Bernabéu
The only stadium on earth to host both a UEFA Champions League final and a Copa Libertadores final — and the first in Europe to crown both a World Cup and a Euro.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Madrid offline.
Opened in 1947 on a 1943 presidential declaration — "Gentlemen, we need a bigger field and we are going to build it" — the Bernabéu has hosted four Champions League finals (1957, 1969, 1980, 2010), the 1964 European Nations' Cup final, and the 1982 FIFA World Cup final. Its 2024 renovation added a retractable roof and brought capacity to 83,186, second in Spain only to Camp Nou.
What to look for
- The retractable roof, completed in the late-2024 renovation — a structural change that visibly reshapes the bowl
- The sheer scale: 83,186 seats arranged around a single pitch, the second-largest football ground in Spain
- Tributes to Santiago Bernabéu (1895–1978), the president and former player whose 1943 ambition transformed a 25,000-seat stopgap into this venue
Renovation completed late 2024 — if you visited before, the retractable roof and reconfigured seating are new. Located in the El Viso neighborhood, Chamartín district.
Bernabéu is one of 31 sights worth the detour in Madrid, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Madrid pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Madrid
- Museo del PradoThe Spanish royal collection — 7,600 paintings accumulated over centuries — opened to the public in November 1819 and never looked back.
- Metropolitano StadiumThe pitch that staged the 2019 Champions League final will host another in 2027 — and is shortlisted for the 2030 World Cup.
- Royal Palace of MadridThe original Alcázar burned to the ground on Christmas Eve 1734 — what the Bourbons built in its place is the largest palace in Western Europe.
- Museo Reina SofíaGuernica — Picasso's 1937 painting of wartime devastation — hangs here at full scale, in person.
- Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy)A duke's private library meeting in 1711 grew into the institution that still rules what counts as correct Spanish — for Spain and 22 other Spanish-speaking nations.
- Almudena CathedralMadrid became Spain's capital in 1561 and waited over 300 years for a cathedral — then took another 110 years to finish it.