There are a number of different spectator entrances gates that you can use to access the Monza circuit during the Italian Grand Prix weekend. But some of these will be a long, long way from your grandstand.
Additionally, you need to know the bag policy to avoid having things confiscated before you get in to the track.
Monza entrance gates
These are 6 different spectator entrance gates that you can use to get in to the Monza circuit during the Italian GP weekend:
- Gate A – Porta Vedano
- Gate A / B – Vedano
- Gate B – Santa Maria Delle Selve
- Gate C – Costa Bassa / Biassono
- Gate D – Lesmo
- Gate G – Mirabello
Queues at the gates
If you’re going to be arriving at the circuit at peak times during the Italian Grand Prix weekend (peak times are basically any time within the first 2 – 3 hours of the gates opening) then you should expect fairly big queues at the gates.
Hundreds of thousands of people decend on Monza each year and the security staff at the gates try and process you as quickly as you can, but the Italian organisation can leave a little to be desired so it’s always wise to expect a delay. Previously I saw one queue to have your ticket checked, then another queue after that to search your bag. Why they didn’t combine the two baffled me – but it seems like they’ve done that in recent years.
Most of the gates seems to be as bad as each other. From my experience however I found Gate C Biassono / Costa Bassa to be a little quieter than gates D or G. That’s probably because D is next to the Lesmo train station and G is where the shuttle buses drop off, so that makes sense.
Bag policy & prohibited items
Your bag is supposed to get searched on the way in to the venue. Whether or not it will, and how thoroughly it will be searched seems to vary wildly depending on how rushed the staff are. Some of the security staff will make you take everything out of your bag, others won’t even look at it.
Below is a list of prohibited items for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. If your bag is searched and you are found with any of these, they’ll be confiscated and discarded and you won’t see them again or get any kind of reimbursement:
- Glass bottles and containers or cans
- Plastic bottles or metal water bottles (with caps) bigger than 500ml
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Knives or sharp objects
- Flares, smoke bombs or fireworks
- Firearms
- Sprays cans (includes deodrant)
- Air horns
- Drones
- Radio scanners, walkie-talkies, laser pointers
- Power banks weighing more than 300 g;
- Rigid rods (flag poles)
- Tents and umbrellas
- Bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, scooters
- Bags or backpacks with a capacity exceeding 15 l
Of these items, along with the obvious ones like knives or firearms, the security staff tend to be strictest on the glass bottles or containers, 500ml bottle limit, deodrant cans and power banks over 300g. I’ve seen all of those being confiscated.
Don’t worry too much about your backpack size. Even if it’s a 30L backpack, as long as it’s not bursting full at the seams you should be ok.
Which gate is closest to my grandstand?
Ideally, when planning your travel to the Italian Grand Prix, you’d aim to end up near a gate that is closest to your grandstand, or to the General Admission view area you plan to watch from, to minimise the amount of extra walking you need to do during the weekend.
To help with that, below is a list of all the grandstands and which gate(s) is closest:
- Grandstand 1 – Centrale – Gate A/B
- Grandstands 2, 3, 27, 28, 29, 30 – Gradinate Traguardo – Gate A/B, or Gate A
- Grandstand 4 – Laterale Sinistra – Gate A/B, or Gate B
- Grandstand 5 – Piscina – Gate B
- Grandstand 6 – Alta Velocita – Gate B
- Grandstand 7 – Biassono – Gate B
- Grandstand 8 – Prima Variante – Gate B
- Grandstand 9 – Seconda Variante – Gate D
- Grandstand 10 – Roggia – Gate D
- Grandstand 10BIS – Lesmo 2 Interno – Gate D
- Grandstand 11 – Serraglio – Gate D
- Grandstand 12 – Ascari 3 – Gate B
- Grandstand 13 – Ascari 4 – Gate B
- Grandstand 14 – Ascari 2 BIS – Gate B
- Grandstand 16 – Ascari – Gate B
- Grandstand 17 – Ascari Esterna – Gate G
- Grandstand 18 – Uscita Ascari – Gate B or Gate G
- Grandstand 21 – Laterale Parabolica – Gate G
- Grandstand 22 – Parabolica – Gate G
- Grandstand 23 – Parabolica Interna – Gate G or Gate A
- Grandstand 24 – Vedano – Gate A
- Grandstand 25 – Uscita Parabolica – Gate A
- Grandstand 26 – Laterale Destra – Gate A/B
- Grandstand 33 – Seconda Variante 1 & 2 – Gate D
- Grandstand 34 – Lesmo 1 Esterna – Gate D
Some of those entrance gates are still going to be quite a walk from your grandstand, and will require using tunnels that pass under the track to get to your seat.
This official Monza circuit map shows some of the walking paths between gates and various grandstands. Always leave extra time for getting in to your seats, as the travelling, queing at the entrance gates and walking to your viewing point will all take longer than you expect.
Travel
You’re probably planning on getting to Monza via train, bus or maybe even by car. If so, I’ve written seperate guides that give you advice on which entrance gates to use when travelling to the circuit using different methods:
Check out those guides for full details on which entrance gates to use when relying on different types of transport.
Gate opening times
Below are the spectator gate opening times for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza:
- Friday – 7:00am
- Saturday – 7:00am
- Sunday – 7:00am
