Zandvoort Arena Grandstand Guide: Seat Plan, Views, Best Seats (2024)

The Arena Grandstand at Zandvoort has the best atmosphere at the F1 and give fans a great view of the action. It’s also one of the most expensive places to sit during the Dutch GP weekend.

This article provides a complete guide to spectating from the Arena grandstands based on my trip to the 2023 Dutch GP.

It includes seating plans, videos with examples of the view from different seats and my tips on the best seats to try and get.

This section of the circuit is known as the Arena because there are grandstands either side of the track facing each other, making it feel like a stadium or arena.

The circuit goes right through the middle of all the stands. The atmosphere here is incredible.

The grandstands are named Arena 1 (the three stands next to Turn 11) and Arena 2 (the one stand after Turn 12).

Check out our spectating guides to the other grandstands at Zandvoort:

• Tarzan In grandstand
• Pit grandstand
• Main grandstand
• Ben Pon grandstand
• Arena In grandstand
• Arena Out grandstand
• Eastside 1 grandstand
• Eastside 2 grandstand
• Eastside 3 grandstand
• Eastside 4 grandstand
• Hairpin grandstands

All of the Arena 1 grandstands are part of the Gold group of grandstands.

The Arena 2 grandstand has some sections which are part of the Gold group and some which are part of Silver II. The seats further to the right of the stand (as you sit in it and look at the track) are part of the cheaper Silver II group as they don’t have such a good view.

There’s no physical border between the Gold and Silver II sections. But I believe the split is somewhere around seat 100. So seats 1 – 100 will be in Silver II and everything above 100 will be in Gold.

The Arena stands are some of the most popular so tickets often sell out around a year in advance through the Dutch GP website. If you missed them but still need tickets, I’d recommend buying through P1 travel. They’re an official ticket reseller with a great reputation, great reviews and have a very good selection of 1, 2 or 3-day tickets available.

A 3-day weekend ticket in the Gold Arena 1 grandstands costs about 350 Euros more than a 3-day Zandvoort General Admission ticket.

All of the Arena grandstands at Zandvoort are uncovered and completely exposed to the elements.

At the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix it rained almost all weekend and everyone in these stands got very wet.

You’re not allowed umbrellas in the grandstands so make sure you dress for the Dutch GP accordingly and bring some weather protection!

The only covered grandstand at Zandvoort is the Main grandstand.

There’s a huge number of food, drink and merchandise vendors in the area behind the Arena grandstands. There are even bars directly beneath the stand. There’s also plenty of toilets here.

Everything you need to survive the day can be found in this area. You don’t need to cross back over to the outside of the track unless you want to visit the F1 Fanzone or explore some of the other areas around the circuit.

As the seating chart shows each section of the Arena 1 grandstand has 34 rows. Row 1 is lowest down at the front and Row 34 is highest up at the back.

The seat numbers start at 331 on the left hand side of the left-most section of the grandstand. They increase from left to right (as you stand on the track and look at the stand) and go up continuously across all grandstands.

To get in to the grandstands you have to enter via one of the entrance numbers. These start at 1216 and go up to 1225.

The seat numbers start from 1 on the far left hand side of the stand and go all the way up to 330 on the far right hand side.

Entrance 1200 is on the far left and 1215 is on the far right.

The Arena 2 grandstand also has 34 rows.

If you sit by the lowest entrance numbers you’ll have a great view of the cars approaching Turn 11 which is at the end of one of the Zandvoort DRS zones.

The higher the entrance number (and higher the seat number) the less you’ll be able to see of the approach to Turn 11 or the run down to Turn 13.

Sitting near the top of the stands in the higher row numbers will give you a better vantage point to see more of the track. Sitting lower down near the front will put you closer to the action but you won’t be able to see as much.

This video was filmed from close to entrance 1216 row 25, about as far to the right hand end of the stand as you can get as you can get when looking at the track. It has a great view of the entry to Turn 11 but is perhaps a little too far to the right to easily see down to Turn 13

The video below shows the view from a number of different seats in the Arena 2 grandstand:

• Row 34 Seat 1
• Row 31 Seat 84
• Row 17 Seat 204
• Row 5 Seat 330

The first two clips in this video are filmed from the cheaper Silver II section of the stand. And you can see why; the grandstands (Eastside 4 and Eastside 3) on the opposite side of the circuit block your view of the entrance to Turn 11.

Plus the fencing on the inside of the track also makes it harder to see Turn 12.

Once you get to the higher seat numbers then your view of everything improves.

Unless, that is, you’re sat in the front few rows. The safety fence is close to the front of the stand so can make it harder to see.

There are two areas of the Arena grandstands that I think are best.

First, there’s around entrance 1217 / 1218 in Arena 1. This has a good view of everything from the entrance to Turn 11 all the way down to Turn 13.

Secondly, I’d try and get seats somewhere around seat 200 (entrance 1209 / 1210) in Arena 2. Here you are looking straight down the track at the entrance to Turn 11, still have a great view of Turn 12 and can see most of the run to Turn 13.

I’d always aim for rows 20 and above.

For the atmosphere alone the Arena grandstands are the best place to sit at the Dutch Grand Prix. With 99% of the crowd rooting for the home hero Max Verstappen, you’ll be sat in a sea of orange that erupts every time he goes past.

In between Formula 1 sessions the DJs will keep the crowd going with countless sing-along bangers. Without a doubt the Arena grandstands are the best place to sit at Zandvoort to experience true buzz of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Gate 2 is the closest to the tunnel that you need to use to get to the Arena grandstands. From Gate 2 to the further Arena stand it will be about a 15 minute walk.

If you’re staying in the 538 Village official Zandvoort F1 campsite you need to use gate 4.

See our guide on how to get to the Zandvoort F1 for tips on getting to the circuit by car, bike or train.