Anyone been to Monza race yet?

freestyla

Should be cruising around the area in september so think to see F1 race there, would love to experience Monza.

Wondering about affordable place to sleep two nights. Don't need an hotel with all services but rather hostel or B&B.. the cheapest option with a bed overnight :rolleyes:

Any experience?

Googling here but somehow not successful..

Zagato

Been a few times, but wasn't paying for accomodation, stayed in Milan and drove up each day. Don't know how much local cheap accomodation is available, certainly as the track is in a large park, lot's of people camping and RVs, always looked like good atmosphere around the camping areas.......but no bed unfortunately.

Atmosphere at the track is great, one of the years I was there was '99, Hakkinen crying in the woods beside our stand after he spun off only topped by listening to National Anthem after HH Frentzen came home 1st

freestyla

Oh I didn't think about Milano.. not too far from the track at all, cheers

dor83

freestyla wrote: »

Oh I didn't think about Milano.. not too far from the track at all, cheers

If you stay in Milan there is a train that goes to Monza from Garibaldi(I think that's the station) which has a subway too. The train is free on the Sunday too and I paid about €2 on the Saturday. There is a train station just beside the track at the exit at the Lesmo corners which is a lot closer than the Monza station so saves a lot of hassle.

Infoanon

dor83 wrote: »

If you stay in Milan there is a train that goes to Monza from Garibaldi(I think that's the station) which has a subway too. The train is free on the Sunday too and I paid about €2 on the Saturday. There is a train station just beside the track at the exit at the Lesmo corners which is a lot closer than the Monza station so saves a lot of hassle.

Don't Drive to the circuit ! traffic jams are incredible - train/subway best option, if you get a chance walk around the park and try and see what remains of the old circuit banking - the angle has to be seen to be believed.

dor83

Infoanon wrote: »

Don't Drive to the circuit ! traffic jams are incredible - train/subway best option, if you get a chance walk around the park and try and see what remains of the old circuit banking - the angle has to be seen to be believed.

Yeah we had a walk around on the Saturday and it is unbelievable that cars actually drove on that banking, we tired to get up it but it was too steep.

freestyla, what tickets are you getting? We only had general admission and got some great views at the chicane before the Lesmos on the Saturday but there was no space there on the Sunday. I would recommend getting tickets in one of the grandstands if you have the budget.

endplate

Public transport is very good if a little confusing at times for the grand prix weekend. I went last year we stayed in hotel 5 about one minutes walk from the porta romana underground station. The hotel was reasonable in price for gp weekend and very comfortable. The last station in monza had an endless supply of buses ferrying people to and from the track. You do have to walk 40 min from where you get off the bus to get to the track in forest park. Last year was a heat wave but there was loads of shelter in the trees behind the grandstands. When we got back to the monza train station all the trains appeared to be free as there were no inspectors or ticket staff. It looked designed just to get people away from the track quickly and boy did it work. Overall a great weekend lovely food and a great atmosphere with a constant buzz in the air around the duomo area. Btw the duomo is very expensive but the bars and restaurants around hotel 5 were very cheap.

Sabre0001

Stayed in Milan last year. Plenty of trains on over the course of the weekend, though it can get a little confusing at times. On Sunday, there is a special train for the GP, but keep an eye out for it / the legions of fans.

Can get a bus from the train station in Monza then.

Really enjoyed the event. Plenty of food areas and Monza has plenty of the non-allocated places. So you can set yourself up nice and early and enjoy the race. Great atmosphere there too.

Zagato

If getting one of the packed buses/trains laid on for the GP, keep a hold of your belongings. Have had to remove a hand from my pocket there before.

G-Money

Infoanon wrote: »

Don't Drive to the circuit ! traffic jams are incredible - train/subway best option, if you get a chance walk around the park and try and see what remains of the old circuit banking - the angle has to be seen to be believed.

How do you get onto that banking during a race weekend? I've been to Monza twice but for some reason, never got to see it.

G-Money

Sounds like you've got some good replies here OP.

As far as I know, accommodation in Monza is limited as it's a small town. You'd be better staying either in Milan or in Bergamo. The first year I stayed in Milan and took the train out and took the free train on the Sunday. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your seats or wherever you plan to watch the race from. The free Sunday train drops you at the Lesmo corners but walking into the circuit you go underneath the track and end up on the inside of the circuit, which can throw you off where you were expecting to be. The first year we ended up walking for about 1hr and 30 mins to get to our seats as we had to walk down the inside of the circuit all the way down to the start/finish straight, then back down to the first corner. There might have been a quicker way to get there but now knowing the layout of the walkways and everything, it was hard to know. Plus the signs were poor.

The 2nd year I stayed in Bergamo as I was flying with Ryanair. I took the train from Bergamo to Monza each day and had to pay for that, including the Sunday, but again you are only talking a few euro's. The main reason I stayed in Bergamo was to avoid some of the crowds. We took the free train back to Milan the first year and it was rammed and took on more people at the Monza stop on its way back into Milan. It's a short journey but felt 10 times as long as everyone was sweating bullets. Whereas the train back to Bergamo after the race was not crowded at all and I easily got a seat.

Also the shuttle buses tend to be less crowded on the Sunday as most people I think take the free train. Although I legged it as soon as the race was over in 2010 and got onto a nice empty bus and I think I might have even got a seat.

Bring plenty of sun cream too. Only a few grandstands are covered at Monza and if it's sunny and you are not in one of them, you'll be burnt to a crisp in no time

Hoping to go again this year myself, but not decided yet.

freestyla

dor83, I think about tickets at the first chicane uncovered stand.. should cost some €200-250

Good replies people cheers! Nice thread about Monza Reading some stories here I'm totally into atmosphere already Hopefully I'll manage to squeeze some extra quids to be able to make it to fanatic Monza!

dor83

Yeah you are better off paying the extra for tickets in a stand. As far as I remember the cheapest place to get tickets was on the tracks website, monzanet.it, which was definitely cheaper than the official F1 website anyway.

I would also agree with G-Money on the sun cream, it was mid 30's when I was there so you'll need it. A hat is a good idea too.

Zagato

freestyla wrote: »

dor83, I think about tickets at the first chicane uncovered stand.. should cost some €200-250

Good replies people cheers! Nice thread about Monza Reading some stories here I'm totally into atmosphere already Hopefully I'll manage to squeeze some extra quids to be able to make it to fanatic Monza!

That's where I sat each year, in the stand on the outside of the track, great view at the start TV opposite. Should be particularly interesting with DRS now.

lord lucan

I was there in 2009. Stayed in Bergamo and got the train to and from Monza for both days. Most of the traffic was going the opposite direction towards Milan so the train was never packed and always got a seat.

Had a seat in Grandstand 26a on the Start/Finish straight. Very good view and there was a large screen opposite which made figuring out what was going on much easier.

I recorded this on the Sunday,gives a good idea of the view from the Grandstand.

thegoth

I was there twice in 2009 and 2011. Monza is a great race.

I'll give you two hints

1) Fly out on Monday. It means you dont have to rush off.

2) Get the best tickets you can afford. I had crap tickets in 2009 and it wasnt nearly as good as last year when I had great tickets.