"A day in Dortmund we will never forget"
Our weekend in Dortmund, Germany was an epic experience. As a couple who loves sport stadiums and teams from all sorts of sports around the world, Signal Iduna Park better known as Westfalenstadion in Borussia Dortmund was one we finally scratched off our bucket list.
Borussia Dortmund has some of if not the loyalist fans in all sports. The club has the highest average attendance of any football club worldwide.
What we love about the club besides their fans and team, is the club owners, who keep their prices down across the board from tickets, beverages and foods for their fans! That is love from the club owners. No $11 beer prices here, or $8 Brats, as our friends in Dortmund told us all of Dortmund would riot if such prices occurred! The cost for a draft beer was only €2, about $2.50 USD, and the brats were €3 which is under $3.50 USD. One thing cool thing we should mention, is the concession stands have no limit on how many alcohol beverages one can buy! My husband was mind boggled when they gave him a 5 cup beer holder, or two holders if you want 10 beers! He even looked around as if he was doing something illegal! Hahaha. Many who know coming from the States, it's a (2) beers a person standard rule. None the less, with so much beer going around, there were no conflicts or passed out drunks to be seen, the Germans can handle their alcohol.
Making the trip out to Dortmund is the easy part. The hard part is getting a ticket! With sell outs almost often, it can be a hard ticket to score. Third parties know these tickets are high in demand and really inflate the cost. Now getting a ticket to sit in the Yellow Wall is what can be legitimately impossible, unless you are lucky enough to have friends in Dortmund who are season ticket holders with seats at the Yellow Wall! From the awesome pre game traditions to their tailgate area which unfortunately we cannot share out of respect for our friends in Dortmund, who we also can't picture in our blog.
Football in Germany and across all Europe is a second religion, stacked with many Borussia football fan club chapters to even hooligans. But I wouldn't worry about any hooligans ruining your experience, its not like they are villains or anything, the Dortmund stadium security is pretty sound with a safe atmosphere for all to experience.
The Signal Iduna Park stadium holds 80,000 plus spectators which is usually at full capacity. The south end of the stadium is where the Yellow wall is located, and consist of 25,000 standing only fans chanting together sending shockwaves through out the whole stadium. For a visiting team, it can be intimidating and quite a site indeed for both the visiting team and the fans. For a great view of the wall, you can sit on the west or east sides of the stadium or directly across on the north end to get a full view of this spellbinding sight. If lucky enough to get tickets to the wall, then prepare for an epic experience the black and yellow faithful. Be prepared to chant and jump all game with flying cups of full beers after a BVB goal! This was probably the best experience we have had at a football match or any other sporting venue we have ever attended. This will be hard to top!
When looking at the yellow wall from a distance, it has to be one of the best sites to see in all the sporting venues around the world. The fans display a spectacular seen as the games that have a significant meaning like champions or cup games, the display is even bigger!
A video clip within the Yellow Wall
Be sure to make time to check out the BVB store located next to the stadium. The store itself is a very cool site, from an indoor artificial turf area for the kids to kick the ball around, a cafe shop, and loaded with cool BVB gear everywhere! Definitely a spot you don't want miss, conveniently located next to the Stadium. The best time to check out the store is about a hour and half prior to the game to beat the crowds and long lines.
A quick glimpse inside the BVB store
If ever in Germany and a fan of the game, we recommended catching a match at Borussia Dortmund, it will not disappoint. It will surely be an awesome experience. We have attended fellow rival clubs of dortmund matches and other matches across Europe. While they are all unique in their own, have history of their own, with incredible fan bases, just speaking from a fan of the game, the atmosphere in Dortmund is indeed the coolest atmosphere we have ever seen!