La Liga Travels: AJ’s tips for Barca and Real Madrid games
Guest writer AJ Nelson (@FootieObssessed) wanted to share her trials and tribulations after a whirlwind visit to Spain from Boston. Enjoy!
How long did you go to Spain? I was there for 10 days (4 in Madrid, 7 in Barcelona)
How many matches did you attend? Where or how did you get tickets? I went to 3 matches (1 Real Madrid game and 2 Barcelona games). Because their stadiums are so big, you can almost always get a single seat up to the match day (2 together is sometimes a challenge, but you can often get them in the same section so that’s not too bad). Typically, the “extra” seats for the matches go on sale about a week before the match. The exception on getting tickets is El Clasico (and some of the big Champions League matches). I can give you some hints on El Clasico if you ever try to go to that game, but be prepared to spend mega-bucks. I went to El Clasico in Barcelona last November (it was a gift to myself after recovering from a serious injury), but it was not a cheap undertaking.
For Madrid Tickets:* If you have an International Madridista membership, you can submit a request for tickets in advance (requests must be made a month in advance however – which unfortunately I didn’t find out until about 2 weeks before I wanted to go).* You can purchase VIP tickets in advance (pricey option) through the Real Madrid website hospitality page (which takes you to La Caixia’s website). I tried this option, but was unsuccessful as La Caixa’s site was not recognizing my credit card. (I contacted them and my credit card company, but to no avail.)* Once the extra seats go on sale (about a week in advance), you can also purchase tickets through La Caixia’s website. Again, that didn’t work for me.* Once you get to Spain, you can also buy tickets at any La Caixia ticket ATM, which are all over Madrid (and beyond), but my Spanish is only good up to a certain point and I couldn’t figure out what information they needed to finalize the purchase.* The final option (which is what I ended up doing) is to go to the ticket window at the Bernabeu. It’s open pretty much daily and the Bernabeu is an easy metro ride from pretty much anywhere in the city.
For Barcelona Tickets: * If you have a Barcelona membership, you can purchase tickets online through the website (again, I had a slight problem with that, but I never investigated why). (And yes, I do have membership cards for both Barcelona and Madrid, but I am a die-hard Madridista and the Barcelona card will be expiring shortly. It was useful, however, for this trip because I got discounts on the tickets I purchased.)* In Barcelona, you can actually purchase tickets at a handful of the Barcelona tourism desks around town (I can find that info if you need it). I was doing a hop-on/off bus the first day I was there, so I just got off at the Camp Nou and purchased my tickets at the desk which was simpler for me.* I didn’t do a lot of extra investigating on Barcelona tickets, but I am sure that they also have a VIP/Hospitality option if you want to go that route.
How did you travel? Did you arrange everything yourself? Transport? Cities? Itinerary? I am more of an explorer, so for me I made all my travel arrangements myself. I don’t speak Spanish well at all, but I understand a decent amount and it’s pretty easy to get by that way. Plus most people in the tourist areas speak at least basic English. Both Barcelona and Madrid have extensive metro systems that are easy to understand and their metro ticketing machines even have an option for English. If you want to go to other cities while in Spain, the Renfe train system is also pretty easy to use. This trip, I flew in to Madrid and then took one of the high speed trains to Barcelona (and flew out of Barcelona). I have previously taken trains from Madrid to Sevilla. I also drove on one trip to Spain, but would recommend getting a car with a GPS and traveling with someone. My friend and I (even with a GPS) got dreadfully lost trying to get out of Sevilla to drive to Marbella courtesy of unclear instructions going through a roundabout. Although it did make for a funny story later. One word of warning is to be aware, especially in the crowded train stations, of pickpockets. It is a problem throughout Europe, but I did experience it once. Fortunately, I am really neurotic and the only thing they got was my electrical adaptor.
La Liga Travels: AJ’s tips for Barca and Real Madrid games
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