Going to the 2014 Italian Grand Prix at Monza
- This topic has 28 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by
.
- Posts
Hi all!
My first post here, I found this community after looking for information on Monza for this year, as me and my partner will be going there. The topic from last year’s race was immensely helpful, I’ve got so much information from it so thank you all!
As a return favor I wanted besides my questions to post all the information I’ve gathered on camping so far, for other newbies like me. I will expand my post with more information as I go.
EDIT: We’ve picked our seats and decided on 26C in the end! Covered, view of the pitlane and opposite the podium, couldn’t be happier :D
Seating
What’s new this year (according to the site?) are the “Bleacher” stands at the start/finish line, that go for only €150,- for a whole weekend. Does anyone know if these offer a good view or if these are blocked by all the fences? I couldn’t get a good view on it from the pictures or the 360-view from the website.
These spots are named 2, 27, 28, or 29.
EDIT: Opinion from @budaman:
I think 27 would give you the best vantage point for the pre & post race festivities. It would be easy to get to the podium area afterwards. There are fences, but even in 26B, the fences & awning supports get in the way. The problem on the pit straight is your line of site is so limited, the cars are gone in a blink……not really a great place for actually watching a race, but great for the atmosphere.Camping
Then for the nights we plan to stay at one of the campsites. I would love to be able to reserve before-hand but apparently this is near impossible. I like the security of being able to book everything far in advance as I can’t stand the thought of getting there after a 10 hour drive only to hear that there’s no spot left, or that we’re too early. We want to arrive on the Wednesday evening or the Thursday morning, anyone know if the campsites are open from Wednesday on?There is an official campsite which has switched organisations last year and caused a lot of fuss, which you can reach from the main website: http://www.monzanet.it/en/show/579/Il%20Campeggio%20dell’Autodromo%20Nazionale%20Monza%20-%20EN
It looks the most classy but is apparently a hell to reserve a spot for before-hand as they communicatie quite poorly by e-mail, and as there aren’t that many spots it’s full quickly.
Biggest pro is that it’s right next to the track and has good facilities for a fairly decent price. But I’d like to hear from people who went there what their experience is. I’ve mailed them earlier this month but haven’t heard back yet. Are they only starting reservations a couple of weeks in advance?Alternatively there is the F1 camping village: http://www.campingf1.com/events/italian_grand_prix
This one has pre-erected tents where you can park your car next to, and as an extra option breakfast and shuttle service. It’s situated within Monza so about 4 km’s from the track. Cons are the prices, but a big pro is that you can reserve a spot and don’t have to bring your own tent.Then I’ve read stories about unofficial campsites, situated along the Lesmo curves. I’ve seen many people that posted about going there, but what are the facts about this campsite? Is there a website and can you reserve? When should you arrive for a good spot and what are the facilities? And then of course the general prices. If anyone knows these facts please post them.
If there are more campsites nearby that people have experience with then I would also love to hear from them. Thanks all for reading and I hope to get a lot of replies, I’ve enjoyed reading the entire topic on 2013!
Cya @ Monza!
Hi Marissa!
They made those bleacher seats you are refering to late last year after I had already purchased tickets in 26B. If I had to do it over, I would have opted for those bleachers. I think 27 would give you the best vantage point for the pre & post race festivities. It would be easy to get to the podium area afterwards. There are fences, but even in 26B, the fences & awning supports get in the way. The problem on the pit straight is your line of site is so limited, the cars are gone in a blink……not really a great place for actually watching a race, but great for the atmosphere.Hi there,
Having been to the Belgian Grand Prix last year, my brother and I fancy visiting another classic in 2014. Monza seems favourite as Silverstone is on our doorstep (visited many times) and Monaco may be a bit on the pricey side for now.
With general admission at around £80 for three days (bargain!!) we’re starting to gather momentum on this idea and wondered if anyone could help us out.
We’re fairly young, both in our 20’s, and don’t mind slumming it camping. We’re also hoping to do this as cheaply as possible. Is driving to the circuit (from the UK) a viable option (I understand it’s about a 15 hour drive), or is this just a waste of time? Are there cheap flights?
Basically, I’m hoping that rather than researching each step individually, someone may have some idea of the cheapest way to do it.
Cheers,
Ben.Well – we’ve done it! 9 of us have booked general admission tickets and a mini bus – should be a hoot!
We’re hoping to leave the UK on Wednesday late afternoon, and stop for the night in Reims, France. Then carry on to the circuit. We’ll be camping… somewhere! Then leaving late-ish on Sunday and staying in Basel, before hitting the road in the morning to get back to the UK ready for work on Tuesday.
Can’t wait! Does anyone have any experiences which may aid our decision-making?
Cheers,
Ben.Roadtrip! :) Sounds like a great idea when you’re with a bunch of friends. Can’t help you with advice, we’ll be coming in a few days early by car from Holland and then venture further into Italy for a holiday so it’s not very comparable.
I bet you’ll have a great time and hoping the van won’t break down :D
We are headed to Monza this year and are staying with Camping F1. We are flying out so didn’t want to be lugging our own camping gear and as we’ve used Camping F1 before (Magny Cours) and been very impressed, it was a no brainer for us. Yes a lot more expensive but pre-erected tents/shower blocks/toilet blocks etc and the camping package also includes transfers to/from the track each day so nice and easy.
Easyjet flights booked to Milan Malpensa then we will take the train (one change) to the local train station a 10 minute walk to the campsite.
Piscina Stand 5 booked. We booked directly with http://www.monzanet.it as tickets and ticket delivery (ups) were cheaper and no credit card booking fee, which all the other agent sites seemed to charge.
Very excited!Hey Sure, your experience sounds nice and it’s good for others to read it in case they want to do that.
I wanted to edit my post and add your bit in but it seems the “edit post” option is no more? :(We also booked directly from the main sites, will have printed tickets and no fancy-ones but seeing as how much it cost extra I don’t mind. It’s the experience we’re going for, after all!
It’s still so far away, but at least the season will start soon :)
I envy all of you going to Monza this year. We had a fabulous time in Italy last year. Finally got our pics up on our webpage from the trip. Have fun….I’ll be off to the Canadian GP in June.
http://www.mmtravelpics.com/Our_World_%26_Welcome_to_It%21/Windows_to_Adventure/Pages/Italy.html
Hi all,
I’m eager for a little more information about camping near the circuit. I’ve heard two things:
1: There’s a camp site next to the circuit at which you simply arrive without having booked.
2: There’s an official camp site with pre-erected tents.With regards to the arrive and pitch site, does anyone have any recent experience of this? Where is it? How much is it? Will there be enough space (hoping to arrive late on Thursday)?
If anyone has any experience that would help I’d be very grateful – I haven’t been able to find much of use through Google-ing!
Thanks,
Ben.First time heading to Monza, flying out on the Thursday and coming home Tuesday. Will be staying at an apartment/B&B 10 minutes walk from Milano Centrale station, which for €200 for 5 nights, was an absolute steal compared to most other offerings! Could be the way to go for people looking for relatively cheap accommodation.
Mainly here to find more info on the General Admission areas, so if you’ve already been, a brief re-cap of your experiences would be brilliant. Also, a couple of questions:
1) Where are the best spots for seeing some action? The Monza website doesn’t show any GA area near the first chicane, which is a bit disappointing
2) How early would I have to get to the track to bag a good spot? I’m on a tight budget, so would be using the free trains and shuttle bus as much as possible.
Thanks in advance, and hope you all have a great time when you’re there :)
@emtheemu Firstly Monza is great, the weather the food and the whole experience. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. I loved it there in 2011 & 2012. The journey in from Milan is going to be fun, the trains get pretty busy and the shuttle buses although excellent drop you off in the middle of Monza Park with probably a 20 – 30 minute walk into the circuit. So allow plenty of time to get into the track each day, and be prepared to be squashed, hot, sweaty and ready for a nice long walk in the sun.
As far as your questions go:-
There is plenty of GA at Monza the problem is that most of it is through the park and you’re trying to see the cars through the trees. There are a couple of small stands they have put in various places you can sit and watch from but they do fill up pretty quickly. My advice would be to have a walk round the entire circuit on Friday and find a spot that you like, then on Sunday be reasonably early, but it’s not Silverstone so no need for a dawn alarm call. The other thing is that this is Italy and checking tickets doesn’t seem to be a strong point at the circuit. Once you’re in the track we met loads of people who had brought GA tickets yet seemed to have no difficulty in getting into the grandstands on sunday. Our grandstand for sure seemed to have 50% more people in than seats.
Last thing and a word of warning, there are gangs of people all over the park who try to lure you into playing the 3 shell game, and they only seem to play for €50 notes. DON”T play we all know its a con but these gangs were raking in a fortune from people all willing to give it a go. If you see anyone winning watch closely and you’ll see they are part of the con.
Have a great weekend.Thanks for all the info. In the end, I managed to scrape up enough money to get a bleacher seat on the pit straight, but I never knew about that scam. Will keep well away! :)
Hello all
Wondered if i could get some help, turns out i will be on holiday when the Italian GP is on and it just seems wrong to not attempt to go!
I would only be looking to go on the sunday however we are staying in a resort called Loano near Genoa, I will have my car with me but need to figure out whether its feasible to drive to Monza or get the train.
I went to Monza in 2012 so I’m familiar with the free trains that operate from Milan however going by train would likely mean a few change overs and I dont want to have to worry about getting there in time as we would be leaving on the sunday morning.
Can anyone help/advise?
Many Thanks!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.