Coming to NJ for the World Cup? Here’s what Tony Soprano would show you

Somewhere right now, a soccer fan in Milan or São Paulo or Manchester is booking flights to New Jersey for the World Cup.

They've got their MetLife Stadium ticket for one of the eight matches being played there this summer — Brazil vs. Morocco on June 13, France vs. Senegal on June 16, Ecuador vs. Germany on June 25, or maybe they splurged for the Final on July 19. They've got their hotel. They're Googling what to do in New Jersey.

Here's what I want to tell them: Welcome. And also — we need to talk about the train.

The NJ Transit situation

The normal round-trip fare from New York Penn Station to MetLife Stadium is $12.90. For World Cup matches, NJ Transit originally planned to charge $150. After blistering public criticism, they reduced it 30% to $105. The train tickets go on sale May 13.

So the reduced price is still an 800 percent markup on an 18-mile trip. No, you are not being shaken down by the Soprano crew. It just feels that way. In New Jersey we call this a Tuesday.

Meanwhile Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles are not raising fares at all for their World Cup matches. Los Angeles is charging fans $3.50 round trip. New Jersey is charging $105. Our motto is officially "The Garden State — now with 800 percent surcharges."

The train gets you to the stadium. It does not get you anywhere else. And New Jersey is not a place you experience from a train platform. So after the match — rent a car. Because there is a drive waiting for you that no shuttle bus will ever find.

Tony Soprano's New Jersey

If you are flying in from Europe or South America for the World Cup there is a reasonable chance you are also a Sopranos fan. The show has been streaming everywhere for twenty-five years. It is the most internationally famous thing New Jersey has ever produced, including Bruce Springsteen and the Parkway.

Tony Soprano would have had complicated feelings about the World Cup. He was a football guy. Boxing. Basketball. The kind of man who watched games with other men and argued about point spreads and ate too much while doing it. His son A.J. played football and Tony was proud of it the way only a North Jersey father can be proud of a son playing football.

But Meadow played soccer. High school soccer, suburban New Jersey, travel teams and early morning games. Tony Soprano drove to those games. He sat on those sidelines. He knew the sport existed.

So in honor of Meadow — and because you're already here — here is the Sopranos driving tour you should take while the rest of the crowd is fighting over $105 train tickets.

SEE ALSO: Why the Sopranos never filmed in the NJ Pine Barrens 

The route: MetLife Stadium south to the Shore

Start at MetLife in East Rutherford — the same sports complex Tony passed every time he came home from New York. Then head south and don't rush.

Your first stop is North Arlington. Pizza Land at 260 Belleville Turnpike is right there on the approach road, exactly as it appeared in the opening credits, and it is still serving pizza after all these years. Order a slice. You've earned it just for finding the place.

Continue south into Kearny. Satriale's Pork Store exterior was at 101 Kearny Avenue. It is a parking lot now. Stand there for a moment and feel something. The building is gone but the address isn't — and that is very New Jersey.

Keep heading south into Jersey City where you'll find the Wilson's Carpet store at 220 Broadway — home of the giant Paul Bunyan-like statue that Tony passed in the opening credits every single week. It's a marijuana dispensary now, which is also very New Jersey.

Now head northwest to Lodi for the one detour this route requires — and it is non-negotiable. Satin Dolls at 230 Route 17 South is the real name of the real bar that became the Bada Bing. It is still open. There is a sign outside acknowledging the Sopranos history. Go in for a drink, look around, and appreciate that you are standing in one of the most famous locations in television history. Silvio Dante ran this place. Act accordingly.

Back southeast into Essex County, which is where the show really lived. Verona first — Livia Soprano's modest white house at 55 Gould Street, worlds away from Tony's money and Tony's problems. Then North Caldwell — 14 Aspen Drive, the Soprano house itself, the brick McMansion with the pool and the ducks and the driveway that launched a thousand photographs. Real people live there. Do not pull into the driveway. Actual families have been dealing with Sopranos tourists for twenty-five years and they have earned their peace.

Bloomfield is your last North Jersey stop — Holsten's diner on Park Street, that last booth, that last onion ring, that cut to black. If you know, you know. If you don't know, watch the finale and come back.

Then point the car south toward Monmouth County and the Shore. Before you leave Essex County, find a real North Jersey Italian restaurant — not the hotel, not the chain. Find one with a warm and convivial host who stops by your table to say hello and make sure you are taken care of. Enjoy his hospitality. Just hope he doesn't stay too long. Sopranos fans will know exactly what that means. Everyone else will figure it out.

Stop at a Sunoco somewhere on the route and pay $4.50 a gallon. Welcome to New Jersey. It costs what it costs.

End at the Shore — Asbury Park, Long Branch, the boardwalk. Get a slice somewhere along the way. Find a pork roll sandwich and try to explain it to whoever you brought with you.

You came for the World Cup. You might leave a Sopranos pilgrim.

Tony would have respected that. Probably.

The practical details

MetLife Stadium hosts eight World Cup matches between June 13 and July 19, including the Final on July 19 at 3pm. FIFA rules require the stadium to be called New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament — we can't even keep our name for six weeks. Do not light a cigar in the rental car. The fine will hurt more than the gas prices.

👇 And for even more Sopranos filming locations with addresses and photos, check out Erin Vogt's awesome gallery below! 👇