BayArena

It is a modern stadium that has been refurbished over the years to bring it up to the required standards for a Bundesliga ground, today.

From its halcyon days as the Ulrich-Haberland Stadion, major re-development took place in 1986 to transform the arena and further modernisation was carried out in 2007.

It enjoys plenty of space outside and in the vicinity of the stadium building, so further expansion or maintenance will likely be possible in the future.

With a capacity of 30,210, the BayArena is a mid-sized venue on par with the likes of Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena and St Pauli’s Millerntor Stadion.

The BayArena will not be a host stadium for Euro 2024.

However, football fans in the city of Leverkusen will not have far to travel to join the party.

In the state of North Rhine Westphalia where the city is located, it is a hotbed of football with a few of Bayer’s neighbouring clubs set to see World Cup games played at their home stadiums.

FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Schalke will all be hosting games next summer.

As listed on the club website, public and matchday tours are available at the BayArena with tickets able to be purchased at the stadium and online.

Check for availability before making plans.

The full price for the 90-minute stadium tour is €10 for adults, with a child’s ticket costing just €6.

You will get to see the dressing rooms, walk down the tunnel and take a seat in the dugouts as well as sitting in the press room and VIP hospitality areas.

https://www.bayer04.de/en-us/shop/bayarena-tours

Matchday tickets can be purchased online from Bayer Leverkusen’s ticket portal here: https://www.bayer04.de/en-us/shop/tickets

Prices for single-game tickets to see Die Werkself are very affordable, reflecting the sensible approach that is taken in Germany allowing ordinary people to get along to support their club.

Ticket prices vary from €15 to €50 depending on the stand and category you are allocated, as well as the fixture.

Generally, tickets will be available to members and season ticket holders before any public sale goes live.

As usual on Football Ground Guide, we advise you to use public transport to get to the stadium and you will be well-served in Germany.

Parking is limited at the BayArena but there is a shuttle service.

Parking is available at Kurtekotten – at the “Chempark” S-Bahn station – from two hours before the start of the match. The car parks can be reached via Otto-Bayer Straße (Cologne).

The shuttle bus service commences two hours before the game, it will start travelling from Kurtekotten to the BayArena, ending at the street “Am Stadtpark”. From there, it is a short walk to the stadium.

You can avail of the same service for two hours after the game is finished.

Away fans are located in the southwest corner of the stadium, including basic seating and standing options.

The area offers an unrestricted view of the action, at a level that is closer to the pitch than most grounds.

Away supporters will have food and drink provisions available, both outside and inside the BayArena.

There are several bars and restaurants to visit near the stadium, whilst you will have plenty of fast food options to choose from.

Street drinking is legal in Germany. You will see people congregating, talking and enjoying each other’s company with a can or bottle. The reason you will also see some others collecting the empties in large numbers is due to the deposit scheme on bottles which means you can earn a few Euros if you wish.

Winner’s Place, Haus am Park and Pizzeria Da Franco are three restaurant options near the stadium.

Schwadbad (at the stadium), BAX biergarten and Brauhaus Janes are all located on Bismarckstrasse, next to the BayArena for a cold German beer.

As a small industrial city, Leverkusen is not Cologne or Dusseldorf in terms of its scale and provisions, but there is ample hotel space if you wish to stay close to the BayArena.

Hotels such as Lindner Hotel (adjacent to the football ground), Leoso Hotel, Ibis Budget Cologne Leverkusen, and Hotel am Stadion are all located less than a mile from the home of Bayer Leverkusen if you want to stay in the city.

The primary football rivalry in the North Rhine Westphalia region is that between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but games between the three clubs will often be referred to as a Rhine Derby in different contexts.

Bayer Leverkusen’s main rivals would be 1. FC Köln, as much as the Billy Goats would see ‘Gladbach as their true rivals.

The close proximity of the respective cities creates local rivalry and tension in games between Bayer and Cologne, even if the Leverkusen club have had the upper hand in recent decades in their fortunes on the pitch.