A football cathedral to rival any other (Nou Camp Stadium)

Member Name: mrjoegoodwin

Product:	Nou Camp Stadium
Date:	18/05/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap ticket prices, excellent stadium tour, great stadium food

Disadvantages: Hard to buy face value match tickets in advance, top tier is HIGH if you don't like heights!

For any self respecting football fan, no trip to the city of Barcelona should be complete without visiting the famous Camp Nou stadium, located to the north west of the city centre.

On non-match days, tours of the stadium and its accompanying museum are offered in a variety of languages, and proved to be a useful and interesting insight into the club, its members, and history. The museum is filled with memorabilia from Zamora's gloves, to Stoichkov's boots, whilst the access to the media centre and changing rooms offers plenty of chances for you to take photos. If you are lucky, the first team may be having a training session at the adjacent training stadium (joined by a walkway to the main Camp Nou arena) whilst the tour is going on.

Access to the pitch itself is restricted, but you do get access to the best seats in the stadium (ask the guide, and he/she will tell you where the King sits when he visits!), which offer the best view of the majestic arena. From here, the pitch looks more like a bowling green, such is the fantastic condition that it is kept in, a far cry from some of the pitches in the UK, especially those who groundshare with rugby teams during the winter (Wigan/Watford take note).

The two tier stadium shop sells everything you might expect from such a massive club...and much more besides, and the temptation to come away with armfuls of goods is hard to resist.

Visiting Camp Nou on match day is the experience to go for though, and despite the fact that all matchday seats are officially taken by the lists of season ticket holders & members in advance, it is easy enough to turn up on match day at the box office and buy returned or spare tickets at face value. For those who have to plan it out in advance, premiums can be paid to official tour companies, but unless the game you plan to see is against one of the biggest teams in the league (Real Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and city rivals Espanyol), it makes prudent sense to wait until you arrive.

Ticket prices vary hugely, but decent seats in the top tier can be had for around 15 Euros, and whilst you are high up, the atmosphere crackles all round the stadium. A top tip is to buy one of the excellent hot dogs from the vendors inside the stadium - proper Catalan sausage in a baguette for a decent price. Puts English stadium food to shame! If you really want to fit in, take a white handkerchief with you to wave at opportune moments when the referee makes decisions against the home team!

FC Barcelona and the Camp Nou should be on the must see list for any football fan, and even if you're not a sports fan, is worth a visit on your holiday to Barcelona.

Summary: A must see for any football fan