Touring the legendary stadium of AC and Inter Milan: The San Siro.

A tour we did of the legendary San Siro stadium. It is the home of both AC Milan and Inter Milan two of Europe’s biggest clubs. We had originally bought tickets for the AC Milan vs Juventus back in January which “should” have been played on the 10th April, which would have tied in nicely with us arriving in Milan the day before, awesome what a cool way to start our travels… NOPE! I just thought I’d check a couple of days before we set off that all the times and dates were still fine and how to get to the stadium, this is when, to my horror that I saw they had moved the game forward a day!

I was absolutely gutted, but there wasn’t much I could do about it at this late stage. We managed to resell the tickets for slightly less than we paid, so that took some of the pain away. So after not actually getting to see the game, we opted for a stadium tour; well, we had to at least visit this legendary ground whilst we were in Milan.

History of the Ground that Two Huge Rivals Share

The stadium is actually called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but it’s most commonly known as the San Siro. Construction of the ground began in 1925; since then, it has undergone a number of renovations over the years, which have seen many different capacities. Today’s capacity is 80,018, which makes it one of Europe’s largest grounds and a must-visit place for us when we knew we’d be visiting Milan.

It is home to both AC Milan and Inter Milan, one of the fiercest rivalries in football. The ground hasn’t always been shared though; it was the idea of then AC Milan president Piero Pirelli to build a ground in the same district as the horse racing track that he owned, and he wanted it designed without an Olympic track and just purely for football purposes.

At this time, it was only home to AC Milan; Inter Milan, at this point, played their home games at Arena Civica. It wasn’t until 1947 that Inter became tenants and have shared the ground ever since.

Both clubs have a huge history, having won most of football’s biggest competitions. Even Liverpool (Shorty’s team) beat AC Milan in the Champions League final in 2005 in one of the greatest games ever played, just two years on from that victory became defeated in the final of the same competition against none other than AC Milan again.

That’s why this team in particular shares some of my fondest memories of football and why it was essential that we visit their ground.

Exploring the Stadium

Once we purchased our tickets for the tour, we could first enter the museum. The museum is split up, with AC Milan on one side and Inter on the other. It was fascinating walking around and seeing all of the different artefacts from each club.

We then asked the lady who worked at the museum where the tour started; she just pointed us around the corner. We walked around to where she pointed, expecting there to be a group of other people waiting for the next tour, but instead, there wasn’t anybody; we could just freely walk around on our own at our own pace.

This was awesome because we don’t usually like having our handheld with a big group of people, but at the same time, if there was a tour guide, he could have told us more about the history of both clubs and the ground itself.

We have been on a few stadium tours in the past, and sometimes it’s not fun being rushed through and not having enough time for pictures as everybody in the group wants the same shots. Whereas on this tour, we could take as much time as we wanted and get all the best pictures.

So back to the tour… we first went into the AC Milan dressing room; this was very cool. They had a central table with a huge AC badge on it and large, comfy leather seats very similar to car seats, which came around in a semi-circle. From there we went next door and into Inters’ dressing room; this was nowhere near as good. There was just a marble-type bench all the way around the room, definitely not as comfy as their rivals have it.

We then made our way down the tunnel where the players would all walk down to the pitch. This tunnel is randomly very long, but once we walked up the steps to pitch side, it was then that you realise the sheer size of this ground and how it would be very intimidating for the visiting team yet very inspiring for the home team.

I was just trying to imagine how the atmosphere in the stadium would have been on match day, just the day before. We sat in the dugout where we took a handful of great pictures, then we headed up to the main stand where we just sat and chilled out for a while just to take it all in. After sitting in those seats pitch-side, we hope this won’t be the last time we visit the San Siro.

Although the tour was great, I don’t think it can top the experience of watching one of these legendary teams battle it out on the pitch first-hand.

How to visit

Transport:

• Metro – M5 (Purple Line)
• Get off at San Siro Stadio.
• The stadium is a short walk away.
• Connects with M1 at Lotto and M2 at Garibaldi.

Ticket Prices:

• Adult Museum & Stadium Tour: €37
• Reduced (under 14 / over 65): €27
• Family ticket (4 people): €98
• Skywalk rooftop experience (additional): +€11
• Skywalk only: €26
• Children aged 5 and under: Free

Opening Times:

• April – October: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
• November – March: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
• The tour is normally open every day, Monday to Sunday.

Important things to know:

• Match days and concerts can affect opening times and access.
• Some dates have reduced tour availability or complete closures.
• The entrance is beside Gate 6.