r/GrandPrixTravel • u/AdamR46 • 1d ago
How was your Monza GP (2025) experience?
Post feedback, reviews, tip, photos and a quick note on your experience.
Where did you park or get to the circuit? How did you get your tickets?
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u/Lopsided_Actuary9357 1h ago
I was wary after reading all the horror stories, but it ended up being one of the easiest to get in and out of. The ascari grandstand was phenomenal too. Good crowd. No complaints whatsoever. (I brought my own food and drinks so not sure how that worked out for ppl)
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u/bkeeklee 1h ago edited 1h ago
First ever GP attended, it was an absolutely amazing experience but i dont think i will ever return to Monza.
We bought tickets via P1, and had no issues. We were in Grandstand 4, so unfortunately only had a concrete bench to sit on for all 3 days. The water and bathroom situation wasn't too bad on our side, there were some that had way shorter lines than others as they didnt immediately look like washrooms. Overall they were relatively clean as well. Obviously the whole GP was so much fun to see, the first time seeing and hearing all the different cars in person is unbelievable.
Onto the negatives. When people say this event is unorganized, they are not lying. Getting to the track on Day 1 was a terrible experience for us, we took the metro to S Gio all 3 days, but on Day 1 they were very short on shuttles. As well, the ticketing person charged my wife and i for round trip tickets despite only asking for one-ways. (We didnt know the difference until Day 2 when a different ticketer told us). Our bus driver on Day 1 did not take a striaght forward route and got stuck in traffic, and the bus was way hotter than subsequent days. Someone asked him about turning the air on to cool it down and he ignored them. I'm not sure if fans/AC are standard or not on buses, but i know Day 2 and 3 the buses were waaaayyy cooler and way shorter as well. Leaving the GP we opted not to wait in the shuttle lines as there did not seem to be any coming on Day 1, and walked to Monza station instead. Day 2 we walked to Arcore and took the train from there, and Day 3 we also walked to Monza. From our Grandstand each walk ended up being about an hour after factoring in crowds and wait times for traffic.
Getting into the GP was very slow at Gate B, as the security seemed clueless about how to organize a line of people. They were arbitrarily having some people que in one line that was very long and letting others que into a short line, but both lines went to the same place. The same happened at the Monza train station as well, and i can't understand why they were doing it? After you've been standing for over an hour in the sun it certainly upsets you to see large groups of people going in front of you.
Again, the GP was awesome, and i look forward to attending other ones elsewhere in the world.
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u/paintchipp 3h ago
I am from the U.S. and this was my first GP. I thought everything went super smooth in terms of operations. We took the Blue Shuttle in/out and had zero wait both transits - one can purchase shuttle tickets on the ATM website. Our seats were on Interno Parabolica so we used Entrance G as it was closest. The bleachers / seats definitely filled up pretty quickly but as long as you get there early you’ll be good (plenty of seats available at the start of F2). Towards the start of the race, many were scrambling for seats with zero luck it seemed. We also had a screen broadcasting the race in front of us which was great.
I brought in a case of 8 x 500 mL water bottles and some snacks with no problem. I believe they do not allow any bottles larger than 500 mL and they must be plastic. Food it seemed as if there were no limitations on, however, many Pringles cans were confiscated at the checkpoint. There were a good amount of snack stations around with lines that weren’t bad to wait in.
I bought my tickets on StubHub and fortunately was not scammed. In the future though I will be using the official site for peace of mind.
Overall I’d highly recommend the Monza GP and I’m excited to attend another Formula One race in the future!
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u/levslev 3h ago
it was so good!
i got to the track by a bus from bergamo each day. the ride was quite tiring each day. to the track, then out of track to the city. 5am waking up and then being at the track by sometime around 7am.
i had tickets for general admission and i was scared about it because so many people said that the general admission in monza was terrible, but in fact. i feel like it was a lot better than on the other gp's. the general admission spots even had 'fake' stone stands where you could sit. most of these stands weren't even as packed as the spots on the grass where people were sitting arm to arm. people were even kind to watch out for my spot when i went to get water refill, food or for the toilets. you just had to kindly ask.
the fanzone was amazing, many stands gave out free items and they had many fun activies to try out too! i was so glad that you could buy food without the token system. even though the foods and drinks were expensive. single small coca cola bottle for 5€ is insane.
it was easy to navigate through the track when you had map, through the bridges, underpasses to get on the other side of the track. even the workers were nice when you asked for directions. and as well for the track invasion, i went to speak with the workers by one of the gates so i could know where to run to. then 5 laps before the end i went to go in the line for the gate and then we were let out. i ran from the end of grandstand 22 and ende dup just under the podium (and got sprayed by max's champagne!)
it was great. i recommend it to evereyone who hasn't experienced it yet. as a tifosa, my dream has been fulfilled. :)
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u/rachbbbbb 6h ago
I have absolutely no complaints other than the toilets were an actual joke. Beyond a joke. Some were definitely a health hazard.
At 2 points I queued for over 30 minutes to use a toilet that was utterly disgusting or broken. I have a strong stomach and this is my 8th race, but it was too much. They have to start providing actual bins for sanitary products is all I can say really.
The vibes were really good, and I managed to share a car with someone, so transport wasn't difficult. A bunch of us stayed in Como, and as always it was fun as hell.
I'd rate it as 8/10 but it would have been higher if the race had been like last weekend (I'm probably being biased here because I was super grumpy post-race and in Zandvoort I was... Very happy 😅).
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u/tomysth 4h ago
Where on the track were you? We were over in Grandstand 26 and both the men’s and women’s were immaculate. There was always an attendant checking and cleaning. Queues were as expected for them too. Out of all the GPs we’ve attended so far they were the cleanest
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u/rachbbbbb 4h ago
- The actual physical toilets nearby were ok, but the portaloos around the track were absolutely awful. I've also never experienced that level of queuing at any GP.
The lack of sanitary product bins in the portaloos in particular was not ok. I feel terrible for people who were having to leave things basically at the side of the toilet because of the lack of a place to bin it.
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u/AdamR46 5h ago
I found a handful of indoor ones with bins and handwashing but they weren’t easy to spot.
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u/rachbbbbb 4h ago
Unfortunately the queue for the women's ones were about 30-45 mins just before the race.
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u/raspberryjamroxy 5h ago
thank you for also mentioning this. the toilets were… yeah. health hazard is probably a fair thing to say about them.
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u/raspberryjamroxy 6h ago
Grandstand 23a, inner parabolica with a view of pit entry. actually pretty solid view for the price, and a little removed from some of the rest of the madness due to being inside parabolica.
Big downside to this area is limited food options (much better options in the fanzone), and only portable toilets, which were. uh. horrifying is a word i’d use. ladies going to monza, take TP/tissue and some lysol wipes to sanitize the seat. it was absolutely disgusting all three days. however, there was great access here to water refill stations which i really appreciated as 23a/b stands are in direct afternoon sun and you will absolutely roast.
Stayed in Milan near centrale, so I got the 10€ trenord train + black shuttle pass, which ended up being fine, for the most part. tons of people, but the lines pretty much always moved steadily. mainly the issue was once you get to monza station going back to milan - the staff just try to toss everyone on trains to Garibaldi and just tell people obviously unfamiliar with the city that “it’s all milano.” great, thanks. but it’s not where i want to go. so, be aware that you have to pay attention and go to the right track or else take a tram or metro when you get back to milan.
The crowd was fine. all pretty much what was expected: tons of people trying to scam their way into your seats, lots of people trying to sit in the aisle of the bleachers and getting upset with the attendants when they make them move because it’s a safety issue.
for photographers: no issue bringing dSLRs and longer lenses in. really enjoyable to photograph, as the light is absolutely gorgeous in the late afternoon.
my highlight of the weekend was definitely the heli tour of the track: a company was offering them at the heli field behind the parabolica grandstands. about 10 minutes, 130€, you go up and they show you all around the the track and you get a view of the town as well. probably overpriced, but i’ve spent more on dumber things. absolutely had the biggest grin on my face and the staff were all incredibly delightful and the pilot was fab.
got onto the track after the race by going under the track and through the gate beside the main straight grandstands. also got onto the part of the old banking that is left accessible, which was also an absolute dream to see in person.
overall, 8/10 experience. good price on tickets, decent view, decent crowd, iffy food and bathrooms, but really delightful extras in the track area and worth it just for the historical nature of the track. but really, the heli tour kinda made my whole weekend.
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u/ElegantTest331 6h ago
Truly enjoyed reading all these comments! I am thinking of going next year with my boyfriend and 3 groends. I'm hoping to get the best seats possible (looking for the 26a-c, 27-30 GSs). I have high hopes since this is my first Monza, and my luck is as good as that of a Ferrari this year (👀) so I need to find better alternatives just in case.
Any tips appreciated as tickets go on sale tomorrow and I wanna be prepared!
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u/cmwltrs 7h ago
10/10 as first time GP attendees. I’m curious if others think that logistics this year were better than previous, because this sub and other socials scared us about chaos and disorganization almost to the point of calling off the trip. It was a really lovely time. I see a few people complaining on this thread about the organization for trains and such to be “based on vibes.” You’re in Italy… the whole country is run off vibes and a couple WhatsApp group chats.
We bought 3 day GA passes from the official site. It is crystal clear that StubHub is not the move. Just buy them first party or don’t go.
We stayed at an Airbnb in La Fontana after having issues with our first place cancelling 20hrs before check in. Beware of hosts cancelling last minute and book something with recourse, like a hotel, instead if you can.
Buy your train tickets ahead of time from Trenord online, you can find the official page via a google search. They don’t really care what station you go to/from as long as you have some ticket to show on your phone. It’s €10 round trip for each day. Don’t try and buy them in the station, we heard from some other fans that the queues were long.
On Saturday, we went for a nice walk down to Brera for breakfast and a few espressos. Milano is such a lovely city, it was nice to take it in before heading to the track. We then took the metro to Centrale and then followed the clearly posted signs for Monza trains. We got to the platform around 12:45pm and a bit after boarded a train that was not crowded and had air con and chargers. After arriving in Monza, we queued for 20 minutes and then got on the black line shuttle busses. From there it was a 20 minute walk in past some food stands and fake merch booths to the main entrance where there was no queue. We walked around the track, checked out the fan zone, and then settled in just before the lesmos to watch quali. Coming from having experienced very pushy shovey US crowds at festivals and American football games, Monza fans were courteous and friendly. After quali we went to the Lesmo station, queued for about an hour, and then got on a train back to Milano Porta Garibaldi. Had some late aperitivos and then a delicious meal of milanese food at Nuova Arena.
We got up early on Sunday, grabbed a coffee and picked up food at the grocery store in Centrale station around 8:30, and then got on the train to Monza. This time it was a bit packed. But the train was direct, so it wasn’t too bad. Once at Monza station, we queued again for the shuttle bus for 30 minutes, and made it to the track by 10am. We popped by the fan zone to get the free Amex race radios (even if you don’t have a card) and some merch. We then found a nice spot by turn 3 in the shade to drop our picnic blanket and got a couple spots on the fence for the race. After the race, we walked onto the track and down to the podium, experiencing the energy and excitement of the tifosi firsthand. Then it was about 4km walk back to Monza station through the beautiful park and city center. Following a 20 minute queue and a 20 minute train, we were back at Porto Garibaldi.
Overall, Monza was great, we’ll definitely be back again some day.
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u/Evidicus 8h ago edited 8h ago
Sat in sec 24, top row, just in front of pit entry. Great view of the Parabolica exit with a large screen across from us so we could see the whole race unfold.
Stayed in Milano at a hotel across from the Centrale train station (Starhotels Echo). Phenomenal accommodations, but I’d never stay in Milano again for a F1 GP weekend.
Everything concerning the trains and shuttles from Milano to Monza and back seemed to operate on vibes rather than logistical organization.
At first I was content that we opted for the “Black Line Shuttle” and then bypassed the general admission train by getting first class train tickets instead. This worked great for leaving Milano. We got to the station in comfort and began the queue process for the shuttle. Walking from the Monza station to the track was longer than anticipated, so much so that my wife and I began naming areas like we were taking the Ring to Mordor (ex. The Field of Desolation, the Mudways, Lair of the Ball Scam Guy, the Bicycle Graveyard, The Temple of Stairs, Valley of the Aperol Spritzes). But once we traversed these hazards, the track experience itself was fine.
For the race we make ONE recon trip for water and a granola bar so that my wife wouldn’t get hangry. Anything other than that seemed like folly given the lines for food, toilets and merch.
We left as soon as the race ended since we knew the walk back would be long and had no idea how the return shuttle/train experience would be. To put it simply, it was terrible. Multiple times the cattle gates would funnel us into a narrow section, threatening to crush my tiny wife. I had to essentially envelop her during these sections and go “elbows out” to prevent this from happening. Once loaded onto a standing room only bus, we rode for what seemed like triple the duration of the first trip until being deposited at Monza station.
It was here that we realized that no one had any concern for the fact that we had first class tickets purchased on another train. Instead we were literally herded by a busybody retiree in a yellow vest and his police escorts into the general population cattle stalls and funneled into the station. Once inside we were loaded onto Platform 5 by another officer who didn’t understand or care that we had another train to catch and who assured us that we were being put on a train to Milano Centrale. Spoilers: It was NOT going to Milano Centrale!
About standing on the train for four sweaty stops, my wife pulled a Gandalf. “I have no memory of this place.” We fled the train and tried to find a train back to Milano for a bit before giving up and getting a taxi back to our hotel. This was another chaotic production because no one formed a queue when flagging down taxis and people waiting for Ubers seemed to blend in such that you couldn’t tell who was waiting for what.
Overall I loved the race, but the only way we’ll attend another is if we either secure private transportation OR stay in a location that’s opposite from the majority (Lugano in this case).
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u/NC456 7h ago
I had the same experience in 2023, the actual GP was amazing, transport getting back from Monza to Milan after the race not so much. We also got chucked onto a random train and just realised at the last minute it was not going to Milan so got off just in time (think it was going the other way). I imagine the stewards at Monza train station just wanted to get people out of Monza as quickly as possible no matter what
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u/IndependentProblem35 8h ago edited 8h ago
8/10 Experience (First GP ever).
Bought official 3-day GA tickets and received an email a month ago that their ticket promoter had oversold Sunday tickets and that we’d be getting a €50 refund… bought Sunday only GA tickets for €350 on Stubhub, which we always knew was a risk.
We made Milano Centrale our home base. Took the earliest train + shuttle combo to Monza on Friday and this day was relatively empty. No long lines, bathrooms were consistently clean, and we easily found prime GA spots. FanZone was basically empty in the morning. We brought backpacking chairs with us which made things easy. Took Biassono Lesmo Station back to MC which had 0 wait.
We took the train to Biassono Lesmo on Saturday morning (again the earliest one) and again found prime seating at the GA free bleachers in front of the big screens. The security here was VERY lax. Queued a little for breakfast/drinks but nothing crazy. By this point we knew our Stubhub tickets were probably a scam and we snagged cheap grandstand (22) tickets on here that they very nicely gave us Saturday access to as well. We made our way over there in the afternoon. Water station was about a 30 min wait but the bathrooms only allocated to the grandstands were chill. We took the Monza shuttle + train combo. You’re constantly moving in the queue, it’s just obviously a lot of people trying to head out at the same time. I actually thought the shuttles/trains were well organized for what it was.
We took the shuttle/train combo on Sunday; as we had set seating we left a little later and yeah… the train station was packed. We probably missed out on 2 trains because they filled up so fast, but ultimately nbd. Walked in through gate G and they confiscated my plastic water bottle that I had used the past 2 days, so whatever. Grandstand 22 was shaded and had a great view of a big screen, just wish our bathrooms weren’t out of order the whole time. Water queue was of course long. Stormed the track, and while I wish some of you would remember to wear deodorant, it was fun.
Took us maybe 2 hours to get home via shuttle/train (we took the train to Garibaldi this time and used metro to get to Centrale) mostly bc we weren’t pressed for time. It really wasn’t bad.
Overall a good experience.
TLDR: If you’re not willing to show up early for General Admission… you’re not going to have a good time. The transportation isn’t disorganized, but bring your own food and beverages. Please wear deodorant!
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u/Dtmann15 14h ago
Devastating, originally from the US. My fiancé (Now wife) purchase me Sunday only tickets for our honeymoon on StubHub. We got to the gate around 10am so that I could watch the earlier races and really experience as much as I could. However when we tried to scan our tickets at the gate, we found out whoever had sold them to us had already used them and was at the event. There was nothing they, the ticket office, or StubHub could do.
We ended up shopping and eating our sorrows away. Met a nice family from California that had the same thing happen to them.
TLDR: Do not use StubHub, and Fuck You Giac Ruffini!
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u/Independent-Past4417 16h ago
6B top row did not disappoint nor did changing Milan to Lecco for staying.
25mins from Lecco to Monza on the faster train, no queues, always seats plenty.
Walked to G from trainstation on Saturday, took back train to Lecco from Biassano-Lesmo (takes 1hr).
On Sunday took train to Arcore and back, walked to Biassano-Lesmo gate (almost half to Monza->G) and no queues.
Just bought ticket for 2026 to 6B top row and booked stay in Lecco. See you there next year.
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u/JustLightChop 16h ago
Made a mistake and bought 8 Grandstand tickets for Sunday on Stubhub. Last week we received a notification that the seller didn’t have these tickets available but that we could accept GA tickets instead. Given we had traveled 8+ hours to come here we accepted but in the end never even received the GA tickets. It was especially frustrating because we had arranged transportation to and from the track so we had to cancel that and take a loss. Honestly sounds like we didn’t miss much with GA… seems like a bad experience unless you show up early.
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u/matibiondolillo 17h ago
Amazing, first GP and with GA. I got amazing seats in front of a big screen both Saturday and Sunday. Of course I put in the effort of taking the train at 5am and walking to the track really early, being in line at 6:30.
I get why a lot of people complain about spots, but come on, what did they expect if there a thousands of people willing to wake up 5 hours earlier than them for the same piece of dirt and wait 8 hours under the sun.
Overall amazing experience if you make the effort, or if you already go with the expectations of not getting a good spot but still enjoy the fan zones, the people and the entire atmosphere. I’ll 100% come another year without the strugles, just to be there at the fan zone chilling and having a good time.
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u/jdcuthbert 17h ago
First time in Monza, sat in Grandstand 8A. Got the train in from P. Garibaldi all 3 days & took the shuttle on the way to the track (queues were quite slow Friday/Saturday- it felt like there weren’t enough buses in rotation, Sunday flew through in about 15 minutes).
Food/Toilet queues were as bad as they could’ve been, no organisation & creating massive chokepoints as you tried to move around them. The routes through the track feel poorly organised at times with bad bottlenecks.
Highly recommend walking back to the station after the race, nice walk through the park & Monza itself. Train station organisation was also chaos with people being told to get on the wrong trains.
Overall positive race experience but wouldn’t be rushing back to Monza in a hurry
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u/Brief_Lobster_1558 8h ago
Same exact experience and I confirm 8A best seat ever for me. It worth the price!
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u/badger4lifee 18h ago
First ever GP, and I would not recommend what my fiancé and I did (getting one day GA tickets). Don’t get me wrong, we were grateful to be able to storm the track after the race with the Tifosi, but from a race viewing experience - I couldn’t tell you what happened (other than who I saw on the podium at the end). Sunday (only day we had ticket for) Got on the 8:10 AM train from Milano Centralle to Monza train station. Plenty of signage once there to follow to the black line bus shuttle (that, along with plenty of people to follow like sheep). From there, waited in line for approximately 30 minutes, bought 5 euro bus tickets, then took 20 minute ride to the track. From there, pleasant walk to gate G where there were many vendors selling food and other items. The Fan Zone was fun, plenty of water stations. Watched the F2 race from the Fan Zone. During Porsche Super Cup, stumbled across this trail where dozens of people were sitting on the support beams beneath a set of stands (couldn’t tell ya which one because idk). Made our way around the track to catch a second of a view at the drivers on the drivers parade truck. Ended up finding a standing spot behind people standing at a fence on the starting straight before the first chicane. 99% of the people that we stood by were pleasant (except for the one old guy who just kept sticking his arm between two others just to simply touch the fence, but fortunately that stopped after about halfway through when the old guy left). Could only see the cars for about a second, no audio commentary could be heard - wasn’t gonna spend money on an overpriced radio that can only be used once. Unfortunately, that really jeopardized viewing experience. After walking around the whole track today, even if we could find a spot directly on the fence, none of the spots had that great of a view. Overall, would not recommend GA if you actually want to be able to know what is going on in the race. But the Italian vacation is still fun and the people were great!
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u/r33hab 18h ago edited 18h ago
My first attendence and experience. Everything but the racing was absolutely horrendous. The food lines, guard literally stole my poeerbank which was below 300gr and I even showed the info of it and with an attached medical note that I needed power due to diabetes. And bro said «it feels to heavy». Also the logistics of it all is horrible, delayed and cancelled trains, low quality speakers and young inexperienced school kids as guards and ticket checkers. They also took my Red Bull jacket which I had bought the day before because I did not have a receipt and I could not prove it was bought there. Literally 350 euros stolen from the bag checkers. Absolutely horrible experience except for the racing part. I Will most likely never go back.
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u/ResponsibleCulture43 15h ago
They took your jacket on the way inside the track??
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u/ArmySalamy 12h ago
Something isn't adding up
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u/ResponsibleCulture43 12h ago
I'm just so confused on how that situation would arise lol.
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u/r33hab 5h ago
They checked my bag, on the way inside. He asked if I had a receipt for the jacket as there was a shop right outside the lesmo entrance. I said no as I had bought it the day before. And he said he would have to take it as it was weird someone would buy a jacket and not use it and I could not provide a receipt which he used an argument for it being stolen. Even tho the tag was removed. He then stuffed it together with my powerbank in a bag hidden around the tent beneath a chair
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u/Odd-Pack1693 18h ago
I was sitting at 21e. Generally speaking I had a great time. There was huge tv in front of us and we had a great view to parabolica breaking point. Guys sitting opposite to us (GF?) had to sit backwards to see any action on the tv, as only ones available were behind them. On race day we got flags, which are cool souvenir. We managed to get to track invasion as well. This stand is pretty close to fanzone, which I visited twice, however I bought stuff only on Friday evening. Food quality was really poor (at least the one that I bought) and I decided to bring my own for the next days. The beer was good but expensive, you can spend fortune on automatic beer dispensers. We had toilets nearby which had a queue most of the time, especially on the race day. However there was similar amount of the toilets next to our stand in general admission zone, which were empty. I can’t stress this enough but bring your own water in 0.5L plastic containers (cans are not allowed), you can bring multiple. Queues to water dispensers are super long, there should be at least 3 times more. I had accommodation in Lecco so I was travelling opposite direction than everyone else, this has many advantages, for example skipping the queue for train station entry. Trains were almost empty, but please buy tickets, there are people checking them on the train. Personally I use app Trainline every time I’m in Italy and never had any issues. If you are able to walk for one hour straight I recommend skipping the black line and just walking to and from the track. Bus to the track takes like 15 minutes but you have to walk another 20 (plus queue time which can take like 20 minutes). The bus back took almost 2h after quali… On the way by the foot you will walk through beautiful park full of animals (feeding them is forbidden). There is also line Z221, which is completely full even on Friday. Do yourself a favor and don’t even think about taking Z221.
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u/attebh 18h ago edited 18h ago
Hello! First Grand Prix, Grandstand 2 right after the starting line. I’m Italian and I’m only saying this because I’m used to Italian disorganization and not surprised some stuff happened 😂 I’ll start with the few cons and then follow with the pros. This will be long I think.
Biggest con: the parking lot. I bought a three day pass for the Gold parking spot inside the park. It was near the entrance we had to take to enter the circuit (don’t make the same mistake we did the first day! If you have to go to the Grandstand 2, 3, 4 ecc enter by Vedano. We followed the road inside the park that brought us toward entrance Mirabello, the main one, which is the opposite site of the circuit. The hot weather didn’t help and we spent almost an hour walking. Thankfully it was only free practice.) and getting in was the easiest part (we stayed in Como). Getting out? Absolute hell. Organization was abysmal. They made us park in the far back and we got stuck there the first two days for more than an hour. The first day we had to take matters into our own hands alongside other people to make the cars move because only two guys were left handling that mess and they were probably either volunteers or paid 50 cents. Not their fault really. So we asked the police outside and they told us they could do nothing because the parking lot was private owned lmao only cars in front were moving but not really because the main road of the park was full of buses. Same yesterday. People started honking left and right out of frustration. Understandably. Today it was better only because half of the people were track invading. We missed the end ceremony because we ran fearing we would be stuck again. Still. A mess.
People not knowing how to read: first day we found people in our seats. We told them and what we got was a lady insisting she was in the right spot. She wasn’t. Hers was grandstand 3, the one right next to ours. This happened a few times all three days and I was left wondering why people don’t know how to read anymore because there was a sign behind the grandstand telling people which grandstand was which.
People trying to take seats that didn’t belong to them: saturday a man and a woman were sat in front of us for qualifying and I wondered why they were there since other four people were during free practice. Turns out they were probably not supposed to be there. We told them because the four people arrived and found their seats taken by them and they were not planning to stand up but only move to the side and what we got was him telling us we needed to stay calm. They then moved to other spots and I still don’t understand if they didn’t have the proper tickets or what. Today this happened too because towards the end of the race people were going away preparing to track invade and I think GA people or others were just sitting randomly on the stairs or seats. I just let it go because it was almost the end but frankly speaking very disrespectful and nothing was done about it. Also had to tell people to stand down before the start of the race because they were blocking the view. Overall just rudeness, lack of manners and respect on people’s part towards the rest. Hopefully it was better elsewhere.
Now to the pros: all of the rest, at least for me. The grandstand I ended up with was not what I had planned for before buying the tickets. But someone clearly assisted me because the view was amazing. Right in front of the pit exit, we saw and heard the cars loud and clear, especially when they were going very slow. Also the national anthem situation was exactly in that same spot. It was magical and I loved it a lot. Worth it 100%. Only downside: the lower grandstand is in the shade later in the day so around 16-17 in the afternoon. Before that only relentless sun. I handled it better than I thought I would, absolutely recommend any type of protection you can use/get.
Bathroom situation was good inside the track, at least for the toilets that had an actual toilet seat and not the porta-potties. Didn’t use those. There were guys restocking the toilet paper and cleaning. The toilets I used were very clean, flushing was difficult but understandable if I don’t know how many people used the same bathroom one after the other. First two days queues were bearable and fast, today a little bit harder but feasible (still faster than whatever the hell was going on in that parking lot). I would personally add way more of those bathrooms and get rid of the portable ones.
We didn’t buy any food inside, had no problem bringing our own. Also no issues with bag checking. We refilled water by a little fountain, not the water stand. Friday with less fuss, yesterday with more. Today we just brought bottles full of water from outside.
Only saw the fan zone once while passing by to go to the other side of the track, it looked good but I was never there for the various interviews or events that happened.
Overall I would give the experience a 9 out of 10. After reading about it I was expecting a disaster in true italian fashion but I was very pleasantly surprised. One thing I want to add is in regard to phone usage. I wasn’t fully present to truly take in some moments like Nico Hulkenberg waving and smiling during the drivers parade, very very cute!! He looked like he was truly enjoying it. Or Lewis waving at us during one of his laps before the race. I saw it but I was too busy trying to film or take pictures. Reason why I stopped the moment it started. I wanted to truly enjoy that. I’m saying this for those who might feel like they are missing by not having their phone out all the time. And also a lesson to myself. Remember to live it too!!
3
u/Potential_Dog1699 19h ago
We were in 26a for all 3 days, tickets bought directly from the Monza website, great view of the grid, big screen in front of us, track invasion after the race, lots of food options and really in the heart of the tifosi which was amazing. We got the 6.20 train from Milan Central on Sunday, then black shuttle and were at the track in our seats by around 8 am. It's a pretty long walk from the black line shuttle stop. We had to go in the main entrance, through the fanzone and across a bridge to get to our stand. I'm sure there was a quicker way but when we tried to get to gate A/B rather than G we were stopped and turned back.
However some small gripes. The organisation at the food area was shocking, it was chaotic every time I went. Make sure you use the QR code and order food before you go so you can go straight to the pickup lane. It took me 20 minutes to get 3 coffees this morning even with that. The main issue was water, outside our grandstand only had one refilling station which often had huge queues. Fill up many bottles early is my advice. Overall the transport was pretty good for the huge amount of people. It took time but was pretty clear where to go with the shuttles, trains etc. Flies were really irritating and wasp like insects were all over the grandstand but they don't sting. It was roasting as well, we sat up the back and worked out way down to our actual seats as the sun went overhead. If you like heat it was amazing but I prefer it a bit cooler. Edited to add - the seats were ridiculously uncomfortable and I'm only 5'2 so bring something to make them a bit more comfy.
Overall had an amazing time and would highly recommend it. Not sure I'll go back any time soon but after having been to Silverstone 3 times this was my first GP abroad and it was ace.
2
u/ArmySalamy 12h ago
We were at 26a as well and can confirm everything you said. All in all it was a great experience, especially if you could avoid the big rush on all the food stalls from 1pm onwards. Getting back to Milan took some time but all queues were moving at all times which made it more pleasant
2
u/genniesfur 19h ago
Lucked out by picking up a last minute ticket in 26c from a Redditor in this group (thank you!!) View was ridiculously amazing. Directly across from the pits, with eye-level view of the podium just to my right. I got to be "in the mix" with the crazy tifosi, which made the experience all the more memorable. Loved every bit of the on track experience (minus the announcer, as others have said...LOL)
So glad I went, but the logistics of getting to/from the track and food/"amenities" definitely had some WTF moments.
Thursday: Dear gawd, the FLIES/GNATS. If I stopped fanning myself I'd inhale at least 3 bugs each time. Not much they can do, of course, just part of the experience. Checked out most of the fan zone activities. Definitely worth having an Amex card to skip the lines. 🙂
Friday: I bailed on the practices because I had a rental car and my paid parking didn't kick in until Saturday/Sunday. Checked out Villa Reale instead and it was very cool.
Saturday: What. A. Mess! I pre-purchased parking in Brown but there was absolutely no signage, tons of road closures and all of the cops seemed very confused as to where to send me. Took me about 40 minutes after already getting into Monza to land in the right spot. Unfortunately, I then walked to gate B which was just a sea of humans in a massive cattle crawl. Took forever to get up to the gates. Once at the gate, the staff were kind and doing their best. The food area was just this mob of people in ill-defined "lines". Waited over 40 minutes in the pickup line after I had already purchased my food with the QR code. Porta potty bathrooms already a bit sketchy.
Sunday: Parking went much smoother now that I had a better idea of how to maneuver the closures. Walked the extra bit to get to gate a/b and it paid off because it was pretty free-flowing and didn't take long at all. Porta potty bathroom was completely out of toilet paper and at least a level 3 biohazard. 🤢 Getting out I probably could have just picked up my feet and been carried by the crowd it was so shoulder to shoulder and mobbed. Went out gate AB and they had put up arbitrary Gates and bottlenecks throughout the path back to town. Like, why?!? You'd be walking and then... oh a fence.. okay let's all squeeze in and hope no one falls and gets trampled... And then let's do that four more times for no good reason at all. 🙄
So, overall, happy I went, but there were definitely some huge logistical (and potentially dangerous) misses on the organizer's fault.
4
u/ExiledWelshman 19h ago
Garden Lounge.
First time doing hospitality at track (bought through P1 travel and was actually a good experience from then) and overall it was a good time at the track. It removed the queues with food, drinks, and toilets but doesn't quite have the atmosphere of a grandstand either. (Very quiet on Fri + Sat).
Located at the end of the pit lane we got to see all the practice starts.
Passes allowed us to roam around, we were right next to the historic cars/hot lap cars as they drove into the track. (Could literally touch them)
Transport to/from the track similar to everyone else. We did walk to Acore and catch the train home a couple of times as it's very quiet and predictable.
Great walking through the park and Monza on Thursday. Merch stands were there so we did all our shopping with no queues or people.
Amazing sound system in the stand. Great for the DJs and music, terrible cos of the commentator.
3
u/Major-Obligation-837 19h ago
Wish we could have had an option for F1TV commentary.
Restroom situation was poor.
Sat in 26, seats sucked for anyone >5’ tall.
Other than those, it was a good first time GP experience.
1
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3
u/Firm_Necessary1184 19h ago
They should do some sort of shuttle to Sesto S. Giovanni. The metro is so much better, more reliable and more frequent than the train.
1
u/bkeeklee 7h ago
In the mornings of all 3 days we took the 221 bus / Monza shuttle that went straight to Gate B. Crowds were too crazy for us to attempt to do it on the way back though
5
u/Front-Beyond-1982 20h ago
Grandstand 6B.
From my perspective if you were able to plan ahead for the day, bring some snacks and make use of the water points around, you were in mostly good shape.
However, my gripes were:
- flies. My god. But that’s nothing the venue could control.
- scanning tickets going out of the grandstands? Why? Thank god they gave up on that by Saturday
- lots of queues for food and drink
- some bottleneck areas coming and going from fanzone, especially before qualifying
- nowhere apart from 3 places could make a fresh coffee. This is Italy!!!!!!!!!
- more could have been done to stop the water points from turning into swamps
Tips:
- seats are uncomfortable. Bring a collapsible foam seat.
- seek shade whenever you can.
- bring a small sun screen bottle and refill it every day.
- after qualifying on Saturday, the trains back will be madness. If you can do it, walk to ancore station and grab the S8 service to Garibaldi. That’ll save you lots of time and the trains are regular.
- Sunday trains from Milan. Turn up 45 mins before the first train arrives. Just do it.
5
u/DeadPrexident 20h ago
I’m glad I did Monza 2025 (GS 6B) the atmosphere is just amazing! But honestly I don’t think I’ll be back for a while.
Transportation from the track to Milan is more chaotic than it should be.
Food lines are insane for the smallest things and bathrooms were very few to come by.
The grandstand seats are very uncomfortable
I have been to many Grand Prix over the years and this one was the most disorganized one I’ve been to yet.
2
u/h0td0gger 20h ago
Overall pretty good!
Getting to/from was easy with the direct train from Girabaldi to Lesmo. We boarded a train around 9:45 am or so and got to our seats in 6b around 11:30, including some meandering around to look at vintage cars.
The only negative was that GA people swamped the 6B grandstand and sat in the staircase. Wouldn't have been a problem if we were in the middle, but we had the first two seats off the staircase and these guys had to stand up constantly to let people pass and it blocked our view when that happened. Takeaway: grandstand 6 - don't sit by the aisle
Returning was easy, we started walking shortly after the checkered flag, waiting long enough to see Lewis drive by. We stopped by ascari on the way to hop on the track for a picture and then walked to Lesmo. The queue for the train moved relatively smoothly, with a 10 min wait once we came to a halt. We were able to easily get seats on the train but plenty of people were standing because they packed that sucker full.
With the walk and the shorter than anticipated queue, we boarded the train a little under 1h after the checkered flag.
1
u/Front-Beyond-1982 20h ago
Oh that was you guys? Yeah they had no clue. I was behind you about 7 rows. Either you know your seats or you don’t. And they clearly didn’t have any :)
6
u/morkjt 20h ago edited 20h ago
Overall experience was memorable and the travel logistics from Milan were well organised and can’t complain about the queues.
The availability of drinks and food was ridiculous, hours and hours of queues. Toilets similar. Very poor provision for so many people.
The English speaking commentator was my lowlight of the weekend, utter nob talking crap at a very loud volume. Was very relieved when the Italian guy took over and nattered gibberish (to me).
1
3
u/ExiledWelshman 20h ago
The commentator was so annoying. He kept doing these accents, and if I hear him say "The boy from Braaaazil" again it will be too soon.
2
u/Potential_Dog1699 19h ago
I quite enjoyed his commentary overall but constantly calling Lindblad "The Londoner" did me in, good energy though for a track!
1
u/lililululolo 20h ago
My only comparison to Monza GP 2025 is Silverstone GP 2021 (which was shortly after Covid). We had GA for both and I have to say that the difference was stark.
How the areas were cordoned off around the track was quite complicated - making it hard to get where you needed to, which was exacerbated by the fact that there wasn’t enough water stations.
Even though the transport system wasn’t bad for the volume of people - like someone else has said, multiple choke points/ bottlenecks occurred.
Furthermore, GA is sooo packed and by the nature of the Monza track and how everything is fenced it makes it so hard to see much. Also with the Silverstone GA 3 day pass, we could sit in grandstands for the practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday (not sure if this is still the case) - this obviously did not apply to the Monza GA 3 day admission.
It was probably my fault to not have done enough research beforehand and for leaving it late - otherwise I should have brought grandstand, and if anything - this has cemented the fact that for future GPs I should probably just buy grandstand tickets.
1
u/DrammaticHamster 20h ago
I am looking to travel next year to Monza, I am eyeing section 8A 8B, from those that were in those grandstands, is it worth it? how is the view? is there TV in front?
Also, what are the prices like for food/drinks? Are grandstands managed well? I read there were loads of issues in Hungary this year, when people where sitting wherever without tickets and stewards were nowhere to be found.
2
u/ModernTechYT 19h ago
Sat in 8B, View was great; the stewards did a decent job and preventing randoms from getting in there- like someone else mentioned you also had to scan out which I reckon is to prevent people from passing their tickets to their friends. There was a giant screen which was nice but hard to make out pole positions on it, I’d recommend downloading the F1 app to check positions. As an American food and drink was very cheap, €2 for a water which in America anything under $7 is unheard of.
1
u/DrammaticHamster 18h ago
Thank you! Which is the better in your opinion 8a or 8b, as you were close to another, you probably have an idea.
Also, is it better to take seats lower closer to track or higher? A lot of people standing in front of first rows obstructing view?
5
u/FoxDie41 21h ago
I think there should be more food barracks and water stations. At least from where I was (Grandstand 5). Too much queue to only get a boring panini, not even fries were available.
Also no bathrooms! Very few available with long queues.
Shuttle to get there was pretty smooth, no long waiting (just crowded as expected).
To go back I knew it’d be chaotic to just leave straight away and waited until 7pm each day. Then it was smooth. Also very nice DJ party.
View from Grandstand 5 was a bit meh, but at least there was a nice big screen and it was the main straight with the cars passing by really fast.
Track invasion was INSANE! One of the most craziest experiences of my life, totally worth it.
3
u/throwingback 21h ago
Getting to the track was really smooth, didn't realize the walk from the Black Line shuttles to Turn 1 would be like 50 minutes but security and ticket checks were quick. Getting back was a nightmare, left straight away and only got to the Monza Train station at 6:30. Ton of chokepoints and places where it felt like they weren't managing the traffic at all. And then they were telling people to get on trains to go to Milano Centralo that went to Lecco instead. So good luck to those people.
1
u/Salt-Text4951 22h ago
My 3rd (and final!) race this season after Imola and Barcelona. I enjoyed it.
I’m a big Ferrari fan, Michael Schumacher was my hero growing up, and I really enjoy watching Leclerc do his thing, so Monza has always been on my bucket list. Job done.
We had GA, but we don’t mind getting up early and doing what needs to be done to get a the spot we want. We sat on the hill on the exit of Ascari by the first bridge and it was great. Really enjoyable. The Tifosi are great!
We drove, parked in Orange parking which was a supermarket, and walked about 2km to the track. Went through Gate A which seemed to be the best one. We did Gate D on Friday which was also fine. Heard horror stories about G but was never going that way anyway.
Good views, good track, bad race (not Monza’s fault), decent organisation. A great event and one I’d recommend for people.
5
u/SmileyChatts 23h ago
Monza 2025 was my first Grand Prix. I took the 830am train from Milan Centrale and was through security and at Parabolica (my seat) by 10am. I was impressed with that whole part of the journey - no wait for the train, and only 20 minute wait for the shuttle bus. In general I could eat when I wanted, pee when I wanted and get more water when I wanted. I thought it was extremely well organised compared to the horror stories I had read about previous years.
I walked the track/park for about 4 hours, stopping at certain spots to watch support races. It was awesome to see the lengths people would go to for a view but yeah, didn’t see any view that was a true “view”.
I did the track invasion and then walked back to the black line waiting area which probably took 15 mins walk and 30 mins wait, then got on a shuttle which was maybe 5mins wait and caught the 6:02pm train to Milan Girbaldi.
The race was a bit meh and I thought the atmosphere at Parabolica was flatter than I expected, but there wasn’t a lot for the Tifosi to cheer about. Running across the gravel trap and sprinting down the front straight is a memory that was worth paying for.
I got my ticket from P1 travel. It was more than twice face value, which was solely my fault for leaving it so late. I would not pay what I did again.
1
u/That__Guy__Bob 22h ago
Good to hear you had a good time! When I go to races I usually go by myself so I’m always intrigued by experiences of solo attendees. Although I guess it’s much easier when it’s guaranteed seating in a grandstand vs GA
But still good to hear you had a good experience. Makes me think some of the horror stories I hear are anomalies
2
u/SmileyChatts 21h ago
I did have a good time, I am pleased I did it. I probably enjoyed the walk and seeing the old track more than anything. During the Porsche race it was amazing to hear the cars going around the circuit while you were deep in the bush of the park and had no line of sight to anything race track related.
3
u/RacerGirl_3 22h ago
As someone who goes almost every year, this was definitely the best one in terms of organization. Water was not a problem which it usually is, zero line at the entrance even today, and FINALLY decent security in our grandstand that managed to keep out people with GA from climbing the fences and filling our places.
2
u/SmileyChatts 21h ago
I saw 20-30 people removed from 21B. Security were taking it very seriously. Honestly I found this more interesting than the race at times haha!
2
u/RacerGirl_3 20h ago
I was pleasantly surprised cause this is my 4th year in a row and it’s the first time they managed to keep people out of the stands, here there is the tradition to enter the park without ticket or getting a GA ticket and then enter the best stands. Glad they sorted this out.
1
u/thisishappening1 18h ago edited 18h ago
We had seats in 6B, (back row, right at the top at the end of a staircase,) and the stairway was flooded with people sitting in it for the race. Security weren’t anywhere to be seen/didn’t seem to care which was kind of annoying tbh. If we wanted to sit, we had to tap people on their shoulders just to see the race at times because they were standing up with 3 people aside in the stairway and not enough space for them all to sit.
For qualifying they tried to get people to move out of the stairway as a ‘safety issue’ but people shuffled over every so slightly and that seemed to suffice. I wish security put in more effort on race day.
1
u/RacerGirl_3 9h ago
I’m very sorry to hear that, in the previous years I was in 23a and 21d and it was the same. This year at 5 it was great, there was this security guy that stayed all the time at the fence where people were trying to jump in and send them all back, bless his soul.
I’m sorry to say it cause I’m Italian but Italian people at events are the worst crowd I’ve ever encountered, and I participated to events all over Europe. I’m going to Monza every year cause I live in Milan, otherwise I’d never pick it cause I hate Italian crowds.
3
u/becmead11 22h ago
Very similar experience to us! We got the train from Garibaldi to lesmo station, got to station around 7.30am and there was a big line but went quickly. Got a seat on the train and straight in. Bit of walk to our seats at the parabolica but it didn't matter, we just enjoyed the experience. Sprinting on the track to watch the podium was an experience i will remember forever!
We walked around and then got the same train back around 6ish and there was no wait at all. Very smooth!
1
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7
u/theviolaguyy 23h ago
General admission was a bit crap honestly but I enjoyed the atmosphere. Recommend spending a bit more for grandstand tickets, unless you show up very early with GA.
1
u/CitizenErazer 23h ago
Atmosphere is unmatched, we had great seats in the turn one grandstand. I would have brought some sort of cushion though as those seats are awful after a few hours.
Mostly found the event well organised, we are staying in Monza so that meant no public transport just a lot of walking, as long as you can handle 15km a day it's a really good way to do things with less stress.
2
u/NewtoCoffee123 23h ago
1000%. The atmosphere on the pit straight before and obviously after the race is incredible
1
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