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PLANNING YOUR TRIP
So you want to go to the next WGT, I guess there are a few things you need to think about before you go. Depending on how close it is to
the next WGT will depend on what you really need to do and how quickly you need to do it by. However a general rule would be to book
accommodation then arrange your travel details. This will ensure you have a place to stay when you get to Leipzig.
TRAVEL
The first thing to do is to sort out your accommodation. You have a number of choices you can stay in a Hotel, a Pension* (B&B), a
Hostel or you can Camp. I have no experience of camping in Leipzig, I’m far too old for that, but I know others that have camped and I
will quote from their experiences, see the page on 'Camping' for more details.
* Pensions (guest rooms) are accommodations of private landlords, particularly in tourism regions. A pension is usually a private house,
by which some rooms are rented regularly for overnight accommodation. Since pensions usually have no own kitchen, there is usually
only breakfast. They are equipped usually lower-priced than hotels and substantially more simple. Services of all kinds are reduced to
the room cleaning. Frequently at longer term (renting starting from approximately one week) one books. The prices for an overnight
accommodation move in Central Europe between 20 and 50 Euro for a room.
HOTEL OR CAMPING
If you decide to stay in a hotel then you have two things to consider before you book, location and cost, although the location will drive
the cost, central Leipzig will be the most expensive and the best place to stay. I have listed 56 Hotels on the 'Hotel Listing' page, and you
will find a map of all the hotels on the 'Maps Hotels' page.
If you decide to stay in a Hotel I advise you to book early, up to a year in advance (it’s free to reserve a room (in most cases) and you can
always cancel a week or two before the event if you can’t actually make it). The best place to book your hotel is on the Internet. The
Leipzig City website is very good and can point you in the right direction; you can also make your booking through them. Or use any
other travel website such as Expedia (although you will have to pay when you book if you use Expedia). Look to the ‘Links’ page on the
website for more information and helpful links.
My own advice was to stay at the Leipzig Renaissance Hotel because this is where the majority of the bands will stay and it’s interesting
to hang around downstairs in the lobby bar and people (band) watch, however its now over expensive and not worth the extra money. My
advice now is to stay in the Seaside Park Hotel (4 star) or the Holiday Inn (3 star) or even the Ibis (2 star) if you want an even cheaper
WGT. There are loads of Hotels in Leipzig as it’s a conference city and holds many events each year. The best location for hotels is
around the Train Station / Hauptbahnhof and the city centre; this is the most central location for all the WGT venues and also the best
place to jump on board the Trams.
Hotel Prices vary from year to year; in 2006 Leipzig was one of the Host Cities for the World Cup and prices went up, and seem to have
stayed up. There is also a large Bach festival (Bachfest) that sometimes takes place in Leipzig over the same weekend as WGT and
this has an influence over the price of Hotels. If you are reading this after January then I would suggest that you need to book very
quickly, and then you may struggle to find a room in the centre. If its later than January I would suggest that you will be staying in a hotel
outside of the City Centre.
If you decide to Camp then you will need to get yourself down to the Agra Messepark. This is the main location of the Festival and also
the location of the camp site. I advise getting to the camp site as early as you can on the Thursday, it’s going to fill up very quickly and all
the prime sites will go very quickly. There is enough room for thousands of tents so the later you turn up the further you will have to walk
across fields. If it rains you’re fucked, the campsite is known to flood (in places). Security seems to be present around the camp site
and you must have a different colour armband to enter the campsite. Toilets are portaloo style and are scattered around the site. There
are also some showers that cost a few Euro's to use, however you will need to get there early to get hot water and avoid the long
queues. If you are camping you are permitted to take food and drink on to the Agra site, however NO Glass is allowed on site, and it will
be removed from you. It is also advisable to ensure that your tent pegs are firmly buried as people will be wandering around late at night
in the dark, drunk and the last thing you want is for somebody to fall over on your tent (especially if you are asleep), take ear plugs too if
you actually want some sleep.
WHAT TO TAKE
So you have decided where you’re going to stay, the next thing to do is decide is what you are going to take with you (it may seem
stupidly early, however you need to seriously think about this, it could cost you lots of money if you take too much. Plan well). Decide on
what you want to take to Leipzig before you book your flight. If you have heavy stuff to take over then don’t book a budget airline, Ryan Air
has a limit of 15kg whilst Easyjet and Air Berlin both have limits of 20kgs (if you are flying from the UK). It may seem silly but if you pack
a pair of New Rocks then you have just lost 6kgs of your weight, added with the actual weight of your suitcase (normally about 6kgs) it
can all add up to your total baggage allowance. We have heard stories of people being charged €100 for extra baggage, and that’s one
way (and only adds up to a few extra kilograms). Also remember that if you go shopping you will need some space to pack the added
weight.
I advise taking a suitable suitcase (preferably an upright one with a decent handle that extends. You may need to haul it from the airport
to the train station if you go via Berlin, and then from the train station to your hotel. Can it handle cobble stones?). Think about what you
want to take, outfits, boots, toiletries etc, don’t take ten outfits when you may only need five (you will find that most people go out at lunch
time all dressed up and don't come back to the hotel). If you can get away with one pair of boots don’t take any more (its common sense
really, but some of the things we have seen proves that not everybody thinks about this important factor). Wear all your heaviest clothes;
you can always take them off once you have checked in at the airport. Take a rucksack as hand luggage but try to keep it empty, this will
be your shopping space on the return flight.
So you want to go to the next WGT, I guess there are a few things you need to think about before you go. Depending on how close it is to
the next WGT will depend on what you really need to do and how quickly you need to do it by. However a general rule would be to book
accommodation then arrange your travel details. This will ensure you have a place to stay when you get to Leipzig.
TRAVEL
The first thing to do is to sort out your accommodation. You have a number of choices you can stay in a Hotel, a Pension* (B&B), a
Hostel or you can Camp. I have no experience of camping in Leipzig, I’m far too old for that, but I know others that have camped and I
will quote from their experiences, see the page on 'Camping' for more details.
* Pensions (guest rooms) are accommodations of private landlords, particularly in tourism regions. A pension is usually a private house,
by which some rooms are rented regularly for overnight accommodation. Since pensions usually have no own kitchen, there is usually
only breakfast. They are equipped usually lower-priced than hotels and substantially more simple. Services of all kinds are reduced to
the room cleaning. Frequently at longer term (renting starting from approximately one week) one books. The prices for an overnight
accommodation move in Central Europe between 20 and 50 Euro for a room.
HOTEL OR CAMPING
If you decide to stay in a hotel then you have two things to consider before you book, location and cost, although the location will drive
the cost, central Leipzig will be the most expensive and the best place to stay. I have listed 56 Hotels on the 'Hotel Listing' page, and you
will find a map of all the hotels on the 'Maps Hotels' page.
If you decide to stay in a Hotel I advise you to book early, up to a year in advance (it’s free to reserve a room (in most cases) and you can
always cancel a week or two before the event if you can’t actually make it). The best place to book your hotel is on the Internet. The
Leipzig City website is very good and can point you in the right direction; you can also make your booking through them. Or use any
other travel website such as Expedia (although you will have to pay when you book if you use Expedia). Look to the ‘Links’ page on the
website for more information and helpful links.
My own advice was to stay at the Leipzig Renaissance Hotel because this is where the majority of the bands will stay and it’s interesting
to hang around downstairs in the lobby bar and people (band) watch, however its now over expensive and not worth the extra money. My
advice now is to stay in the Seaside Park Hotel (4 star) or the Holiday Inn (3 star) or even the Ibis (2 star) if you want an even cheaper
WGT. There are loads of Hotels in Leipzig as it’s a conference city and holds many events each year. The best location for hotels is
around the Train Station / Hauptbahnhof and the city centre; this is the most central location for all the WGT venues and also the best
place to jump on board the Trams.
Hotel Prices vary from year to year; in 2006 Leipzig was one of the Host Cities for the World Cup and prices went up, and seem to have
stayed up. There is also a large Bach festival (Bachfest) that sometimes takes place in Leipzig over the same weekend as WGT and
this has an influence over the price of Hotels. If you are reading this after January then I would suggest that you need to book very
quickly, and then you may struggle to find a room in the centre. If its later than January I would suggest that you will be staying in a hotel
outside of the City Centre.
If you decide to Camp then you will need to get yourself down to the Agra Messepark. This is the main location of the Festival and also
the location of the camp site. I advise getting to the camp site as early as you can on the Thursday, it’s going to fill up very quickly and all
the prime sites will go very quickly. There is enough room for thousands of tents so the later you turn up the further you will have to walk
across fields. If it rains you’re fucked, the campsite is known to flood (in places). Security seems to be present around the camp site
and you must have a different colour armband to enter the campsite. Toilets are portaloo style and are scattered around the site. There
are also some showers that cost a few Euro's to use, however you will need to get there early to get hot water and avoid the long
queues. If you are camping you are permitted to take food and drink on to the Agra site, however NO Glass is allowed on site, and it will
be removed from you. It is also advisable to ensure that your tent pegs are firmly buried as people will be wandering around late at night
in the dark, drunk and the last thing you want is for somebody to fall over on your tent (especially if you are asleep), take ear plugs too if
you actually want some sleep.
WHAT TO TAKE
So you have decided where you’re going to stay, the next thing to do is decide is what you are going to take with you (it may seem
stupidly early, however you need to seriously think about this, it could cost you lots of money if you take too much. Plan well). Decide on
what you want to take to Leipzig before you book your flight. If you have heavy stuff to take over then don’t book a budget airline, Ryan Air
has a limit of 15kg whilst Easyjet and Air Berlin both have limits of 20kgs (if you are flying from the UK). It may seem silly but if you pack
a pair of New Rocks then you have just lost 6kgs of your weight, added with the actual weight of your suitcase (normally about 6kgs) it
can all add up to your total baggage allowance. We have heard stories of people being charged €100 for extra baggage, and that’s one
way (and only adds up to a few extra kilograms). Also remember that if you go shopping you will need some space to pack the added
weight.
I advise taking a suitable suitcase (preferably an upright one with a decent handle that extends. You may need to haul it from the airport
to the train station if you go via Berlin, and then from the train station to your hotel. Can it handle cobble stones?). Think about what you
want to take, outfits, boots, toiletries etc, don’t take ten outfits when you may only need five (you will find that most people go out at lunch
time all dressed up and don't come back to the hotel). If you can get away with one pair of boots don’t take any more (its common sense
really, but some of the things we have seen proves that not everybody thinks about this important factor). Wear all your heaviest clothes;
you can always take them off once you have checked in at the airport. Take a rucksack as hand luggage but try to keep it empty, this will
be your shopping space on the return flight.
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FLIGHT COST TRACKER
Obviously the cost of your flight will depend on where you are flying from, and how flexible you are with your schedule. I will track the
costs of a few airlines for 2007/08 to show how the costs flex up and down.
Obviously the cost of your flight will depend on where you are flying from, and how flexible you are with your schedule. I will track the
costs of a few airlines for 2007/08 to show how the costs flex up and down.
HEATHROW TO LEIPZIG/HALLE WITH LUFTHANSA
Leipzig Halle via Duesseldorf, Frankfurt or Munich - currently around £130. Typical journey time from take off at Heathrow to landing in
Leipzig/Halle: 4 hours.(also a BMI code share so sometimes worth checking the prices on their site).
Leipzig Halle via Duesseldorf, Frankfurt or Munich - currently around £130. Typical journey time from take off at Heathrow to landing in
Leipzig/Halle: 4 hours.(also a BMI code share so sometimes worth checking the prices on their site).
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