Located on the Paseo de la Castellana, one of the Spanish capital’s most famous roads, Real Madrid’s stadium is an iconic ground that combines its shiny modern exterior, with so much football heritage and history. Our Santiago Bernabeu stadium guide will give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about the world-famous home of Los Blancos.
Real Madrid stadium history
During their early years, Real Madrid played at various small grounds in the Spanish capital, with the Campo de O’Donnell housing the team for 11 years. By the first edition of LaLiga in 1929, the club had moved into the 22,500 capacity Estadio Chamartin which served as the club’s home for 22 years in total.
Club president Santiago Bernabeu came to the conclusion that a bigger venue was needed, and what was initially known as the Nuevo Chamartin (New Chamartin) opened its doors in 1947. By 1955, the new stadium had been renamed in honour of the president.
At one point in the 1950s, the Bernabeu could accommodate 120,000 fans, but various renovations have taken place over the years since, mostly resulting in a slightly reduced capacity which dipped to below 80,000, before extensive redevelopment work in the early 2020s slightly increased that again.
Santiago Bernabeu today
- Address: Av. de Concha Espina, 1, Chamartin, 28036 Madrid
- Capacity: 81,044
- Real Madrid average attendance: 72,692 (LaLiga 2024/25)
The latest renovations have totally altered the exterior of the stadium with the old facade that looked out onto the Castellana gone, and a new steel-and-glass structure in place on all four sides. A retractable roof has also been installed which is always used in the case of rain, and is often in operation for big matches regardless of the weather.
There’s also a spectacular new 360 degree video scoreboard, comparable to those used in the NFL. Indeed, the Bernabeu will start hosting NFL games in 2025, with club president Florentino Perez keen to use the venue for more non-football events than was previously the case.
While the new exterior design has generated mixed opinions, the renovations have modernised and upgraded the stadium, making it one of the best sporting venues in Europe. It’s also one that’s capable of hosting major concerts, although neighbourhood protests over the noise such events generate have led to some cancellations and legal disputes.
The current Santiago Bernabeu capacity is cited as being 81,044, although that is somewhat flexible depending on segregation and other safety restrictions. There is already talk of around 5,000 more seats being installed, with Real Madrid facing competition from new stadiums in Barcelona and Casablanca (both of which will be able to accommodate over 100,000 people) as they seek to host the 2030 World Cup final.
Where is the Santiago Bernabeu?
The Bernabeu is located in an affluent northern district of the city, just under 5 km from Puerta del Sol, the recognised centre point of Madrid.
If you’re up for a stroll, it’s a very pleasant walk of only slightly more than an hour through some of Madrid’s liveliest neighbourhoods, with plenty of places along the way to stop for something to eat or drink.
Alternatively, the Santiago Bernabeu metro station is situated on Line 10 of the Spanish capital’s underground network with regular trains every few minutes, although it does obviously get very busy on matchdays.
Fans can also take the faster Cercanias trains from central stations such as Sol and Atocha to Nuevos Ministerios station which is only a 15-minute walk from the Bernabeu. This is often a good option to avoid the matchday crowds on the metro, although you’ll need a different ticket to the T-10 transport cards that can be used on metro and bus services.
Matchday at the Santiago Bernabeu
Real Madrid tickets
Since the recent upgrades to the stadium, Real Madrid ticket prices have gone up, with even the worst seats for the least glamorous fixtures in LaLiga now selling for more than 50 Euros. Fans can expect to pay closer to 100 or more in many cases, particularly for bigger games and/or better seats.
Santiago Bernabeu tickets were hard to come by throughout much of the 2024/25 season, despite the team’s relative struggles. While the club’s average attendance was only around 90% of its capacity, there were many matches where regular tickets did not reach general sale, or did so with only a few tickets remaining, despite official attendances being well below 80,000.
The primary method for getting Real Madrid tickets is via the ticketing page on the club’s official website, although they don’t tend to go to general sale until around a week before each match. Therefore anyone visiting the Spanish capital and hoping to take in a match will likely need to purchase transport and accommodation, before knowing whether they’ll be able to attend a game.
More tickets can sometimes be released via that method in the days building up to matchday as members release their seats, but it’s advisable to be online and join the queue when the general sale starts for the best chance.
There are a few alternative options for purchasing tickets further in advance and guaranteeing yourself a seat. Real Madrid VIP tickets go on sale before the regular seats and tend to have greater availability, although obviously come at a hefty price.
You can also use Sportsbreaks, an official partner of Real Madrid, to book package deals that include both accommodation and a match ticket.
Alternatively, you can often find seats being resold on websites such as Hellotickets, although any purchases made via third-party sites are done at your own risk.
Inside the ground
If you’ve been inside the Real Madrid stadium before, you won’t notice as many changes to the interior which basically still looks pretty much as it did before the renovation work, with a few improvements here and there.
It’s still a very steep stadium with four multi-tiered stands and all four corners filled in, meaning the fans are effectively on top of the pitch. The side stands are known as the Lateral Este and Lateral Oeste, while the end stands are the Fondo Sur and Fondo Norte. Access to the highest tiers where the cheapest seats tend to be, is via the four towers (Torres A-D) located in each corner.
The atmosphere at the Bernabeu can range from electric on Champions League nights when the fans roar the team on, to considerably more subdued for certain games, particularly when the side is not playing well when the natives are not shy about showing their frustration against their own players!
The Santiago Bernabeu away section is located in the top tier of the Fondo Norte, accessible via Torre D. Domestic opponents typically only get a small allocation, but that rises to around 4,000 for European games.
The lowest tier in the Fondo Sur is the club’s designated “singing section” AKA the Grada Fans. This is where much of the atmosphere comes from, although it no longer houses the neo-fascist Ultras Sur group who have been banned from the stadium since 2014.
Outside the ground
The Bernabeu is much better located than the Estadio Metropolitano, the other major football stadium in the Spanish capital. Within an easy walk of it, there are a huge number of dining and drinking options, although the streets immediately surrounding the stadium do get very busy on matchdays.
It’s still worth walking around the Bernabeu to take it in from all four sides, with the swanky new club store located on the eastern side accessible via Calle del Padre Damian.
If you’re looking for some pre-match food or drinks close to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, you’ll stumble on somewhere pretty much whichever direction you go, although there are more options on the opposite side of the Castellana to the stadium, ranging from Spanish food to international cuisine.
The Irish Rover, located less than 10 minutes by foot from the Bernabeu, is the largest pub of its kind in the neighbourhood, and a popular stop with visitors to Madrid looking for a beer before or after the game.
Football trips to Madrid
Stadium tours & more
Even if you aren’t able to catch a game, a Real Madrid stadium tour is still a very worthy add-on to any trip to the city. These run throughout the year, even outside of the football season, although depending on other events at the stadium it’s possible that some areas may not be accessible during the summer.
Tours start at €35 and increase to €47 for a guided Bernabeu tour. In all cases they include a visit to the club museum and a panoramic view of the inside of the stadium.
They can be purchased from the tour ticket office located close to the Bernabeu metro station where the Paseo Castellana meets Avenida de Concha Espina. However, it’s slightly cheaper to purchase in advance online via the club’s official site.
Other matchday experiences are covered in hospitality packages, with Real Madrid currently offering less extra options than some other LaLiga clubs. However, if you’re looking for additional football things to do in Madrid, you may want to check out Legends: The home of football, a large museum in the city centre which we have reviewed here.
Other local clubs
If you’re looking for another match to catch during your stay in Madrid, or have been unable to secure Bernabeu tickets, you can still usually find another game to watch in LaLiga on any given weekend in the season seen as Atletico Madrid, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano are also based in the city’s metropolitan area.
Atleti and Rayo will also be playing European football in the 2025/26 campaign, so there’ll be no shortage of elite-level action in the Spanish capital this coming season. Rayo’s crumbling Estadio de Vallecas certainly offers a very different vibe to the Bernabeu, while there are a host of options for lower-league football if that’s your thing.
Following their relegation from the Primera, Leganes will play in the Segunda Division in the 2025/26 campaign. Their Estadio Butarque can easily be reached by Cercanias trains from the centre of the city, while nearby Alcorcon play in the third tier, along with Real Madrid’s B team who play their matches at the 6,000 capacity Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on the northern fringes of the city in the district of Valdebebas.
That’s also the home of Real Madrid women who are a rising force in the female game and set to compete in the UEFA Women’s Champions League again next season, as well as Liga F in Spain.
