Croke Park Stadium Tour

Croke Park holds 82,300 and is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, which is an amateur sporting body - the players in the All-Ireland finals held here are not paid, which surprises most visitors given the scale of the ground. The tour covers the dressing rooms, the tunnel, the pitchside and the press area, and includes the GAA Museum with its interactive games area where you can try hurling and football skills. It also covers, without softening, Bloody Sunday: on 21 November 1920, during a football match, Crown forces entered the ground and opened fire on the crowd, killing fourteen people including a player, Michael Hogan, after whom the Hogan Stand is named. The Skyline is a separate booking - a walkway around the roof, forty-four metres up, with a view over the whole city. Match days close the tour, so check the fixture list before planning.

What you actually see

• The stadium - 82,300 capacity, for an amateur sporting organisation.
• The GAA Museum - the history, and an interactive hurling and football area.
• The Bloody Sunday account - the 1920 killings on this pitch, told directly.
• The Skyline walk - the roof walkway forty-four metres above the pitch.

When to go

Any season; check the fixture list, as tours do not run on match days and are restricted around big games. The Skyline runs in most weather but closes in high wind or lightning.

Honest expectations

No tours on match days - this catches people out repeatedly. The Skyline is a separate and considerably more expensive ticket. Pitch access is not included; you see it from the stands.

Nearby

Dublin city centre is a twenty-minute walk; the Royal Canal Greenway passes the ground.