Visiting the San Siro: My Matchday Experience in Milan

Sunset at the San Siro, one of the most memorable views I've experienced inside a football stadium.

My experience of visiting Milan's iconic San Siro Stadium — from climbing its famous spiral walkways to watching the sun set through the roof during a match.

The San Siro is on most football fans' bucket lists. It is easily one of European football's great stadiums. And with the news that it will no longer exist in its current form in the coming years, if you haven't yet been, now is the time to make the trip.

Whenever the San Siro is mentioned, your immediate thoughts may be iconic, intimidating and ferocious. But I found it joyful.

Everything from the tram journey to the stadium, to the bar I found on a road to the west of the ground, to the views across the city and the sunset once high up inside.

Of course, in life the reward often comes after some hard work. And at the San Siro, that is very much the case.

If you're sitting in the upper tiers, your first challenge is to walk up those famous spiral walkways. It can feel never-ending, but once you have summited the San Siro, the view is something rather spectacular.

At A Glance

Location: San Siro, Milan, Italy

Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza / San Siro

Home Teams: AC Milan & Inter Milan

Experience: Matchday

Getting There: Milan Metro or Tram

Time Needed: Allow several hours before and during the match

Best For: Football, stadium architecture & European sporting history

My Tip: Choose an evening game and, if possible, time your visit to catch sunset during the match

Worth It? Absolutely. One of Europe's great football stadium experiences.

First impressions of the San Siro

The San Siro's concrete towers and red roof beams make it one of Europe's most recognisable stadiums.

Your first impression of the San Siro will greatly depend on your travel plans.

First, if you're flying into Milan Linate Airport and have a window seat on the left-hand side of the aircraft, there's a chance you'll fly directly over the stadium, which gives you a brilliant sense of what is to come.

My first glimpse of the San Siro came from the air, flying into Milan Linate Airport with the stadium clearly visible below.

On the ground, Milan's Metro network will take you quickly and efficiently to the vast area the San Siro sits on. The only problem with this route is that it's underground, so your first sight of the stadium comes when you emerge from the station.

That's if you can tear yourself away from the cleverly located AC Milan and Inter club shop as you exit the ticket barriers down below.

I took the Number 16 tram from the city centre, which gives you a much better experience of the city and, importantly, the approach to the stadium.

I took Milan's Number 16 tram to the San Siro, a great way to see more of the city on your journey to the stadium.

With the tram stop right outside this colossal building, it's a brilliant arrival.

From the outside, the stadium is huge, but it is made to feel even bigger by the fact it is surrounded by very little. Vast areas of tarmac, used for parking and events, surround parts of the stadium, with parkland to the west and north.

You can see why AC Milan and Inter plan to remain in this area with their new stadium. There is plenty of land to play with.

In many ways, this giant of a stadium doesn't fit in.

Brutalist architecture, iconic red steel beams and enormous cylindrical towers. None of it screams 'beautiful', yet you're attracted to it at the same time.

It has an aura.

A pre-match drink outside the San Siro

When you get off the Metro or tram, it's tempting to head straight into the stadium or visit the club shop on the southern side of the San Siro.

But for me, it's worth taking a short walk west onto Via Federico Tesio, where you'll find the Tenconi Old Pub.

Chatting with an AC Milan supporter during my pre-match stop at the Tenconi Pub near the San Siro

It's a perfect pre-match setting, with football memorabilia lining the walls inside and outdoor seating offering views back towards the San Siro.

It's an unpretentious place, with good food and friendly service. It's also easy to get chatting to other fans while sitting outside, looking towards the stadium and ahead to the match.

The famous San Siro walk to the top

It's important not to get too carried away at the Tenconi Old Pub, however. There is work to do if you're sitting in the San Siro's upper tier.

Those enormous concrete cylindrical towers aren't just for show. They're your route to your seat.

The San Siro's famous spiral walkways lead supporters towards the stadium's upper tiers.

They are perhaps even more iconic than the stadium itself. The way they stand around the ground like giant legs. The way they almost appear to be spinning when you watch thousands of people walking up and down them.

And then there's the simplicity of the experience when you're actually inside one.

Given the architecture, it could feel like you're walking through a multi-storey car park, going round and round a concrete tower as you steadily climb higher.

This is anything but a multi-storey car park, though.

This is one of the great arrivals into a football stadium anywhere in Europe.

And actually, climbing a steady incline for five to ten minutes is probably easier than tackling hundreds of steps at many football grounds.

Inside one of Europe's great football stadiums

High in the San Siro's upper tier after making the climb to the top.

Once you've reached the top, you get your reward.

Welcome to the San Siro.

Soak it up. Drink it in.

It's enormous and steep, although not quite as steep as Valencia's Mestalla Stadium, another iconic European ground soon to be replaced by a new-build, aptly called the 'New Mestalla'.

My seat was in the upper tier and, from inside, the four huge corner towers frame the stadium perfectly.

Little did I know that inside these corner towers are actually concession stands serving the upper tiers, with windows allowing you to keep an eye on the match while queuing for your food and drink.

When the San Siro is eventually replaced, I really hope the new stadium includes some sort of architectural throwback to the iconic nature of this historic ground.

Behind each goal, the seats climb all the way to the back of the stadium.

But to my left, the grandstand is lower, leaving a wonderful view back towards the city of Milan from my position high in the northern stand.

To my right, the main stand rises to roughly the same level as the stands behind the goals.

But all around the stadium there is a gap between the top of the seating areas and the roof, which is suspended high above the stadium by those four enormous corner towers.

Despite there being plenty of places for the noise to escape, with the San Siro far from fully enclosed, it doesn't diminish the sound inside.

Ferocious. Noisy. Passionate.

Everything this stadium deserves.

But friendly too, I should point out.

Fans were happy to chat to a visitor, proud of their home and seemingly pleased that I was getting so much joy out of experiencing it.

The best surprise? Sunset over Milan

Watching the sun set through the San Siro roof was one of the highlights of my visit.

The fact the San Siro isn't fully enclosed also creates one of the best views I have ever witnessed inside a football stadium, if you time it right and the weather plays along.

From the north stand, high up in the upper tier, the view to my right as the sun began to set was nothing short of remarkable.

The final rays of daylight came streaming through the gap beneath the San Siro roof, glistening off those enormous red roof beams and creating a mesmerising backdrop to the match.

The green of the pitch below. The blue of the sky above. Huge stands packed with people. And then the setting sun bursting through the structure of one of football's most recognisable stadiums.

It was quite a view.

If you're choosing between fixtures for your own visit, I'd seriously consider an evening kick-off around sunset.

Obviously, sunset times change throughout the season and you can't predict cloud or bad weather when buying your tickets months in advance.

But give it your best shot. Look at the sunset time before choosing your fixture, arrive early and hope Milan gives you a clear evening.

You might just get one of the best views of your trip.

Is the San Siro actually a beautiful stadium?

The San Siro may divide opinion from the outside, but under the floodlights and packed with supporters, it's a spectacular sight.

Beautiful probably isn't the first word I would use to describe the San Siro.

From the outside, there is a lot of concrete. Those enormous cylindrical towers dominate the structure, while the red steel beams added as part of the redevelopment for the 1990 World Cup sit almost aggressively above it.

It's imposing rather than elegant.

But that's also what makes the San Siro so special.

Too many modern stadiums can feel interchangeable. Comfortable, efficient and impressive, certainly, but sometimes lacking the quirks that give a sporting venue its identity.

Nobody could accuse the San Siro of that.

You could show me one of those spiral towers, one of the red roof beams or a glimpse of the enormous tiers inside and I would immediately know where I was.

So, is the San Siro beautiful?

Maybe not in the traditional sense.

But is it one of the most distinctive, charismatic and memorable stadiums in world football?

Absolutely.

And I'd take that over beautiful any day.

Why every football traveller should experience the San Siro

Some sporting venues are worth visiting regardless of who is playing.

For me, the San Siro is one of them.

AC Milan and Inter have provided more than enough history here to make the stadium one of the great cathedrals of European football, but you don't need a Champions League semi-final or Milan derby to appreciate the place.

The stadium itself is part of the experience.

Take the tram out from central Milan. Have a drink near the ground. Walk beneath those enormous concrete towers. Join the steady procession spiralling towards the upper tiers.

Then emerge at the top and take in the scale of the stadium below.

And if you're lucky, watch the sun disappear behind it all.

Modern football will inevitably move on and Milan will eventually have a new stadium.

It may well be more comfortable. More efficient. More technologically advanced.

But it will have an enormous amount of character to replace.

Is visiting the San Siro worth it?

Absolutely.

If you love football, stadiums or travelling for sport, I think the San Siro is one of those venues you should experience at least once.

That doesn't mean it's perfect.

Depending on where you're sitting, you can be a long way from the pitch. The stadium is ageing. The facilities aren't comparable with Europe's newest grounds and getting to the upper tiers requires a bit of effort.

But I wouldn't let any of that put you off.

In fact, some of those imperfections are part of what makes a visit memorable.

My biggest recommendation would be to make more of your visit than simply turning up for kick-off.

Take the tram. Arrive early. Explore the area around the stadium. Stop for a pre-match drink.

And if the fixture times work in your favour, choose an evening game where you have a chance of seeing the San Siro at sunset.

Because for me, that was the moment that turned visiting an iconic football stadium into a memorable sports travel experience.

Final Thoughts

The San Siro is one of Europe's most iconic football settings

I went to the San Siro expecting to experience one of European football's great stadiums.

What I didn't expect was for one of my favourite memories to have very little to do with the football itself.

It was the journey out from Milan on the tram. Seeing the stadium grow larger as I approached. Sitting outside a local bar before kick-off. Climbing those famous spiral walkways. And finally reaching the upper tier to find the sun setting through the roof of the San Siro.

That's what great sports travel can do.

The match might be the reason you make the journey, but sometimes it's everything around it that you remember most.

The San Siro won't be around forever in its current form.

So if it has always been on your football bucket list, don't leave it there for too long.

I'll continue sharing sports travel guides, ticket tips and experiences from stadiums, arenas and sporting destinations around the world here on Sports Travel Tom.

You can also follow the journey on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok @sportstraveltom, where I share regular ticket updates, travel guides and sporting adventures to help you travel better for sport and adventure.