As Germany is centrally located in Europe, supporters have a varied
choice of ways to get to the tournament.
Air Travel
Germany have some of the best flight connections in the world with access to
all parts of the globe. All the world cup cities are served by airports so
depending on your starting point, you should be able to fly straight to the
football. The national airline,
Lufthansa, have a
very good network of international and domestic routes. If you are flying
from within Europe, there are a number of low-cost airlines that have routes
to various cities in Germany.
Rail Travel
It's central location in Europe means that Germany is well connected with
other countries by high speed rail links. If you don't mind longer journeys,
train travel has a lot of advantages over flying. Depending how long you
plan to stay in Germany and how much travelling you intend to do, it may be
worth considering travel passes which offer huge reductions on regular
prices. Quite often, further reductions are available for travellers under
the age of 26. The Rail Europe
website gives
plenty of information about various rail passes that are available both in
Germany and travelling to Germany by train
Road Travel
Getting to Germany by road
is incredibly simple. Just plan your route and drive on over. Assuming the
don't put up border controls again (see Border Control section), you'll
barely notice driving from one Schengen country (eg Holland) into Germany. A
couple of useful links for planning your drive to Germany can be found here:
Sea Travel
The ports of northern Germany provide access by sea to the Sweden, Denmark
and Finland. Pre-booking is required and cabins are recommended for longer
journeys. 3 levels of cabin are
offered. More details can be found on their
website and online booking is available. Summer 2006 prices are not
available at present.
NOTE: DFDS have announced that they are no longer going to operate the
Harwich - Cuxhaven route.
The Baltic Sea ports of
Germany offer a number of routes to Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The shorter
routes such as Rodeby - Puttgarten don't require pre-booking as ferries run
frequently. For information on all other routes by ferry in and from
Germany, have a look at the aferry.to website.
Border Control
Although Germany is a signatory of the Schengen agreement, we have been
informed unofficially that passport control will be in place for anyone
entering Germany from any country.. This policy was used by the Portuguese 2
years ago for the Euro 2004 finals and it is an attempt to prevent known
football hooligans entering the country during the tournament. This is still
to be officially confirmed but the implications for travellers are fairly
small. If required, you will still need to obtain a Schengen visa. The only
difference you will notice is that when arriving in Germany from another
Schengen state, you will need to go through passport control instead of just
walking through as normal.
IMPORTANT: If you are not sure if you need a visa to travel to the
World Cup, check with the German embassy in your country for details. Theirs
is the only opinion that matters. Having a match ticket does not guarantee
you entry to Germany.
