In March 2012 we took the Estadio Azteca stadium tour. We had previously checked by phone whether it really was not necessary to make a booking, which they indeed confirmed.

The stadium was easy to reach by metro + light rail, however, as it is located in the far south of the city, it still took some time to get to the stadium. You’ll definitely need 30 to 45 minutes to get there from the historic centre, though it would be wise to calculate some more time, especially when it rains.

The entrance to the tour was somewhat unclear as it was not at the Club América-Nike store right at the entrance (as seemed logical), but on the right side of the stadium (as from the metro station).

The guards that were around were helpful enough to point us in the right direction though, and we arrived at the VisitStadium boutique just in time for the 1:00 pm tour.

After buying our ticket we were sent down to wait at a cafeteria with some food and drink options. The previous tour had just come back and seemed rather packed with about 30 people, however it turned out that we were only 6 for our tour (which was apparently rather unusual based on the reaction of our guide).

The guide was a rather young bloke, probably a student, but very friendly and could answer most questions. He seemed a tad nervous though, so it may have been one of his first days on the job.

The tour started with a walk outside the stadium, then turned inside through the marathon tunnel, passed by the press room (located in the tunnel), went into the América dressing room, and continued through the players tunnel to the pitch.

Then there was some time on the edge of the pitch to take photos (of course no stepping onto the pitch allowed), and have your photo taken by the guide (which he printed out for free later). Then finally we walked back up the stands and inside to the cafeteria. All in all it lasted only about a good 30 minutes.

Overall the tour was definitely interesting, but it felt kind of short. Most stadium tours last at least an hour. For one it would have been nice to view the stadium from up the stands. We only saw the interior from around pitch level. It also might have been nice to see the business facilities, control room, and other behind-the-scenes areas. Right now it really was the bare minimum.

So a very nice experience, definitely worth the metro ride, but a bit too short.