football travel
Germany - World Cup 2006
| Berlin ¦ Cologne ¦ Dortmund ¦ Frankfurt ¦ Gelsenkirchen ¦ Hamburg |
| Hannover ¦ Kaiserslautern ¦ Leipzig ¦ Munich ¦ Nuremberg ¦ Stuttgart |
| German
National Tourist Board, P.O. Box 2695, London, W1A 3TN. Tel: (44) 207 317 0908 |
British
Embassy in Germany Wilhelmstrasse 70, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Tel: (49) (30) 20457-0 |
InformationPopulation: 82.5 Million |
Transport WebsitesGerman Railways |
Distances (km) between host towns
| # | Ber | Col | Dor | Fra | Gel | Ham | Han | Kai | Lei | Mun | Nur | Stu |
| Berlin | - | 578 | 491 | 543 | 516 | 288 | 284 | 654 | 199 | 585 | 434 | 632 |
| Cologne | 578 | - | 95 | 189 | 85 | 423 | 295 | 239 | 491 | 578 | 408 | 369 |
| Dortmund | 491 | 95 | - | 219 | 31 | 347 | 213 | 330 | 468 | 607 | 439 | 418 |
| Frankfurt | 543 | 189 | 219 | - | 248 | 491 | 347 | 118 | 383 | 393 | 225 | 203 |
| G'kirchen | 516 | 85 | 31 | 248 | - | 356 | 233 | 318 | 491 | 630 | 468 | 439 |
| Hamburg | 288 | 423 | 347 | 491 | 356 | - | 159 | 607 | 398 | 778 | 607 | 654 |
| Hannover | 284 | 295 | 213 | 347 | 223 | 159 | - | 462 | 261 | 630 | 597 | 510 |
| K'lautern | 654 | 239 | 330 | 118 | 318 | 607 | 462 | - | 491 | 408 | 303 | 194 |
| Leipzig | 199 | 491 | 468 | 383 | 491 | 398 | 261 | 491 | - | 423 | 274 | 473 |
| Munich | 585 | 578 | 607 | 393 | 630 | 778 | 630 | 408 | 423 | - | 169 | 230 |
| Nuremberg | 434 | 408 | 439 | 225 | 468 | 607 | 597 | 303 | 274 | 169 | - | 211 |
| Stuttgart | 632 | 369 | 418 | 203 | 439 | 654 | 510 | 194 | 473 | 230 | 211 | - |
Background
Germany is the largest country in Western Europe and was a founder member of the European Union in 1957. At the time and until 1990, the country was split in two with the Communist DDR (East Germany) in the east and the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD) in the west. Germany has one of the most successful national teams in world football history, having won the World Cup three times (1954, 1974 & 1990) and the European Championship three times (1972, 1980 & 1996). This is the second time they have hosted the World Cup, the first being in 1974.
The country is large and varied with mountains, lakes and forests but fortunately there is an excellent road and rail system to help tourists get around. The cuisine is as varied as the scenery, but above all, Germany is famous for its many different sausages as well as ample portions of roast meat and litre glasses of beer. Many Germans are fluent in English and the climate in June is usually hot and sunny so it promises to be an enjoyable tournament.
Useful Websites
| Visit Germany | The website of the German National Tourist Office. Lots of useful information on accommodation, transport, food, history, leisure, etc, & all the host towns. |
| About Germany | A guide to Germany and everything German with lots of useful & interesting information on the cities, culture & language. |
| Germany Travel | A guide to Germany with practical information for every sort of tourist. |
| Lonely Planet | The Lonely Planet's online guide to Germany. |
| ADAC | Germany's equivalent to the AA. The site has information on camping & caravaning as well as route planners & travel informamation. |
| Jugendherberge | German Youth Hostel Association. |
Drink
| German beer is famous the world over and there are thousands of different varieties to sample. Some of the most well-known are Löwenbräu, Erdinger, and Becks. All dedicated beer lovers should make the pilgrimage to the annual Munich Beer Festival - the Oktoberfest - at least once in their lifetime. |
Host Cities
BerlinPopulation: 4 million |
Cologne (Köln)Population: 1 million |
DortmundPopulation: 600,000 |
FrankfurtPopulation: 650,000 |
GelsenkirchenPopulation: 270,000 |
HamburgPopulation: 1.75 million |
Hanover (Hannover)Population: 520,000 |
KaiserslauternPopulation: 100,000 |
LeipzigPopulation: 500,000 |
Munich (München)Population: 1.3 million |
Nuremberg (Nürnberg)Population: 500,000 |
StuttgartPopulation: 600,000 |
