Beşiktaş JK Stadium (Guided Tour)
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94 Reviews
#55 in Istanbul
What's There?
Beşiktaş JK, one of the top soccer teams in Turkey, opens the doors to its home stadium in Istanbul, the Vodafone Park Stadium, with a tour which you can attend thanks to the Istanbul Tourist Pass.
Get access to private areas of the stadium, learn about the glorious history of the successful soccer team, and enjoy an unbelievable experience that many would only dream of. With the guided tour, you will visit the press tribune, the press lounge, the management hall, the press conference room, the locker rooms of Beşiktaş JK, the soccer field and more!
It's definitely an experience to tell your friends about!
Vodafone Park Stadium is in a great location, very close to Dolmabahçe Palace and the shore of the Bosphorus Strait, so you can plan a full day of sightseeing around your Besiktaş stadium tour!
What's Included?
An amazing tour is included with the Istanbul Tourist Pass on days when there are no soccer matches in the stadium. The tour is in Turkish, but you can rent audio-guides at the stadium. No reservation required in advance.
Click here to find the available dates for the next 2 weeks.
Beşiktaş JK Stadium (Guided Tour) is free with Istanbul Tourist Pass
Regular Price € 7
Avoid paying the €7 admission fee to the Beşiktaş JK Stadium Tour with Istanbul Tourist Pass.
Hours & Schedule
Every day at 10:30, 12:00, 14:00, 15:15, 16:30, 17:45, except on the dates mentioned in the Remember section. Click here to find the available dates for the next 2 weeks.
How To Get There?
The Vodafone Park Stadium is located between the Kabataş tram station and the Dolmabahçe Palace.
Remember
- No reservation is required; just go to the ticketing counter of the museum located in the stadium present your digital Pass and mention that you want to attend the tour.
- The guided tours are only performed in Turkish.
- Audio-guides are not included with the Pass.
- The tours are not available on days when there are soccer matches in the stadium, the first day of religious holidays and the 1st of January. In this page you can find the available dates for this and the next week.
- Access to the Beşiktaş JK Museum is not included in the tour.
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Learn More
Football is the most popular and most watched sport branch in Turkey. There are many big sports clubs and there are millions of people supporting them. Besiktas Gymnastics Club is one of the biggest sports clubs of Turkey and is one of the long-established ones of Istanbul. It was found in 1903, when there were no big stadiums that pursue football activities. Besiktas supporters and the members of Besiktas football team liken the stadium with the concept of home and call it by the name “Eagle’s Nest” since Besiktas team is identified with black eagles. It is not hard to guess that the stadium located in the Besiktas district of Istanbul is very significant and valuable to the residents of Besiktas. It has an unstable story but also a glorious one. It witnessed many breath-taking moments in the history of football in Turkey as well as many unbelievable stage performances by globally famous artist. Seeing Besiktas JK Stadium and not discovering Besiktas in its entirety would be a shame therefore we prepared you a humble advice on what to do in Besiktas alongside with information on the stadium.
A Brief History of BJK Stadium
In 1939, by Turkish architects’ cooperation
with invited architects from Italy initiated the project of a stadium, on the
area which was used as the Dolmabahce Palace’s horse stables before. These were
the ground works for Inonu Stadium. Unfortunately, the conditions as results of
the Second World War, inhibited the construction. In 1943, it was reinitiated.
It took 4 years to build the stadium and on 27 November 1947 it was opened.
Later the name Inonu, which was the name of Ataturk’s brother in arms and the
first president of the republic was eliminated because of the political
conflicts.
When it was first open it had the capacity to
host 16 thousand people because the aim for the construction was to be
aesthetic rather than seating thousands of people. However, when the number of
supporters enlarged in big numbers through the years, in 1950 they had to add
5000 seats more. Later it reached 41.000 people capacity by further additions
and adjustments.
After the final restorations in 2004, even
though the stadium was considered as a football sanctuary, almost like a sacred
place for the supporters, building a new stadium from scratch became an issue.
Finally, in 2013 the foundations were established to build a new stadium and on
10th of November 2016 the stadium began functioning under the name
of Vodafone Arena.
Why BJK Stadium is Significant?
Bjk Stadium became an exceptional stadium because it did not only host unremarkable football matches but also many events and memorable concerts. In the summer of 1993, which is now remembered as the unforgettable summer of Inonu Stadium, many concerts took place in the stadium. Michael Jackson, Guns N’ Roses, Elton John, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Madonna Sting and Scorpions gave a musical feast to the ears of Istanbul residents on that summer. Then it continued hosting many more legends of millennial culture even until today.A museum, carrying the title of being the first museum in commemoration of sports culture and history of Turkey, opened in the stadium in 11 December 2011. Besiktas who witnessed the sports history of Turkey, with its 115-year history turns its museum collection resources for sports culture. You can reach the museum, that is built on 1650 m2 area, if you enter from the “19 Mayis” gate of the Vodafone Park Arena. It is the largest sports museum in Turkey in that sense. You will see the chronology of the club and receive information about the branches of sports that the club is active in with more than 50 digital applications appropriate for a wide range of age group. The working hours for the Besiktas JK Museum are 10.00-18.00 in October-May and 10.00-19.00 in June-September, any day but Mondays. Also, the club is providing a “Pride Tour” in which the visitor can access to the unseen spots in the stadium.
What’s Around BJK Stadium
As we stated before the stadium is located in Besiktas, the most central neighbourhoods of European Istanbul. There are many things to do in Besiktas after your visit to the stadium and it is a great location to start your journey in Istanbul especially if it is your first time there. First thing to do while you are planning your trip is to find a place to stay so we recommend you to try Swissotel the Bosphorus or Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus which are both located in Besiktas and close to the stadium. It is easy to reach anywhere you want from there because public transportation is available and bus stops are ridiculously close by. You can also take the ferry to the Princes’ Islands or ferry to the Anatolian side of Istanbul. If you would like to see all of the islands you can also take a Prince’s Islands Boat Trip. Dolmabahce Palace is also close to the stadium you reach there on foot. The palace emphasizes the Bosporus’ beauty when it is lighted in the night and signifies the latest palace life of Ottoman Empire so you should not miss Dolmabahce Palace on your Istanbul visit as well. You can have a tour of Dolmabahce Palace if you have your Tourist Pass. You can even attend a tour of palaces and pay an extended visit to the palace if you don’t want to overlook the delicate details of it. Painting and Sculpture Museum, National Palaces Painting Museum, Palace Collections Museum, Vampire House and Dolmabahce Mosque are all close to th stadium so you might consider visiting them as well. The subject of the Gezi events of 2013, Gezi Park is very close to the stadium. You can relax and take a break from the rush while you are there. Finally, Kucuk Ciftlik Park which is a very nice place that hosts concerts, festivals and various events very frequently, is practically near the stadium. You might arrange your schedule to attend a concert or a festival there accordingly.