada also mentioned, your hotel is in or near the fairly remote Obertuerkheim part of Stuttgart near the Daimler Chrysler plant. Unfortunately, you%26#39;ll be only near one S-bahn line (S-1) (trains every half hour, every 15 minutes at rush hour) and no U-bahns. Esslingen will only be a few stops at most in the direction away from Stuttgart. The simplest way to get to Ludwigsburg is to just take the S-1 to the Hauptbahnhof, and there catch the S-4 or S-5 to Ludwigsburg. The palace is at least a kilometer from the Ludwigsburg train station. An alternative for returning is to walk through the park containing a deer herd and the small palace %26quot;Favorite%26quot; and the other small palace on the water %26quot;Mons Repo%26quot; (spelling?) and then return to Stuttgart on the S-4 at the Favoritepark S-bahn station.

In your 4-5 hours you could easily see the old part of Esslingen, but for the same time frame you might have to cut your Ludwigsburg visit slightly short. There you can visit the rooms that have public access on a tour, and also visit the four museums (the porcellan museum is nice) contained within it. They also still manufacture Ludwigsburg porcellan there. The gardens also have a section depicting children%26#39;s fairy tales.

Near your hotel is a wine museum in Uhlback amid the vineyards, and also the hilltop grave chapel (with excellent views) of one of Wuerttemberg%26#39;s rulers which he built for his wife, a daughter of the Russian Czar, on the site of the family%26#39;s former castle. Both are accessible by bus.

The problem is that you have far too little time. You can easily spend an interresting week or two in and around Stuttgart.

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Many thanks to all for your tips on Stuttgart. One question: what would be a good place to hang out in Stuttgart after a soccer game? (We%26#39;re NOT into wild, rowdy party scenes. We are a Canadian couple in our 30s looking for a fun and safe place for a drink, people watching etc. after the game).

I really look forward for our first visit to your wonderful city of Stuttgart and the country of Germany.

I%26#39;m glad we%26#39;ll get to see France vs. Switzerland on June 13th. This is a lot better than a Mexico-Iran match-up!!

Other cities I will be visiting next summer are Dortmund (2 days) and Munich (4 days). Any travel tips on those cities would be appreciated too.

Best regards.

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For the Swiss and French fans Stuttgart is of course the best location as it is really close to both countries. Less than 2 hours from their borders.

And the Stuttgart conurbation is with 2,65 mio. inhabitants the 3rd biggest in Germany.

Short: it will be very very crowded

…stuttgart.de/ENG/events/public-viewing.htm

Many fans will head from the stadium back to the inner city. The stadium is between the Wasen festgrounds (for the Stuttgart %26quot;Oktoberfest%26quot;, but at other times used for parking), the Mercedes-Benz factory and a residential area. So no reason to stay after the match near the stadium.

I don%26#39;t think that it will work to give any tips from %26quot;normal%26quot; experience. We don%26#39;t know if a place will be open at all at these days or what special program they will offer on these days. And if you have any chance to get in at all. E.g. if the place is already occupied by fans without tickets.

I guess the Stuttgarters will transfer the Königsstrasse and Schlossplatz in one big bar and party mile.

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I%26#39;m trying to find some accommodation near Kaiserslautern during the World Cup, but there seems to be very few hotels there. Can anyone help?

Cologne

Hi, can anyone tell me about worth to see places close to Cologne? maybe Luxemburg, Belgium or inside Germany,considering traveling costs.

Thanks

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Düsseldorf

http://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/

Bonn

bonn.de/tourismus_kultur_sport_freizeit/…

esp. the house of history (free entrance)

http://www.hdg.de/indexeng.html

Brühl Castle

bruehl.de/stadt_bruehl/…schloss_aug_uk.htm

http://www.schloss-bruehl.de *)

Middle Rhine Valley *)

http://www.talderloreley.de/index.en.php

http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/

Aachen (cathedral *))

aachen.de/EN/…index.html

Rout of Industrial Heritage (Zollverein pit *))

route-industriekultur.de/steuer/…menue_e.htm

*) UNESCO world heritage sites

Chritmas Markets in Hamburg

We are arriving in Hamburg this Friday - where are the best Christmas Markets? Thanks

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This link should give you some information if nobody gets back to you about it:

hamburg-tourism.de/…

If you have time for day trips, try visiting either Lubeck or Bremen. Both are beautiful towns. Bremen has a great Christmas market.

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Are you flying by accident with Ryanair to Lübeck (not Hamburg)?

The Altstadt (old town) is an UNESCO world heritage site and the Christmas market there has a long tradition.

http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/

Christmas Markets

luebeck-tourismus.de/weihnachten/index.html

Ice World

www.iceworld.de/index.php…

plz help world cup iterinary

hello

i am a journalist travelling to germany for the world cup.....my schedule is

5 June - 10 June - Munich

10 June - 23 June - Frankfurt

23 June - 6 July - Munich

6 July - 10 July - Berlin

I have picked out some hotels....i wish to stay in the city and be close to the underground railways system so that i can reach the venues without any hassale

selcted hotels

Munich

Griesers Hotel zur Post

Schrobenhausen

Frankfurt

Alter Vater Rhein

Nierstein

Berlin

Brandenburger Hof

Neuruppin

Can anybody help me please and let me know whether these hotels are in the citiy and close to underground stations

thanks

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As far as I know all these hotels are really far outr of town.

For Schrobenhausen it%26#39;s about 60km away fron the town center of Munich with a really bad public transport Link to Munich. The railway line serving Schrobenhausen is only hour- to two hourly and needs changing at Ingolstadt or Augsburg whats far away of beeing the direct way. The Bus linking Schrobenhausen to the S-Bahn network at Petershausen Station only opeates in peak hours.

For Berin it%26#39;s the same. Neuruppin is in Brandenburg and will reqire a more than one hour long train ride to Berlin city center.

I can only guess for Nierstein, but I know there are a lot of wineyards. So I think it%26#39;s also quiute far away from frankfurt city center.

you can check with www.viamichelin.com. Without giving streets or ZIP-Codes the city center will be selected.

MAybe you should spend a little more money and stay closer to the city or at least within the S-Bahn-networks.

Philipp

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thanks a lot phillip....u have been really helpful

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Hi Soccermad

If you want to be in the city next to the underground then I would recommend that you book with the Intercity group of hotels.

The hotels are always next to the ICE railway station, therefore, straight onto the S or U bahn and with the room rate you get a ticket for free use of all public transport during your stay.

They are of a very high standard for a 3 star and are in the cities which you mention above.

http://www.intercityhotel.de

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DB (German Rail) timetable

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e

The DB timetable knows about ALL public transport in Germany. It can give you connections between 400.000 stops and knows also about 42 million addresses in Germany. You can search for addresses if you switch to the %26quot;Advanced Search%26quot; folder.

There is a special DB offer for the World Cup 2006

Weltmeister-Pass

A rail pass valid from 7. June to 11. July 2006 and covering all DB trains *).

2nd class EUR 349,-

1st class EUR 549,-

Available from 11. December 2005 at the DB counters/agents or online.

With such a ticket you could stay in further away cities, but with a better connection, e.g. by ICE high speed trains. For example Augsburg for Munich.

Travel time depends more on the offered means of transport than just the distance.

You can check this for each case with the DB timetable.

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Hotels in Münich that are within walking distance of the main train station [Hauptbahnhof] and the DB/S-Bahn trains would be:

Hotel Kings Center or Hotel Kings First Class are 2 blocks north. http://www.kingshotels.com/

Hotel Excelsior is 2 blocks east. http://www.excelsior-muenchen.de/

Hotel Europäischer Hof is across the street south of the station. We usually stay here in a business class room, which have a separate desk, couch, and TV room. The buffet breakfast is excellent. http://www.heh.de/e/default.htm

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thanks guys....i will try them out...as far as travelling is concerned i hear that all the accredited journalists will be allowed to travel free on the german railway system...that will be a great help...thanks again guys

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Hey guys i chkd out the hotels that u had mentioned.....they are way too expensive....i was looking at something under 100 euros...do u have something in mind...plz let me kno...Thanks again

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I don%26#39;t think you will find something under 100€ during world-cup. But you could try to find some private rooms. I%26#39;ll check on the web this evening.

Philipp

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thanks phillip....finding hotels is a nightmare.....everything seems to be totally booked and those who are not are frightfully expensive...thanks for ur help

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Check www.hrs.de

I entered your Dates and got quite a big list of hotels from 75€ to 100€.

If I was you I%26#39;d skip the idea of finding a well located hotel around 50€. This is difficult without the Worldcup, but completely impossible during the Worldcup.

I can recommend more or less:

- Stadt Pasing Garni: A litttle bit at the edge of town, but good bus link (2 lines with 10 mn intervalls) to Pasing station which is served of 4 S-Bahn lines and a lot of long-distance and regional trains.

- Edelweiss Parkhotel: Might be a little bit noisy, but good link to the city center by tramway (every 10mn)

- Petri Garni: Close to where I live. Underground 5mn away, from there 10 mn to the city center (U5 %26quot;Laimer Platz%26quot;)

Hope this helps.

You could also try www.hotel.de

Philipp

Cologne airport to cologne centre

could anyone tell me exactly how to get by train from cologne airport to the train/tram? stop called rudolfplatz in cologne

thanks

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I don%26#39;t know exactly where you want to go but i was in cologne 6 years ago and you can take a bus from outside the airport to the centre very easily - you pay on the bus. You can then walk/take taxi to your destination. The bus runs frequently.

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No bus any more - the airport ahs a rail link. You have to take S-Bahn to the main station and then Stadtbahn (tram/subway) No. 16 or 18 to Rudolfplatz

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I am going tomorrow morning for the weekend with my family. I%26#39;m afraid I took the easy, more comfortable and stress free way out and booked a return transfer from the airport to the our Hotel which is opposite the Rudofplatz. I did so so www.octopustravel-a minbus to meet us at the airport and will take us back from the Hotel. Total paid was £131.00 for the return. You can, of course, book one-way.

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Single ticket from the airport to Rudolfsplatz or anywhere else in Cologne is EUR 2,10.

A mini group (up to 5 persons) day ticket is EUR 8,50.

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Sorry to say that but I hardly ever saw money less well spent. But it%26#39;s yours to spend (or throw away) of course...

If you can revert it just take a train to the main station and a taxi from ther. It wills till cost you about 1/10 of what you just mentioned AND it will be faster.

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Holy Moly! 131 sterling, and I suppose that does not include gratuities?! Why not just walk up to the cab rank and get the first cab in the queue, that%26#39;s most likely to be significantly cheaper.

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Went for the Cologne Carnival this year and took a cab which cost about 14GBP one way.

Going again next February and staying near the Cathederal and therefore will be taking the train and walking.

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I am travelling to Cologne next week. I am staying at the Leonet hotel also near Rudolfplatz. I am happy about using the S Bahn from the airport to the centre but how did you get to Rudolfplatz. Do you recommend subway or taxi?

have you any other useful tips for three females wanting to see as much as possible in two days, Cathedral and Xmas markets already top of list.

Thanks

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If there are 3 of you then best to get a taxi from the train station - should be no more than 8 Euros. Leonet is about 500 yards from nearest tram stop at Rudolfplatz, and not the easiest place to find. You can get a decent city map from the hotel - including ones with Xmas markets on, and they are all easily walkable distance. (Medieval Xmas market is good - by the chocolate museum on the rhine).

Things to do apart from Xmas markets %26amp; shops.

1. Ice skating at Heumarkt Xmas market.

2. Visit Aachen - cosier feel than Cologne %26amp; nice Xmas market . (50 mins each way by train).

3. Go to pubs/jazz music in Altstadt near the Rhine - though it gets a bit boisterous Fri/Sat nights. Area around Rudolfplatz is still quite lively, but fewer singing drunks pushing each other around.

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Taxi will be more than 8 Euro.

Purrfecttune gave above a quote of GBP 14 (~ EUR 20) and I think this is more realistic.

The train uses the shortest route with the Hohenzollern bridge. But this is only a train and pedestrian bridge. A taxi has to go a less direct route.

Laundromats

Where can I find a laundromat in Heidelberg, Germany to do the washing of my clothes?

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Waschtrommel Monika Colley Waschsalon

Rohrbacher Str. 10, 69115 Heidelberg

Wojtalla Nicole M. Waschsalon

Kettengasse 17, 69117 Heidelberg

city map

http://ww2.heidelberg.de/stadtplan

click on %26quot;Adresse%26quot; and type in %26quot;Strasse%26quot; (street) and %26quot;Hausnummer%26quot; (house number)

Taking the train into Frieburg.

My daughter and I will be traveling via train to Frieburg in March for two days. Is this a good place to be based for a couple of days to %26quot;see%26quot; the Black Forest? We also like to ride horses. Are there other sites that can be reached without a car that are %26quot;must sees%26quot;. We are coming from Vienna and will then travel to Berlin.

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Freiburg is a good place to see the Black Forest.

You might visit Colmar in France (German boarder,1 hour from Freiburg) which is a very beautiful historic wine town . There is a bus (1076) from Freiburg to Colmar .

http://www.ot-colmar.fr