Detail

The Veltins-Arena was built over a period of three years starting in November 1998 and finishing August 2001 with Schalke’s stadium holding the distinction of being the first fully privately funded stadium in Germany at a cost of €191 million. The 60,000 plus capacity stadium was originally known as Arena AufSchalke until 2005 when the Brewery C

DRIVING Those looking to drive are in luck as the stadium can be reached via two highway exits either from the North A-2 (Exit 6 Gelsenkirchen-Buer) or from the South A42 (exit 17 – Gelsenkirchen-Schalke). Once in the city, follow signs to the stadium with Kurt-Schumacher-Straße being the main road which surrounds the Eastern perimeter of the stadium. The address for satnav is as follows: Ernst-Kuzorra-Weg 1, 45891 Gelsenkirchen Car parks The easiest places to park are probably on “Willy-Brandt-Allee” where the cinema complex and McDonalds is and “Adenauer Allee” which is adjacent to the Kurt-Schumacher Straße. TRAIN AND TRAM The best way to travel to Schalke’s Stadium is via Tram from Gelsenkirchen main railway station. Located underneath the train station (Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof) you can catch line 302 heading towards GE-Beur which will take you to the Veltins-Arena stop, taking no more than about 15 minutes. AIRPORTS The closest airport to Gelsenkirchen is either Düsseldorf or Dortmund International Airport at approximately 40 and 46 km distance away respectively. Düsseldorf is the third largest airport in Germany after Frankfurt and Munich, and is the largest flight hub in the North-Rhine-Westphalia region, whereas Dortmund has carved out its identity through low cost airlines. Both airports have good ground transportation with the journey to Gelsenkirchen likely to take you less than 1 hour whether it is via bus, coach, train or tram.