10 stops along the Real Madrid tour of Santiago Bernabeu

real madrid bernabeu tour
Real Madrid, in all its splendour.

In my previous post on the ‘8 scenarios where the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid is worth a visit‘ I mentioned that if you have half a day to spare in Madrid and would like to take a break from museums, the Santiago Bernabeu is the place for you.

However if you need to be further convinced, here is a list of the 10 stops along the Real Madrid tour of Santiago Bernabeu, accompanied by pictures. I would also suggest that you be there early, as long queues were starting to form past 11am, with the arrival of several tour buses.

real madrid bernabeu tour queue
The long queue which had formed after us.
real madrid bernabeu tour tickets
Happy to get hold of the tickets, finally!

1. Panoramic view of the stadium

real madrid bernabeu tourseats
It’s quite a sight to see the uniform seats in colours of blue and grey.

At Stop 1, you get a bird’s-eye view of the stadium, though I the views will be much better at pitch level. If it’s your first time visiting the Santiago Bernabeu, you may be taken in by the vastness of the stadium. It’s a whooping 81,044 seater, which has 30,000 more seats than the National Stadium in Singapore.

real madrid bernabeu tour blue seats
View from above.

2. ‘Best Club In History’ Room/ 3. Sensations Room/ 4. Photomontage

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Entrance to the ‘Best Club in History’ Room.

I would lump areas 2, 3 and 4 together as they are similar. Essentially, it’s a dark, sleek exhibition area with numerous interactive elements. As mentioned in the previous post on whether the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid is worth a visit, the ‘Best Club in History’ Room simply features a treasure chest of Trophies, videos of winning matches and a prized collection of soccer boots and autographed soccer balls from stars of the past and present. There’s also a prized collection of jerseys to check out.

real madrid bernabeu tour trophy
One of the many trophies you would see.
real madrid bernabeu tour shoes past
Soccer boots of the past.
real madrid bernabeu tour balls old
Balls of the past.
real madrid bernabeu tour shirt
This shirt really looks nice.
real madrid bernabeu tour trophy
A grander trophy…
real madrid bernabeu tour
LCD displays which depicts information about the club.
real madrid bernabeu tour soccer balls
Newer balls.
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Roberto Carlo’s boots.
real madrid bernabeu tour casillas glove
The boot looks like it has been through a lot.
real madrid bernabeu tour jerseys
Jerseys from the current team.
real madrid bernabeu tour cassilas glove
The golden glove from Casillas.
real madrid bernabeu tour book
This is an interactive book which resembles an actual book. You can literally flip the pages.
real madrid bernabeu tour twitter map
Checkout the number of Twitter mentions of Real Madrid, real time across the world.
real madrid bernabeu tour sound
It’s called the Sensation Room for a reason. Put your ear close to the speakers… You’ll be able to listen in to commentaries of previous matches.

5. Pitch

real madrid bernabeu tour green field
What lush green grass! Lovely.

Construction works were being done when we were there. We could see the tractor removing a layer of grass, and then replacing it with a new turf. The grass is green and lush, well expected of the world’s top football clubs.

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The stadium looks better on closer look.
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The Presidential Box is right across.

6. Presidential Box

real madrid bernabeu tour vip area
The view of VIPs, away from the hot sun.

This is where the VIPs sit. It’s actually not the most interactive place, though you’ll get a chance to watch the match away from the summer’s heat and rowdy screaming fans. The seats are made of leather and have a nice head rest, (also a nice place to rest your legs at the halfway mark of the tour).

real madrid bernabeu tour vip area
Leather seats at the Presidential Box.
real madrid bernabeu tour vip area
Welcome to the world of the rich and famous. VIP room for match-watching.

7. Real Madrid Dressing Room

real madrid bernabeu tour shower
The showers are done up very well.

This is my favourite of all parts of the tour – I’m finally in the player’s dressing room! 😀 It’s pretty cool as you literally have the chance to be in the exact room where the players mingle, before, during and after the match. The shower facility was clean and sparkly, and they have really comfortable massage beds in the dressing room as well.

real madrid bernabeu tour massage bed
Comfortable massage beds.

The locker room is spick and span, unfortunately, you will not be able to find Cristiano Ronaldo’s sweaty football jersey there, or his half-used bottle of cologne. #justsaying.

real madrid bernabeu tour locker room
Standing in Real Madrid’s locker room. Alas Raul has been dethroned by Cristiano Ronaldo.
real madrid bernabeu tour shower
Not sure what is this – a sauna facility?

8. Tunnel, Dugouts and Technical Area

santiago bernabeu tour tunnel
From the dressing room – through this tunnel…

The tunnel like what its name suggest, looks like an ordinary tunnel. To add a tinge of excitement, I imagined Raul Gonzalez, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo walking through the tunnel for a big match, their hearts thumping in excitement as fans cheered them on across the stadium.

santiago bernabeu tour tunnel
And then you emerge!

The seat reserved for the manager of the club is pretty comfy, though I doubt it would add any real comfort as he is seen walking up and down the field shouting orders most of the time. Nonetheless, it was nice to be able to trace the player’s footsteps as they entered the pitch. And imagine the anxiety of reserves as they wait to be appointed as substitutes.

9. Press Room

real madrid bernabeu tour press room
Hot seat for the players.

The Press Room did not offer much, apart from a microphone and a wall plastered with logos of Real Madrid’s various sponsors. That being said, the seats are there for you to rest the legs, should you get tired out after the long walk around Santiago Bernabeu.

real madrid bernabeu tour press room
Where the journalists will be seated.

10. Official Store

real madrid bernabeu tour souvenir shop
A Real soccer ball. Wow…

As mentioned earlier, the Official Store is meant to draw our consumer instincts with its lovely selection of balls, jerseys, mugs and scarves. A must-go if you’re into collecting such paraphernalia.

real madrid bernabeu tour souvenir shop
The storefront looks really sleek.

For more information on the Bernabeu tour, visit the Real Madrid Site.

Some key pointers:

TELEPHONE: +34 91 398 43 70
EMAIL: tour@corp.realmadrid.com
TIMETABLE: Open every day except the 25th of December and the 1st of January
NON-MATCH DAYS:

  • Monday to Saturday: from 10.00 to 19.00
  • Sundays and public holidays: from 10.30 to 18.30.

MATCH DAYS:

On match days, tours are available until 5 hours before the beginning of the game. After that time and until 3 hours before kick-off, it will only be possible to visit Best Club, the Trophy Exhibition and the Panoramic View of the Stadium.

TICKET OFFICE: Tickets are sold in Ticket Office 10 beside Gate 7 (Paseo de la Castellana, the entrance to Tower B).

PRICES: Adults €19.00, Children (up to 14 years of age) €13.00

ACCESSIBILITY: People on wheelchairs can only visit the “Best Club in History” room, the Sensations Room, as well as the technical area for free along with a companion.

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