Ajax Stadium Tour

If you’re a fan of football then it makes sense to try to find some time on your trip to Amsterdam to visit the home of one of the game’s greatest ever players. Johan Cruyff won everything there was to win with Ajax as a player, returning to win again as a manager before taking on something of a Director of Football type role.

It was thanks to his success that a decision was taken to name the home of the club, previously known as the Amsterdam Arena but becoming the Johan Cruijff ArenA in his honour. If you fancy heading there then the tour might be just what you’re after.

With a capacity of more than 55,000, the Johan Cruyff Arena, to give it its more poplar and less stylised name, is the largest football stadium anywhere in the Netherlands. That means that it is one of the best venues in the country where you can watch anything from football to music concerts.

It also means that it is where many of the Netherlands’ international matches take place, in addition to having hosted major tournaments including matches from two different European Championships. The tour is all-encompassing, letting you get to know this amazing venue.

How to Get There

For those that are keen to visit the Johan Cruyff Arena, perhaps to learn why it’s sometimes called that and sometimes stylised as the Johan Cruijff ArenA, then you’ll no doubt be keen to learn how you go about getting there. The home of Ajax Football Club is well-connected to other parts of Amsterdam thanks to the excellent rail system.

If you find yourself at Amsterdam Centraal Station, for example, you can get Sprinter trains to the area that the stadium is based in every 20 minutes or so, depending on the time of day that you’re there, with the journey taking about 15 minutes.

The metro might be something that you will be keen to take, given its simplicity. Metro lines 50 and 54 will take you both Amsterdam Strandvliet station and Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station, with the latter being the more convenient as it will bring you out in the heart of Arena Boulevard.

Strandvliet usually has smaller crowds on match days, though, so it’s entirely up to you which exit you choose to take. Each one will offer more convenience depending on the part of the stadium that you’re wanting to get into, so do your research before you go so you know where to head to.

Arena Boulevard

If you’re heading to the stadium purely for the purposes of doing a tour then you can ignore this section, but if you’re also hoping to head there on a match day then this is well worth knowing. Arena Boulevard is the area around the stadium and there are plenty of bars and restaurants, as well as some fast food venues, for you to head to in order to get a few drinks or a bite to eat before the game.

They will, of course, be open most of the time, so it is also a good thing to know if you’re heading to the area before a tour and fancy having a pint or a some food beforehand.

Mainly, the area is great to head to on a match day in order to soak up the atmosphere. Many of the fans head here, so you can get into the swing of the game before kick-off. There are plenty of different options, meaning that you can usually pop into one after the match in order to let the crowds dissipate.

If you’re mainly heading here for the tour then Arena Boulevard is a really fun place to have a walk around in order to get a sense of what it must be like on a match day, with supporters filling up the bars and singing the songs that accompany the team during the game.

Ajax Stadium Tour Packages & Prices

If you’re wanting to get a tour of the arena then you should be aware that there are a few different options available to you.

Obviously prices change all of the time, but the sections below gives a look at what each of them cost at the time of writing, in order to give you some sense of what to expect.

Classic Full Tour Experience

See the most exclusive hotspots, get an audio guide and enjoy a virtual reality experience. 1 printed photo included

• Rough Time: 1 Hour
• Cost: From €35

Guided Tour Full Experience

A real-life guide takes you around, telling you stories from Ajax’s past. You also get the virtual reality experience and the 1 printed photo included

• Rough Time: 75 Minutes
• Cost: From €39

VIP Full Tour Experience

Doors that are closed to other tour types get opened on the VIP Full Tour Experience, with drinks included alongside the virtual reality experience and the 1 printed photo

• Rough Time: 2 Hours
• Cost: From €60

Classic Tour

Taking you around the key parts of the stadium, the Classic Tour lets you feel like a player much on a match day. You get neither a guide nor an audio guide included

• Rough Time: 1 Hour
• Cost: From €20

Guided Tour

As with the Classic Tour, the Guided Tour takes in all of the crucial areas of the stadium but with the assistance of a real-life guide, who will fill you in on stories from the club’s past

• Rough Time: 1 Hour
• Cost: From €27.50

VIP Tour

A slight step down from the VIP Full Tour Experience, this tour type lets you see areas that are off-limits to the Classic Tour and the Guided Tour. You get to sit and have a drink with one of the best views in the area, get taken around by a guide and receive an exclusive scarf

• Rough Time: 2 Hours
• Cost: From €45

Classic Tour with Golden Trilogy Tour

You not only get to enjoy everything included in the Classic Tour, but you also get to enjoy the Golden Trilogy Tour, which looks back at the period time when Ajax won three European Cups in succession

• Rough Time:
• Cost:  From €30

Classic Tour with Audio Guide

The Classic Tour is one of the most popular, but you don’t get any information about what it is that you’re looking at. That is why a lot of people also choose to add in an audio guide

• Rough Time: 1 Hour
• Cost: From €23

Classic Tour with Virtual Reality Experience

This allows you to not only enjoy the Classic Tour, but to have the added fun of the Exclusive Virtual Reality Experience. You can stand close to the players before the head onto the pitch, as well as see what the dressing room looks like on a match day

• Rough Time: 1 Hour
• Cost: From €28

Kids Tour

Young people are the lifeblood of football as a sport, which is why the tour that is aimed specifically at kids is so popular. It is a lot like the Classic Tour with a guide, only the kids get to have a kickabout together on the side of the pitch

• Rough Time: 2 Hours
• Cost: From €15

Where You Can Go

As you can see, each tour offers something a little different from the one before. They mostly take in a lot of the same places, though, with the following being what you can expect to see:

• The Boardroom
• A Skybox
• The Home Dressing Room
• The Away Dressing Room
• The Mixed Zone
• The Players’ Tunnel
• The Manager’s Dugout
• The Pitch
• The Press Room
• The Ajax Gallery of Fame

Some will offer a little bit more, whilst others might miss out certain areas. If you go on a match day, for example, then there is a good chance that you won’t be allowed into the dressing rooms as the two teams will be using them to prepare for the match ahead.