Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona, is Europe’s largest and the world’s fourth biggest football stadium. The sporting arena has hosted many World Cup football finals and was witness to some of the gripping soccer matches. Let's take a stroll through the home ground of the iconic Spanish football club.
Much more than football
Camp Nou is a massive stadium with a plethora of gates. Football aficionados and others visiting the stadium should enter through gate no.9. As you step into the stadium complex, an exclusive Barca store on the left will catch your eye. And on the right there is a small game platform ‘Robokeeper’ that can test your goal scoring skills. A tour fee of 26 euro should be paid at the stadium or online to get a feel of this magnificent sporting arena.
Museum with huge collection of memorabilia
The museum is decked in striking blue and red colours of FC Barcelona, and one has to pass through the museum to enter the inner cordon of the stadium. The rich museum houses numerous trophies and many souvenirs that reflect the history of football. The trophies right from 1902 along with the jerseys of players and goalies, boots, footballs and documents relating to each match are exhibited at the facility. The six golden boots and six Ballon d’Or awards won by Argentinian great Lionel Messi stand out in the museum. The trophies pocketed by women football teams are also on display.
Air thick with memories
Once you exit the museum, you will be at the central area of the stadium that is laden with football memories. The chairs here are painted in the Barca colours of blue, red and yellow, that too in dark shades. The stadium with a seating capacity of close to one lakh is the largest in Europe and fourth biggest in the world. The visitors can step into the press conference hall, where coaches and players had addressed the media, and the dressing rooms of the players. After that wonderful experience, you can walk through the tunnel and enter the hallowed green turf. It is the dream of every football fanatic to take a pic at this ground that is too familiar through TV footages and photos. The visitors can also buy Barca souvenirs such as key chains, coins and magnets from a stall near the ground.
Barca shopping zone
After spending some time at the turf, you can enter an area where Barca’s golden era is revisited through videos and photos of various players. Next on the list of Barca must-sees is the majestic shopping zone, spread across three floors, which has an exhaustive collection of the Spanish football club-related merchandise including jerseys. The visitors can buy anything from this megastore and there is an array of chairs, modelled after stadium gallery, where one can relax after hectic shopping.
The press gallery is situated on the top tier of the stadium. Another highlight of the visit to Camp Nou is the theatre area where the extraordinary moments in the history of FC Barcelona are screened like a movie. The model of the new stadium, which has state-of-the-art facilities and can accommodate more than one lakh spectators, is also displayed.
