San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours – Levi’s Stadium

Written By:
Tim Macdonell
Published:
September 24, 2024

San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours at Levi’s Stadium work differently from most NFL venues because formal daily public guided tours are not currently offered through the building. San Francisco visitors instead access the venue through the 49ers Museum presented by Foxconn, with 11 gallery spaces, the Morabito Theater, the Hall of Fame Gallery, and all five Lombardi trophies on display. Coordinate visit timing with San Francisco 49ers tickets, Santa Clara hotels, and travel through Elite Sports Tours travel packages.

NFL Football Stadium Tours

San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours at Levi’s Stadium

Levi’s Stadium tours are the part of a San Francisco 49ers trip most travelers misunderstand on a first visit. Tickets and seating get most of the attention, but the building itself shapes the entire San Francisco Bay Area weekend in ways a seating map cannot communicate. Walking the venue before kickoff is what changes how a San Francisco weekend actually unfolds. No other NFL venue carries the layered identity of Levi’s Stadium, the LEED Gold sustainability-focused venue that has hosted the San Francisco 49ers since 2014 and stands as one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in professional football.

San Francisco is one of the most-visited destinations on the NFL travel circuit, and Levi’s Stadium is the centerpiece of that draw. San Francisco has played in Santa Clara since the venue opened on July 17, 2014, ending the franchise’s long run at Candlestick Park. Tours of the venue give San Francisco visitors context that a ticket purchase alone does not. Without seeing Levi’s Stadium in advance, fans tend to make seating decisions based on a chart that cannot capture how the open-air bowl, the bright Santa Clara afternoon sun, the rooftop NRG Solar Terrace, and the modern glass exterior shape the live experience. Many visitors planning San Francisco 49ers Travel Packages use stadium tours and museum access to better understand seating layouts, surrounding hotel locations, and how game-day movement works throughout Santa Clara before arriving for the weekend.

Tours at this venue work differently than at most NFL stadiums for behind-the-scenes access. Formal daily public guided tours are not consistently operated through a standard ticketed program. San Francisco visitors instead experience the building through the 49ers Museum presented by Foxconn, game-day experiences, the Morabito Theater film presentation, and guided venue-view access included with museum admission. The museum inside Levi’s Stadium serves as the primary year-round experience for fans visiting outside of a home game weekend.

San Francisco is a destination city for football travelers from across the West Coast, and arriving without a sense of how Levi’s Stadium feels in person usually leads to a rushed Bay Area weekend. Tours of the 49ers Museum, game-day access experiences, and on-site dining areas are the most direct ways to understand the venue outside a home game. For first-time visitors, this approach sets the foundation for everything that follows around Santa Clara, San Jose, and the broader San Francisco Peninsula.

What You Experience on San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours

Tours of Levi’s Stadium work differently than at venues with formal guided tour programs like Lambeau Field or AT&T Stadium. The 49ers do not currently run a daily ticketed public guided tour through a regular schedule. San Francisco visitors instead piece together a tour-style experience from four access tiers: the Museum presented by Foxconn, game-day interior access, special-event visits during concerts and college games, and private group rentals coordinated through the team and venue operations for corporate functions.

Self-guided tours of the 49ers Museum are the most accessible option for casual visitors. The 20,000-square-foot facility houses 11 unique gallery and exhibit spaces dedicated to the franchise past, present, and future. These tours cover the Hall of Fame Gallery with life-sized statues of all 31 49ers Hall of Famers in their signature poses, the Heritage Gallery covering the franchise from 1946 to the present, the championship trophy room with the five Lombardi trophies and the rings tied to each title, the Morabito Theater with its 50-by-18-foot screen running a 4K signature film featured on most Museum tours, the Bill Walsh Coaching Universe recreating his office, an interactive Hall of Fame database with stats on every player who wore the team uniform, and the augmented reality experiences that put visitors next to current and former players.

Game-day tours are how most San Francisco visitors actually see the bowl. Entering through one of the main gates, walking the open-air concourses, and reaching the lower bowl gives visitors the full sweep of the venue. The Museum opens three hours before kickoff on game day, which gives ticket holders a structured way to combine these Museum tours with game-day tours. The team store, the Bourbon Steak & Pub on the suite level, and the NRG Solar Terrace are also accessible during game-day windows.

Private group rental tours are the closest equivalent to traditional behind-the-scenes tours. The team organization and the venue events team can arrange access to specific spaces for corporate events, private parties, and large group functions. These rental tours can include the field, the NRG Solar Terrace, the field-level clubs, the United Club, the BNY Mellon Club, and the SAP Tower premium spaces. Pricing varies based on the space, the date, and the scope of the rental.

Walking onto the playing surface is reserved for these private rentals and for select pregame premium-ticket experiences during home games. San Francisco visitors who book a sideline package can stand at ground level on the surface where Super Bowl 50 was held on February 7, 2016 (Denver Broncos beat Carolina Panthers 24-10), where the team hosted the NFC Championship Game on January 28, 2024 against Detroit, and where Super Bowl LX will be played on February 8, 2026 with Bad Bunny headlining the Apple Music halftime show.

The locker room area is not part of standard public access at the venue. The active home locker room is held back for team-only use, which is consistent with how most NFL venues operate even where formal guided tour programs exist. Media interview rooms where post-game press conferences happen sit on the same back-of-house corridor and are similarly off-limits to standard visitors during non-event windows.

The premium club spaces are accessible through premium-ticket purchases and through select private rentals. Levi’s Stadium carries multiple premium tiers including 9,000 club seats, nine separate club spaces, and 176 luxury suites along the suite level. The lower seating bowl is among the largest in the NFL with five-star dining options, upscale bars, and field-side amenities. Visitors evaluating premium tickets can ask the team ticket office to walk these tours through specific spaces before the season opens. The Stadium Builder's License (SBL) program is the entry point for the most committed seat-tier access at the venue.

Beyond the operational spaces, self-directed tours of the exterior weave through identity markers. The Edward DeBartolo Sr. statue, the Joe Montana and Bill Walsh tributes inside the Museum, the NRG Solar Terrace photo opportunities, and the rooftop green space each carry their own San Francisco story. The five Lombardi trophies on display inside the Museum are one of the most-photographed sports artifacts in the Bay Area.

Unique Features of Levi’s Stadium

Levi’s Stadium is one of the most environmentally ambitious buildings in American sports, and that becomes obvious from any approach across Tasman Drive. The original 2014 design by HNTB Architects, built by Turner/Devcon for the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, produced a 1.2 million-square-foot open-air bowl that became the first NFL venue to achieve LEED Gold certification at opening. The building carries a 27,000-square-foot green roof, one of the largest in the NFL, planted with native California species. Solar panels arch over the suite-tower bridges and power a meaningful portion of game-day operations. Recycled materials make up a significant share of the construction, and the building runs as a near-zero-waste facility during home games. The Levi’s brand identity carries through the venue's signage, retail spaces, and pregame branding throughout the season.

The naming history is straightforward by NFL standards. Levi Strauss & Co., the iconic San Francisco-based Levi’s jeans company founded in 1853 by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, purchased the naming rights in 2013 in a 20-year, $220 million agreement. The Levi’s® name has carried the building since opening on July 17, 2014. Levi Strauss & Co., the parent company behind the Levi’s brand of denim and Levi’s apparel globally, is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. The Levi’s headquarters at 1155 Battery Street sits in the city's Financial District, which makes the Levi’s naming deal a regional hometown agreement. The Levi’s brand has been embedded in San Francisco culture since the Gold Rush era, when Levi Strauss originally outfitted Gold Rush miners with the durable Levi’s denim work pants that became the global Levi’s blue jean. The Levi’s name carries an unmatched cultural footprint in the Bay Area. Locally the building is sometimes called "Levi’s" without the venue suffix when context is clear.

The building sits at 4900 Marie P. DeBartolo Way in Santa Clara, named for the mother of former team owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. and the grandmother of current CEO Jed York. The bowl is fully open-air and was designed for Northern California weather, which is why most home games in September and October sit under bright afternoon sun on the east-facing side. The bowl carries multiple tiers around the field: lower bowl 100 level, plaza level 200, club level 300, suite level, and upper bowl 400. Football capacity sits at 68,500 for home games.

The technology layer set the venue apart at opening. The building was designed with one of the most advanced Wi-Fi networks in any sports venue, with the original team app supporting seat-by-seat ordering, in-seat replays, and real-time stats. The dual-sided video boards anchor the bowl from the north and south ends. The press box wraps the west side, and the broadcast operations area sits on the suite level rather than at the bowl rim, which is unusual for an NFL venue. The building was designed at a $1.3 billion construction cost financed primarily through SBL revenue, NFL stadium loans, and private investor capital secured by the Stadium Authority.

Tradition at Levi’s Stadium is built around the San Francisco 49ers and the broader civic identity Santa Clara projects through the venue. The franchise dates to 1946, which makes it the oldest professional sports team in California. San Francisco played at Kezar Stadium from 1946 through 1970, at Candlestick Park from 1971 through 2013, and at Levi’s Stadium starting in 2014. The five Lombardi trophy era under Bill Walsh, George Seifert, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and the Million Dollar Backfield runs through the entire history at the previous venues. The current Kyle Shanahan era featuring Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, and Trent Williams produced the Super Bowl LVIII appearance in February 2024. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Bill Walsh, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Charles Haley, Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, and Brock Purdy are the names tour guides reference most when walking the Hall of Fame Gallery inside the Museum.

The venue hosts well beyond San Francisco 49ers games. The venue hosted Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016 (Denver 24, Carolina 10), WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015, the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship, the Pac-12 Football Championship Game from 2014 through 2019, and multiple Copa America matches. Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026 brings the NFL championship back to the venue, with Bad Bunny headlining the Apple Music halftime show. The 2026 FIFA World Cup brings six matches to the venue including five group-stage matches and one Round-of-32 match. The 2026 concert calendar carries AC/DC on the Power Up Tour on August 5, Karol G on the Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour on August 21 and 22, and The R&B Tour with Usher Raymond and Chris Brown on August 28, August 29, and September 1.

Why San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours Are Worth It

Tours of Levi’s Stadium are worth pursuing because they change how visitors approach the entire San Francisco trip. Travelers tend to arrive with limited understanding of how access to the building works, which leads to missed opportunities at the 49ers Museum, the Morabito Theater film, and the championship trophy display. A LEED Gold open-air building with 9,000 club seats behaves differently from a generic NFL building, and tours that walk the Museum and the surrounding plazas in advance are the only way to internalize the scale before kickoff.

The access tours actually provide is more structured than at venues with formal tour programs, which is exactly why understanding the tour options in advance matters. The 49ers Museum runs Friday through Sunday on non-game days from approximately 10 AM to 5 PM, with adult admission around $49 and discounts for kids, military, and Santa Clara residents at roughly $37. The Museum opens three hours before kickoff on game day. Private tours through the venue events team cover the premium spaces and field access for corporate functions. San Francisco visitors who understand these access tiers in advance avoid showing up expecting a daily public tour that does not exist.

Ticket decisions are where these tours pay off most. The lower bowl 100 level wraps the playing surface tightly along the sidelines and end zones, with field-level club options on the east and west sides. The plaza level 200 adds amenities, the club level 300 carries premium options with food included on most tiers, and the upper bowl 400 trades proximity for the panoramic view of the South Bay skyline and the Diablo mountain range to the east. Walking the bowl during Museum tours is the honest way to start comparing seating tiers before committing.

Time efficiency matters at the venue because of how Santa Clara access works on San Francisco 49ers game day. The VTA light rail Mountain View-Winchester Line stops at Great America Station within walking distance of the venue. Caltrain and ACE rail service connect San Jose and the broader Bay Area to the area. BART runs a shuttle service from the Warm Springs end-of-line station. Surface lots, the Red Lot, the Blue Lot, the Green Lot, and the Gold Lot operate around the building with significant on-site parking. The team strongly recommends pre-paid parking passes for high-attendance games. The closest major freeway is Tasman Drive feeding into Highway 101, Interstate 880, and Highway 237.

The emotional layer is the other reason these tours hold up for repeat San Francisco 49ers fans. Standing inside the 49ers Museum next to the Joe Montana and Jerry Rice statues, walking past all five Lombardi trophies on display, and seeing the Bill Walsh Coaching Universe exhibit changes how a visitor watches the team. Long-time San Francisco fans come away understanding what carries forward from the 1946 founding through the 1980s and 1990s dynasty era, and what the 2014 move to Santa Clara added to the identity of the franchise.

The only real tradeoff is the no-formal-tour reality at the venue. Travelers expecting a Lambeau-style or AT&T-style guided locker-room tour will need to adjust. San Francisco visitors planning a trip should set expectations toward the 49ers Museum, the Morabito Theater film, the championship trophy display, and game-day access. For a tight San Francisco weekend, travelers decide whether 90 minutes is better spent inside the Museum at Levi’s Stadium or driving up the Peninsula to Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge. For a 49ers-focused trip the answer is the Museum and the surrounding venue plazas.

Planning San Francisco 49ers Tours with Flights, Hotel and Tickets in One Package

A Levi’s Stadium visit is one piece of a San Francisco 49ers trip. The harder piece is coordinating 49ers tickets, hotels in Santa Clara, San Jose, or up the Peninsula toward San Francisco, and travel timing so the rest of the weekend works around the venue and the broader Bay Area. Travelers tend to book those pieces separately, which leaves gaps between where they stay, when they arrive, and how easily they reach the bowl on game day.

Elite Sports Tours packages San Francisco 49ers tickets, hotel accommodations, and optional flights into one structured booking. Hotels are positioned for access to Levi’s Stadium through Santa Clara, the Great America area, San Jose, and the Peninsula corridor toward San Francisco proper, and 49ers tickets come from real availability rather than the secondary-market inventory that vanishes hours before kickoff.

Bundling San Francisco travel into one package usually produces better overall pricing than booking each component separately. Hotels in Santa Clara and along the Peninsula swing sharply with demand, especially around primetime 49ers games against NFC West rivals like the Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals, around Super Bowl LX in February 2026, the 2026 FIFA World Cup window in June and July, and the major concert dates throughout summer. San Francisco 49ers ticket prices shift based on opponent, day of week, and the broader Bay Area event calendar. Check out San Francisco 49ers Travel Packages.

San Francisco 49ers Stadium Tours FAQ

Does Levi’s Stadium offer public tours?

Levi’s Stadium does not currently run a formal daily public guided tour program. The Museum presented by Foxconn is the primary year-round access option for visitors, with adult admission around $49 and discounted rates around $37 for children, military, and Santa Clara residents. Game-day access and private group rentals are the other ways to see the interior of the venue.

What does the 49ers Museum tour include?

The 49ers Museum tour covers 11 gallery spaces including the Hall of Fame Gallery with life-sized statues, the Heritage Gallery covering 1946 to the present, all five Lombardi trophies and championship rings, the 17-minute signature film in the Morabito Theater, the Bill Walsh Coaching Universe recreating his office, interactive Hall of Fame stat tables, and augmented reality experiences that put visitors next to current and former players.

How much do San Francisco 49ers Museum tours cost?

49ers Museum admission as of early 2026 sits at approximately $49 per adult, with discounted rates around $37 for children, military personnel, and Santa Clara residents. Season ticket holders typically receive complimentary or discounted access. Pricing for private group rentals through the venue events team varies based on the space, the date, and the scope of the booking.

How do you see the inside of Levi’s Stadium?

The most reliable way to see the interior is through a San Francisco home game ticket, a Museum admission ticket, a major concert or WrestleMania ticket, a College Football Playoff Championship ticket, or a private group rental coordinated through the venue events team. The Museum opens three hours before kickoff on game day.

Can you go on the field at Levi’s Stadium?

Field-level access is reserved for select pregame premium-ticket experiences during home games and for private corporate rental tours coordinated through the team and venue events. The lower bowl seats put visitors close to the field, and the field-level clubs sit on the east and west sides. The Museum does not include field access on the standard ticket.

When is the 49ers Museum open?

The 49ers Museum is typically open Friday through Sunday from approximately 10 AM to 5 PM on non-game days. On game days the Museum opens three hours before kickoff and stays open through the game window. The schedule rotates around 49ers home games, major concerts, college football games, and private events at the venue.

Are San Francisco 49ers tours worth it?

The 49ers Museum is most valuable for first-time San Francisco visitors and for 49ers fans who want to see all five Lombardi trophies in person before committing to a game ticket. The Hall of Fame Gallery, the Morabito Theater film, the Bill Walsh Coaching Universe, and the championship trophy room carry the most weight during a standard Museum tour.

Can you plan San Francisco 49ers tours as part of a travel package?

49ers Museum admission, game-day tours, and private group rentals can all be scheduled alongside a San Francisco trip with 49ers tickets and hotel accommodations through Elite Sports Tours. Tickets to the Museum are booked separately through the team, while travel and game packages bundle the rest of the trip into one structured booking.

Explore More San Francisco 49ers Travel Guides

Planning a trip to see the San Francisco 49ers involves more than just buying tickets. Hotel location, access, seating strategy, and transportation timing can all impact your overall game-day experience at Levi's Stadium. These guides help break down each part of the planning process so you can compare tickets, hotels, and travel options more efficiently.

Editorial Note & Travel Expertise

This page is written from the perspective of planning real San Francisco 49ers trips. Levi’s Stadium is one of the most environmentally ambitious NFL venues ever built, the first to achieve LEED Gold certification at opening, the host of Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and Super Bowl LX in 2026, and the centerpiece of a Santa Clara sports campus that has redefined the South Bay since 2014. How fans experience the building depends on which access tier matches the trip: game-day entry, Museum admission, a 2026 FIFA World Cup match window, a Super Bowl LX visit, a private group rental, or a major concert window during summer.

Tours are included here because visitors search for Levi’s Stadium tours expecting a Lambeau-style or AT&T-style daily program that does not exist at this venue. Walking the 49ers Museum, seeing all five Lombardi trophies in person, standing inside the Morabito Theater, and moving through the Hall of Fame Gallery change how San Francisco visitors plan timing on a trip. The Bill Walsh Coaching Universe, the Joe Montana and Jerry Rice tributes, the Levi’s naming-rights deal, and the HNTB design history become visible only when access is planned around the realities of the venue. The Super Bowl LX dates in February 2026 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches add another layer for San Francisco fans planning current-season visits and tours.

Elite Sports Tours has built its platform around the broader trip-coordination problem. San Francisco 49ers fans are not just buying tickets. They are planning a Bay Area trip around a live game in a region where Santa Clara parking, Peninsula hotels, and Levi’s Stadium access all move independently unless coordinated.

Travel Information Disclaimer

Tours of Levi’s Stadium are subject to availability, scheduling changes, and operational restrictions set by the San Francisco organization, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, venue events operations, and building management. Formal daily public guided tours are not currently offered at the venue. Access to the 49ers Museum, the playing surface, the premium clubs, the suite levels, and the rooftop terrace may vary based on event scheduling, private rentals, and game-day operations.

Hotel availability near Levi’s Stadium and San Francisco 49ers ticket pricing change with demand, opponent, and booking timing. Travel times and routes around Santa Clara, the Peninsula, and the broader Bay Area vary with traffic patterns, home game schedules, concert dates, the 2026 FIFA World Cup match windows, Super Bowl LX in February 2026, and the broader Silicon Valley event calendar.

Always confirm current 49ers Museum hours, San Francisco 49ers game-day windows, and tour scheduling before finalizing your plans.

Updated May 2026

Written by:
Tim Macdonell
Reviewed by Elite Sports Tours Team
Tim Macdonell is the founder and CEO of Elite Sports Tours, a sports travel company specializing in premium travel packages to NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and major sporting events across North America. Through Elite Sports Tours, Tim has helped thousands of fans turn game day into a complete travel experience by combining game tickets, quality hotel accommodations, and optional flights into seamless sports weekend getaways. With deep knowledge of sports destinations and fan travel trends, Tim shares practical insights on planning memorable sports trips and maximizing the game day experience.

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