The Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid
The Bernabéu is the home ground of Real Madrid and one of the most visited places in the Spanish capital. This guide covers the stadium’s history, what changed with its recent rebuilding, how the stadium tour works and how to get there. Madrid’s tourist board notes that the ground was called Estadio Santiago Bernabéu until November 2025 and is now presented simply as the Bernabéu; visitors will still see both names in use.
A short history
The stadium was inaugurated in 1947 under the name Nuevo Estadio Chamartín. Its later name honours Santiago Bernabéu, who was president of Real Madrid from 1943 to 1978. Real Madrid itself was founded in 1902 and, according to the city’s tourist board, has more than 85,000 members.
Over the decades the ground has staged some of football’s biggest matches. It has hosted the finals of the 1964 UEFA European Championship and the 1982 FIFA World Cup, as well as four European Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. The first of those came in the 1956/57 season, when Real Madrid won the trophy for the second time in front of their own supporters. Spain’s tourism website states that the stadium holds UEFA’s highest rating, category 4, and that it is the second largest stadium in Spain.
The rebuilt stadium
A long renovation was completed in 2024. The project, by the architects GMP, L35 and Ribas, wrapped the stadium in a new outer skin and added a large cornice over the main entrance that covers a 2,000 m² atrium. Two features matter most to visitors:
- A retractable roof, which allows the pitch to be used in any weather and reduces noise for the neighbours.
- A retractable pitch: the grass can be stored underground and replaced with other surfaces, such as parquet or concrete, depending on the event.
The capacity stayed almost the same, at 80,242 seats, and 800 new places were created for spectators with disabilities. New doors, escalators and lifts make the building easier to move around. Because of the roof and the removable pitch, the Bernabéu now also hosts concerts and other sports. One example is American football: the NFL has brought regular-season games to the stadium, the first in November 2025 and the second on 8 November 2026.
Tour Bernabéu
The stadium can be visited on almost every day of the year with the Tour Bernabéu. The route includes:
- the museum, with interactive screens and the club’s trophy collection, including its 15 European Cups
- a panoramic view of the inside of the stadium
- the changing rooms and the benches at pitch level
- the official shop
The entrance to the tour is at Gate 84, on Avenida de Concha Espina. The tour is open every day except 25 December and 1 January. On days without a match it runs from 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and from 9:30am to 6:30pm on Sundays and public holidays. On match days the tour ends five and a half hours before kick-off. On the day before a match and on match day itself, the changing rooms and benches are closed and only the museum and the panoramic view can be visited.
Tour prices are published on the club’s website. Tickets are valid only for the date and time chosen when buying. Buying online is cheaper: tickets bought at the box office, at Paseo de la Castellana 140, cost €3 more. Routes and timetables can change when the stadium hosts other events.
Going to a match
La Liga usually starts in the last two weeks of August and ends at the end of May, so there are home matches throughout the academic year. The exact day of many league matches is confirmed only some time after the fixture list appears, which is worth remembering before booking travel. The matches that traditionally draw the largest crowds are those against Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Food and drink
Since November 2025 the stadium has had its own food hall, Bernabéu Market, entered through Gate 54. It covers about three thousand square metres, holds up to 1,000 people and brings together close to twenty food counters. It is the last stop of the tour, but it is also open to people who are not visiting the stadium. On match days it closes to the public from two hours before the game until one hour after it.
Getting there
The stadium stands at Avenida de Concha Espina 1, on Paseo de la Castellana in the north of the city centre.
- Metro: Santiago Bernabéu station on line 10, next to the stadium.
- Cercanías trains: Nuevos Ministerios station.
- Bus: lines 14, 27, 40, 43, 120, 126, 147 and 150.
- Bicycle: BiciMAD docking stations at Paseo de la Castellana 124 and Paseo de la Habana 42, among others.
For students
The tour fits into a free morning or afternoon; on a non-match day the full route, with changing rooms and benches, is open. Students spending a term in the city can combine it with other sights described in the guide to monuments in Madrid, such as the nearby Torres KIO further up the Castellana. For those thinking of a longer stay, see the Madrid city page and the list of schools in Spain.
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