San Siro Stadium

San Siro, officially the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, is one of the great cathedrals of world football, and for many visitors it is as much a pilgrimage as the Duomo. It opened in 1926, and since 1947 it has been shared by two of Europe's most successful clubs, AC Milan and Internazionale, who play alternate home games here, so that on match weekends the city divides into red-and-black and blue-and-black. The stadium you see today owes its look to the rebuild for the 1990 World Cup, when a third tier and a roof were added, carried on eleven huge cylindrical towers and crossed by distinctive red steel beams. Its size, steep stands and noise make it one of the most intimidating grounds in Europe. In February 2026 it staged the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Its future is now changing: in November 2025 the city completed the sale of the stadium and the surrounding land to the two clubs, which plan to build a new stadium nearby, so the chance to visit the old ground will not last for ever, though no date for its end has been fixed. In the meantime, visiting is easy. The museum and tour, largely self-guided, take you through the San Siro Museum, with shirts, trophies and memorabilia of both clubs and their legends, into the Milan and Inter dressing rooms, down the players' tunnel and out to the edge of the pitch and the team benches. And since May 2026 the SkyWalk has let visitors climb onto the stadium's roof for the first time in its history, walking along the red beams some fifty-five metres above the pitch, with views over the stands, the city skyline and, on clear days, the Alps.

Tickets and rules: the Museum and Tour ticket covers a visit of about an hour. The SkyWalk is a separate ticket, though the two can be combined at a discount, and it runs seasonally, from spring to autumn in line with the tour, in timed groups. It has strict conditions: closed shoes with rubber soles, no children under seven, and no access for people with vertigo, reduced mobility or in later pregnancy; bags must be left at the entrance, and walks may be cancelled in bad weather, with refunds. On match days and event days, tours are limited or suspended, so check the calendar. Tickets are sold by the official stadium site and through platforms such as Tiqets, which also offer match tickets for many AC Milan and Inter home games.

Seeing a match: nothing beats the atmosphere of a full San Siro, especially for the Derby della Madonnina between the two clubs, when both curves stage enormous choreographed displays. For ordinary league games, tickets are usually available, sometimes cheaply in the upper tiers; Champions League nights and derbies are harder and pricier. Buying requires ID, and tickets are named, so use the clubs' official channels or authorised resellers. Arrive early, as security checks take time, and expect a long, crowded journey home.

Getting there: take the purple metro line M5 to San Siro Stadio, which stops right outside, or the tram from the centre. Allow around half an hour from the Duomo. The neighbourhood has little else for visitors, but the nearby Ippodromo, the historic racecourse, is home to a huge bronze horse inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's design for an equestrian monument, a pleasant short detour for anyone interested in Leonardo.