San Siro: The Cathedral, and What Happens to It After the 2026 Olympics

Italians call it La Scala del Calcio – the opera house of football. San Siro, officially the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, holds around 75,000 people and is shared by two clubs who both consider it home. From Taylor's Love Solferino B&B the metro runs almost to the gate.

Stadio San Siro – Giuseppe Meazza, Milan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Getting There from Our B&B

By metro: from Garibaldi FS, 700 metres from the B&B, take the M5 lilac line directly to San Siro Stadio – the last stop, about 15 minutes. Door to door: roughly 25 minutes, with no changes.

On match days: allow considerably longer. The M5 is packed for two hours before kick-off and for an hour afterwards.

Built by a Club President, Named After a Player

The stadium was built in 1926 and paid for by Piero Pirelli, then president of AC Milan. It was an English-style ground: rectangular, steep, with the crowd right on top of the pitch and no running track.

Inter moved in as tenants in 1947, and the two clubs have shared it ever since – an arrangement almost unique in European football.

The three tiers and the eleven spiral concrete towers date from the rebuild for the 1990 World Cup. In 1980 the ground was renamed after Giuseppe Meazza, who played for both clubs. Milan fans generally still call it San Siro; Inter fans are more likely to say Meazza.

What You Can Visit

• Museo San Siro – the joint museum, with trophies, shirts and memorabilia from both clubs.
• The stadium tour – dressing rooms, the tunnel, pitchside and the press area. Not available on match days or the day before major games.
• A match – the real reason to come. The Serie A season runs from August to May.
• The Derby della Madonnina – Milan against Inter, twice a season. Tickets are extremely hard to get and expensive.
• Concerts – San Siro hosts the biggest summer stadium shows in Italy.

Practical Information

• Museum and tour: generally 09:30 to 18:00 daily, around 25 to 30 euro combined.
• Match tickets: from roughly 25 euro in the upper tiers to well over 150 for big fixtures. Buy through the official club sites.
• Identity documents: Italian football requires the ticket to carry the holder's name. Bring the passport that matches it.
• Check before travelling: tours are cancelled around match days.

The Olympic Question

San Siro will host the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Beyond that its future has been debated for years: both clubs have pushed for a new stadium on the site, which would mean demolishing most or all of the existing ground. Nothing is settled, so if seeing San Siro as it is matters to you, do not put it off indefinitely.

Why Staying in Brera Makes the Difference

Taylor's Love Solferino B&B is at Via Solferino 56 in Zone 1, the historic centre, between Brera, Moscova and Corso Garibaldi. Garibaldi FS is 700 metres away and the M5 runs straight to the stadium – which after a night match, in a crowd of seventy thousand, is worth a great deal.

For travellers who prefer a short stay apartment in Milan centre to a hotel, the B&B offers free self check-in with a smart lock, so a late return is never a problem. The same station connects directly to Malpensa Airport with the Malpensa Express.