Aviva Stadium
The Aviva Stadium is the national stadium of Ireland and the regular playing venue of the Irish national team. It also hosts most of the nation’s major rugby matches. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 seats.
The Aviva Stadium was built on the place of Lansdowne Road Stadium, one of the oldest stadiums in the world when it got demolished in 2007. Construction of the Aviva Stadium started right after and finished in early 2010. The stadium had a price tag of €410 million and was designed by Populous.
The stadium officially opened on the 14th of May 2010. First football was played at the stadium on the 4th of August 2010 when a League of Ireland side hosted Manchester United for a friendly (1-7).
In 2011 the stadium was the playing venue of the Europa League final between FC Porto and SC Braga (1-0).
The Aviva Stadium’s main features are its curvilinear shaped stands enclosing the complete stadium, a shape chosen to make sure that the surrounding houses get enough sunlight. The stadium holds a total of 10,000 premium seats as well as 1,300 seats in corporate boxes. All seats are covered.
Getting there
The Aviva Stadium is located in central Dublin in the Ballsbridge area, about 2 kilometres from the city centre. The walk from St Stephen’s Green park or the Trinity College area will take 20 to 30 minutes.
From Connolly Station or Pearse Station one can take a DART train southbound. Get off at station Lansdowne Road which lies right next to the stadium.
From the Temple Bar area one can take bus 7 to Loughlinstown/Cherrywood.
Address: Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4
Tickets
Ticket sales for Republic of Ireland home games go via the Irish FA.
Stadium tours
The Aviva Stadium offers guided stadium tours that include the dressing rooms, players tunnel, dugouts, and press areas.
Tours run seven days a week at 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 noon, 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm, and 4:00 pm. Tours do not run on the day of a match. Bookings are not required, but still recommended, and can be made by phone +353 (0) 1 238 2300 or email tours@avivastadium.ie.
The tour costs €5.00.
Relevant Internet links:
Avivastadium.ie – Official website of the Aviva Stadium.
Visitdublin.com – Official online tourist office for Dublin.
Irishrail.ie – Ireland rail and travel information.
Dublinbus.ie – Information about the Dublin bus network.
Keep up to date with the latest stadium news by following @stadiumguide on Twitter (all updates) or liking our Facebook page (occasional updates). 
