Few stadiums announce themselves before kickoff quite like the Allianz Arena. Drive north out of Munich on a matchday evening and you'll spot it long before you reach it — a vast cushion of light glowing red against the Bavarian sky. For a ground-hopper, this is one of the essential pilgrimages in world football, and one of the most photogenic grounds you'll ever tick off your list.
Allianz Arena
75,000 capacity
View stadium →A facade like no other
The Allianz Arena opened in 2005, designed by the celebrated Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron — the same practice behind London's Tate Modern and Beijing's "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium. Their signature move here was the exterior: 2,760 inflated ETFE plastic panels that wrap the entire building like a quilted shell. Locals quickly nicknamed it "the inflatable boat" (Schlauchboot), and the name stuck.
What makes the facade famous, though, is that it lights up. Each panel can be illuminated independently, turning the whole arena red when Bayern Munich play, white for German national team fixtures, and — in the stadium's early years, when the club shared the ground — blue for 1860 Munich. On a clear night the glow is visible from miles away, including from aircraft on approach to Munich Airport. It remains one of the most instantly recognizable buildings in all of sport.
The numbers that matter
The arena holds around 75,000 spectators for Bundesliga football, sitting on the Werner-Heisenberg-Allee in the Fröttmaning district on the city's northern edge. The pitch is a hybrid grass surface, reinforced with synthetic fibers to survive Munich's long, cold winters and a punishing fixture schedule. The three steep tiers wrap tightly around the field, and because there's no running track, every seat sits close to the action — a deliberate contrast to the multi-purpose bowls that came before it.
The ground earned its Euro 2024 host status with ease, staging the tournament's opening match and a semi-final, and it has a long history of marquee occasions: it hosted the opening game of the 2006 World Cup, the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, and the 2025 Champions League final, cementing its place among Europe's elite venues.
Matchday: the Südkurve and the noise
Don't let the sleek, futuristic shell fool you — inside, the Allianz Arena delivers a proper German football atmosphere. The heart of it is the Südkurve, the south stand, home to Bayern's most committed ultras. It's a single-tier wall of standing support (German grounds famously retain safe standing terraces) that orchestrates the chants, flags, and tifo displays throughout the match.
A few practical notes that shape the experience here. The arena is fully cashless, so bring a contactless card or phone for food, drink, and merchandise — no euros required at the kiosks. There's a dedicated family section and accessible seating, plus a designated away end for traveling supporters. The ground is comfortable for international visitors, with free wifi throughout. Two things to plan around: there's no re-entry once you've passed through the turnstiles, and there's no bag storage on site, so travel light and leave large bags at your hotel.
Getting there
Reaching the Allianz Arena is refreshingly simple, which is part of why it's such a popular ground-hopping target. The U6 underground line runs directly to Fröttmaning station, from where a well-signposted walkway delivers you to the stadium in around 15 minutes alongside the matchday crowds. The journey from Munich's city center (Marienplatz) takes roughly 20–25 minutes. Driving is possible — there's a large multi-storey car park beneath the arena — but on big matchdays public transport is far less stressful, and your ticket often includes local transit.
Arrive early. The approach across the elevated esplanade, with the illuminated shell swelling above you, is one of the best stadium walk-ups in Europe and deserves a few minutes (and a few photos) of its own.
The stadium tour and FC Bayern Museum
Ground-hoppers who can't make a match — or who simply want the full story — should book the Allianz Arena tour, which pairs with the FC Bayern Museum, the largest club museum in Germany. The tour takes you into the players' tunnel, the dressing rooms, and pitchside, while the museum tells the story of Germany's most successful club through its trophies, including its haul of European Cups and Champions League titles. It's an easy half-day even on a non-matchday, and a strong addition to any Munich football itinerary.
Why it belongs on your list
The Allianz Arena is the rare modern stadium that feels like an icon rather than a commodity. It marries world-class architecture with a genuinely loud, terrace-driven matchday culture, and it sits in one of Europe's most rewarding cities to visit — Munich pairs its football with beer halls, the Englischer Garten, and easy day trips into the Alps. Whether you catch Bayern under the lights, a Germany international, or simply tour the ground on a quiet afternoon, this is football tourism at its most photogenic.
Planning a German ground-hopping trip? Explore our other Bundesliga guides — including the famous Yellow Wall at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park — and start mapping out your route. The glowing giant in Munich is waiting.