Stadio Is Arenas - Cagliari Stadium Guide

Cagliari temporarily relocated from their former home Stadio Sant’Elia in order to make it comply with Italian stadium regulations following a lack of investment and redevelopment at the ground in recent seasons. After falling out with the local council after plans to build a “proper” new stadium, the Karalis Arena, fell through, the club opted to set up a makeshift stadium in the municipality of Quartu Sant’Elena which was originally supposed to be their home stadium for the next three seasons.

Things didn’t quite play out for the Sardinian club as they hoped with the temporary relocated proving to be quite controversial. Firstly the stadium wasn’t finished in time for the start of the 2012-2013 season, meaning that the first few games were played behind closed doors which wasn’t a great start. When I Rossoblu finally played a home match in front of their fans on the 26th of November further scandal would ensue with some questioning the safety status of the ground, with the club chairman Massimo Cellino even arrested on accusations of securing safety certificates fraudulently,  a charge which remains unresolved.

By February 25th 2013 Is Arenas was declared permanently unfit for use by the local council and the Italian Football federation with the stadium currently being dismantled and Cagliari returning to  Stadio Sant’Elia for the start of the 2013-2014 season.

There aren’t many options around the stadium compared to other Italian grounds with the surrounding area largely belonging to residential housing and undeveloped wasteland.  Inside the stadium the choices are also limited with it being advisable that you grab something to eat either at your hotel or around the city centre.

As a city near the coast,  Seafood forms a large part of the Sardinian cuisine with Scampi,l Rock Lobster and Bottarga being popular dishes. You might also be interested to know that the Island is famous for having the highest beer consumption per capita across Italy, with 60 litres per person which is essentially double the national average.

Cagliari actually have quite a few club shops throughout the city

Cagliari Point

• Address: 15 avenue la Playa, Cagliari
• Contact: [email protected] or visit the site here. Phone Store: 070.6042050
• Opening times:  Monday-Saturday (09.00am-13.00pm and 16.00-20.00pm) and closed on Sundays.

Kappa Store

• Address: Republic Square
• Contact: Tel 070/6670027
• Opening Times:  Monday-Saturday (9.00am-13.00pm and 16.00-20.30pm) closed on Sundays.

Piazza Unione Sarda (Point of Cagliari )

• Contact: Tel 070-2776075
• Opening times: Monday-Saturday (9.00am-13.00pm and 16.00-20.00pm) closed on Sundays.

The club actually offer a walking tour of the facilities but is exclusive to sponsors, members of the club and card holding fans. The website states that the tour will be for a maximum of 10 people at a time with fans expected to arrive at the front entrance at 12.30pm where a representative of the club will meet you.

Sights include the dressing room, and other behind the scenes areas with photography and requests for autographs allowed.

Tickets to see Cagliari are available to purchase in the usual outlets in Italy:

• Online – You can buy tickets to watch Cagliari from the usual third-party approved sellers such as Viagogo.
• At the Stadium/Ticket Office – The Cagliari Point at La Playa Avenue 15 is the main store which sells them
• Around the City – Check with your hotel but you should be able to acquire tickets from newsagents and banks in most cases.

Example of Ticket Pricing based on Cagliari vs Hellas Verona 2013/2014:

• Tribuna Centrale- Adults €40 euros, Concessions €25
• Tribuna Autorita – Adults €30, concessions €20
• Curva Nord/Sud – €13 euros for both

Note: Prices are likely to rise for higher profile games and concessions refer to Under 16s and Over 65s.

For more information and contact information visit this contact page.

Stadio Is Arena is situated within the Quartu Sant’Elena district of Cagliari on the Mediterranean coast approximately 8km East of the city centre which is quite a large distance compared to other Italian clubs.

If you plan to rent a car and drive then it is likely that you will follow the very scenic coastal route eastwards. To to this travel along Viale Lungomare del Golfo and at the Saline di Quartu roundabout, turn left onto Viale Colombo and then finally take another left at Via Bach or slightly further on, Via S’Arrulloni depening whether you want to get to the northern or southern curvas of the ground.

Car Parks

Cagliari railway station is located approximately 10km West of Is Arena with there being no metro or smaller train line to take you directly to the ground. As an island Sardinia lacks rail services to the rest of Italy but does have reasonable amount of railway tracks to take you around the region.

Walking wise you’re out of luck with the the 9km journey likely to take 1 hour and 46 minutes which is too far to constitute a leisurely stroll.

Cagliari Elmas Airport is the international airport of the city and Island of Sardinia located towards the West of the club’s city and stadium. Expanded in 2003 with the addition of an extra terminal, the airport handles just under 4,000,000 passengers a year and is served by British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet in the UK.

To get to the city centre from the airport you can catch a train for 1.25 euro and it will take you 5-7 minutes, with a frequency of 20 minutes between 5am and  just after 9pm.

When it comes to seeing Cagliari play you basically have two accommodation options: The area of the stadium and the area of the city itself. The Stadium is located in the Quartu Sant’Elena district which is east of the city centre with Best Western Hotel Residence Italia being the closest with Atticovacanze being a decent second choice.  In terms of city centre there are a number of hotels on and just off of Via Roma which have views of the sea such as B&B Blanco, B&B Old Caralis and New Romantic hotel although they’re likely to be slightly more expensive.