Ajax visitor guide | Amsterdam Arena guide
The Amsterdam ArenA has been the home of AFC Ajax since the stadium opened in 1996. The venue is a UEFA 5-star rated stadium and cost 140 million Euros to construct; the pitch was inaugurated with a match between AFC Ajax and Italian club AC Milan. The match capacity of the arena is 51,628; this can be raised to 68,000 for concerts. The stadium was one of the venues chosen for the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament; it hosted games in the group, quarter-final and semi-final stages of the competition. Between 1996 and 2007 AFC Ajax shared the ground with the Amsterdam Admirals, a now-defunct American football club that played in the NFL Europa.
The Ajax museum is located within the stadium and has exhibits chronicling the 100+ years of the clubs prestigious history. Tickets cost just 3.5 Euros and can be bought at the stadiums main entrance. Trips to the museum can also be combined as part of the Amsterdam ArenA tour; daily walk-in tours take place Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 17:00 and depart from arena entrance E. The combined tour and museum visit takes an hour and a half and costs 9 Euros for adults.
As well as sporting events, the Amsterdam ArenA has hosted concerts by international acts such as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bon Jovi.
The stadium is located about 4.5 miles southeast of the central Amsterdam in a fairly nondescript part of the city and there are no MATCHhotels.com hotels within 1.5 miles of the ground so fans looking for accommodation are advised to choose an Amsterdam ArenA hotel in the city centre and travel to the stadium.
If you are planning to watch your team play at the Amsterdam ArenA, then it is likely that you will be arriving in Amsterdam by plane. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is located nearly 11 miles southwest of Amsterdam city centre. Getting to the city from here is easy; a train station is located directly under the terminal and several trains an hour depart for Amsterdam's central railway station. Buses and taxis are also available but the train is generally the most convenient way to journey into the city.
The Amsterdam Arena is well integrated into the cities public transport system and can be reached by metro, bus and train. Metro lines 50 and 54 both stop at the Strandvliet and Bijlmer stations; each is just a 2-minute walk to the stadium. Biljlmer also has an over ground railway station which can be reached from Amsterdam Centraal station. The stadium is served by bus lines 29, 59, 60, 62, 137, 158, 174 and 175 (all stop at the Biljlmer station). Amsterdam is famous for being a bike friendly city, so fans that are feeling green may like to consider hiring a bike and cycling to the arena, as there is parking space for 3,000 bicycles.
