Germany

BUNDESLIGA FOOTBALL

The BayArena is a football stadium in Leverkusen, Germany. Since the 23rd of Arpil 1958 it’s been the home of Bundesliga club Bayer ’04 Leverkusen.

Borussia Dortmund

The Signal Iduna Park is the largest soccer (football) stadium in Germany which seats 81,360 spectators.

Borussia Monchengladbach

The Borussia Park stadium is the home of German Bundesliga football club Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Union Berlin

Current football fashion dictates that a trip to Berlin demands a visit to FC Union and the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei.

SV Werder Bremen

Bremen is an open-minded, honest and traditional city, and the football stadium and the team share those features. After an enjoyable week in Hamburg, enemy territory for Bremen fans, followed by an inauspicious introduction to the city, I actually leave with a heavy heart. Why? Because this place gets under your skin.

2. BUNDESLIGA

Fortuna Dusseldorf

Fashion, finance, and Fortuna are just three reasons people visit Dusseldorf. Add the renowned local Altbier, the picturesque Aldstadt and some amazing avant-garde architecture and your 1970’s stereotype of Dusseldorf as an industrial relic quickly vanishes. The Esprit-Arena, home of the mighty Fortuna since 2004, encapsulates the transformation.

FC Schalke 04

REGIONALLIGA

1. Lokomotive Leipzig

The stadium, built in 1920, has seen far better days; no ultra-modern facilities like the ‘new club’ in Zentrum-West Leipzig here. The main stand, however, is a thing of beauty, and who needs prawn sandwiches when you can stand in the rain for 90 minutes, singing praise to your footballing heroes?

BSG Chemie Leipzig

Choosing a stadium journey to the Alfred-Kunze Stadion to watch BSG Chemie Leipzig brings to mind CS Lewis’s description of Aslan, in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. “Safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he is good!” Football in East Germany retains the tough, edgy and (occasionally) violent culture that will never leave visitors feeling fully safe. However, if you keep your phone in your pocket, restrict tourist instincts, and respect the ultras and their space, it’s really good!

WOMEN'S BUNDESLIGA

FC Carl Zeiss Jena Frauen

Few names evoke DDR football ostalgie more than Carl Zeiss Jena. When spoken aloud, “Carl Zeiss Jena” carries a mellifluence that belies its industrial origins. The iconic club badge, in use since 1976, with its vivid blue, yellow and white colours is recognisable to football fans across Europe. The city of Jena is located in Thuringia, in central Germany. It was part of the old DDR until reunification in 1990. This growing city, famous for its optical industries, sits in a valley through whi