seanqc

so my brother and two of his friends are gonna be going to Germany from June 7th till the 30th, right in the middle of the world cup, they've booked their flights to Frankfurt but have yet to look at accomodations. Real quick the other night, I tried to find vancant rooms in Berlin through www.hostels.com and www.hihostels.com and found nothing. so now they're a lil' worried.

I told them long time ago that Germany was gonna be full during the world cup, but this is a once in a life time kinda of thing, so they didnt' care. they figure they'll just sleep outside in a tent or something.

anybody here have any advice for them ? are all hotel/hostel rooms allready booked up ? will they be ok sleeping outdoors in parks or trainstations, possibly with a tent ?

they're all 18-19 and 2 of them speak some german

thanks

sean

LostFarmboy

Man, there wont be anything available in Germany while the world cup is on, and even if they did find something with vacancies they would be charged an absolute fortune. However, at these things there is usually a few people at the train station offering spare rooms in their flats or houses, they'll pay too much for them if they do happen to come across someone like this, but it is a roof over their head. Camping grounds might be a goer, i'd say they'd be pretty full up too though, but they'd be a heap of fun if you could get in. What cities do they plan on staying in? Maybe if they went to more off the beaten track places they might have some luck funding accomodation.

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seanqc

so far, they've talked about frankfurt, blackforest, munich, dresden, berlin, hamburg, then couple days in amsterdam... so basically they want to go to most of the cities that should be avoided,

what about sleeping in a park ? do they tolerate this in germany ? they probably wont be the only ones without a place to stay, so it won't be that dangerous...

Somnambulation

You can probably camp in Berlins big "tiergarten" in the middle of the city. Its pretty forested and you can probably find a pretty good spot. I was taking a nap there one day and it started to rain heavily, but I was able to find shelter easily under the trees and stayed completely dry. If Germany is overlooking its anti prostitution laws and letting hookers set up shop, Im sure they wont mind people sleeping in the park.

tumblezweedz

I haven't heard anything about camping in public places during the Cup, but the German news is all abuzz with news about the anti-hooliganism tactics, so the police might be a bit heavy handed with groups of drunken lads in parks and what not... I'd try mighty hard to get into an official campsite if at all possible, even quite a ways out of the city if necessary - the trains run til all hours so it's easy to get in and out.

Are they only planning on hitting the games, or do they actually want to see stuff in town. If the games are the focus, then an out of the way campground would be no big deal, but if they're keen on seeing the sights, they might want something a little nearer to the city - say in one of the suburban areas.

freakypete

yeah i agree, a proper campsite would definitely be recommended. I doubt the police willl let people camp in places like the tiergarten in Berlin.

someone also mentioned sleeping in train stations...i dont know how it will work during the world cup, but they tend to kick everyone out of the main stations at around 2/3am unless you have a valid ticket for the next day.

and no matter where they go, even if its way out of the big cities, theres still gonna be loads of people there and the atmosphere will be amazing.

I just found out that cologne will be the base for all the Brazil fans!

didnt someone post a link on here a few months ago about camping at the world cup?

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"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Pete

freakypete

http://www.worldcupcamping.de/ here it is

didnt really look at the link, so not sure if its useful or not

hope it helps

__________________
"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Pete

seanqc

they basically wanna watch the games in pubs, live the atmosphere... they allready know its impossible to get tickets now

The Sasquatch

maybe they could try talking to people on couchsurfing.com now, send a few emails back and forth, get to know each other, and maybe work out a place to stay that way, i'd say its at least worth a shot

tumblezweedz

I understand them wanting to hit the towns where the games are to take in the whole atmosphere, but there won't be a city, town or village with a pub in Germany that won't be going bonkers during the tourney. If they are unable to get accommodations in the game-cities, I'd really recommend staying in an alternate nearby. I was amazed during Fasching to discover the hidden German side that likes to dress up in costume and consume inordinate quantities of alcohol and dance in the streets until all hours. It will be wild everywhere.

They can either hang out at a local pub or if they are just dying to "be there", catch a train in to the venue for the game. But as I say, with the police (and there's been controversy over bringing in the army) on the lookout for trouble and trouble makers, camping in unauthorized places may not be taken too lightly.