Our visit to the Olympic Stadium was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The Olympic Stadium was originally built for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000 (people could stand) – since 2004 the capacity is 74,475 seats.

Besides its use as an athletics stadium, the arena is widely used for football:

  • Since 1963, the home ground of the Hertha BSC football team.
  • Hosted three matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
  • Hosted six matches for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including the final.
  • Hosts the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) final match each year.
  • Hosted the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
  • Hosted the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final.

We took the train (included with our Berlin WelcomeCard) to the station Olympiastadion. It was maybe ten minutes walk from the station. There were plenty of wasps – they were plaguing Berlin while we were there.

The ticket office is to the left of the main entrance. You need to pre-book a guided tour online. You can also just pay for admission plus €2.00 for an audio guide. You can only tour the stadium on non-event days.

We were asked to wait inside the grounds with the other members of the English-speaking tour. As we were early enough to be able to walk into the stadium and pick up a drink at the only café open that day. The view was impressive.

We returned and met our friendly tour guide. We were taken through team changing rooms, a bleak VIP lounge, multiple floors of (closed) food outlets and an indoor running-preparation track. I remarked that the VIP lounge was the least VIP lounge I’d ever seen – our guide advised that the interior couldn’t be altered because of the listed building status – I’m not even sure I believe that and even if I did, that wouldn’t prevent the inclusion of some comfortable chairs and better tables.

The VIP seats did offer a good view though.

The tour information was interesting, but I think you could easily appreciate the stadium by just walking around – this especially because the tour didn’t offer an opportunity to walk on the running track nor the pitch.

10th January 2019 update: The Olympiastadion replied to say:
I would like to explain you why we could not allow our guests to walk on the running track not the pitch.  We have up to 300.000 visitors each year and so we have to secure the quality of the running track and the pitch for the sport events. 

All of the pictures at the end of this review could be taken without participation in the tour. So if you are short of time, or don’t need to know the history/facts, then I’d recommend just paying the entry fee. Just make sure the stadium is open to visitors on the day you plan to visit.

Olympiastadion
Olympischer Platz 3,
14053 Berlin,
Germany

https://olympiastadion.berlin/en/sightseeing/

Entrance Fees (without guided tour):
8,- € for adults
5,50 € for pupils, students and groups with more than 10 people
4,- € for children from 6 to 14 years, kids who are younger than 6 years get free admission (they have to be accompanied)
19,- € for a Family Card (2 adults and 3 kids)
Borrowing fee for the multimedia guide is 2 Euro.

Entrance Fees (with guided tour):
11,- € for adults
9,50 € for pupils, students and groups with more than 10 people
8,- € for children from 6 to 14 years, kids who are younger than 6 years get free admission (they have to be accompanied)
24,- € for a Family Card (2 adults and 3 kids)