Seeking info on London Olympics travel
June 19, 2011 1:13 PM Subscribe
Give me your brain dump on attending the London 2012 Olympics.
Starting to look in to a potential trip to London for the Olympics next year. So...
1) Presumably hotel rooms will all be gobbled up in travel packages. Can anyone recommend a good, honest provider for a good package?
2) What neighborhood do I want? It's hard to tell but it looks like there are three or four main venue areas, but I am completely unfamiliar with London. I was hoping to use a bike for transport (coming from the US, will have to rent one) so I'd like to be in easy shooting distance (say 5k) of the main venues.
3) I don't have tickets, but I am not really looking to get into any of the big ticket stuff. Archery, Fencing, Canoeing, whatever is easiest to get is fine with me. I'm really just hoping to enjoy the atmosphere. Do all events sell out? Are there scalpers? Can I worry about this later?
4) Any tips/tricks you can suggest for lodging, transport, tickets, info sources, or London in general will be appreciated.
Starting to look in to a potential trip to London for the Olympics next year. So...
1) Presumably hotel rooms will all be gobbled up in travel packages. Can anyone recommend a good, honest provider for a good package?
2) What neighborhood do I want? It's hard to tell but it looks like there are three or four main venue areas, but I am completely unfamiliar with London. I was hoping to use a bike for transport (coming from the US, will have to rent one) so I'd like to be in easy shooting distance (say 5k) of the main venues.
3) I don't have tickets, but I am not really looking to get into any of the big ticket stuff. Archery, Fencing, Canoeing, whatever is easiest to get is fine with me. I'm really just hoping to enjoy the atmosphere. Do all events sell out? Are there scalpers? Can I worry about this later?
4) Any tips/tricks you can suggest for lodging, transport, tickets, info sources, or London in general will be appreciated.
I'm guessing from your profile that you are in the US. CoSport are the US ticket agents for the 2012 Olympics and you can't worry about tickets later, they are massively in demand.
All the main venues are in the Olympic Park is Stratford which is in the London Borough of Newham to the east of the capital. Get some tickets first then post another question asking for specific advice.
posted by ninebelow at 3:07 PM on June 19, 2011
All the main venues are in the Olympic Park is Stratford which is in the London Borough of Newham to the east of the capital. Get some tickets first then post another question asking for specific advice.
posted by ninebelow at 3:07 PM on June 19, 2011
To put some numbers on what Roofus said - in the first round of ticket allocations for the UK 1.2 million people who applied didn't get tickets. That's the sort of competition for tickets you're looking at right now. Don't even bother thinking about planning your trip before you have tickets.
posted by Coobeastie at 3:38 PM on June 19, 2011
posted by Coobeastie at 3:38 PM on June 19, 2011
Look into staying in Leyton or Chadworth, in addition to hotels there are some hostels and rhey are distell from London Center.
posted by Great Swell at 3:42 PM on June 19, 2011
posted by Great Swell at 3:42 PM on June 19, 2011
Also there is a bike rental program in central london but I imagine it will be overwhelmed as it is limited to begin with.
posted by Great Swell at 3:43 PM on June 19, 2011
posted by Great Swell at 3:43 PM on June 19, 2011
The hotels in the region are, as far as I know, forbidden for renting out that time-span until a set date before the Olympics starts - something like 300 days so there will be things available soon for you. You should look into this more.
Tickets, you need to think about NOW. The lottery aspect is over, I think, as least in Canada and the UK and now they are on to the second phase of ticket sales. Check out ninebelow's link to see what you need to do to get some, and when and how much.
posted by hepta at 4:48 PM on June 19, 2011
Tickets, you need to think about NOW. The lottery aspect is over, I think, as least in Canada and the UK and now they are on to the second phase of ticket sales. Check out ninebelow's link to see what you need to do to get some, and when and how much.
posted by hepta at 4:48 PM on June 19, 2011
There is a bike rental scheme in London, but it is sponsored by Barclays, and as an Olympics sponsor is rival bank Lloyds TSB, there won't be any docking stations in the Olympic Park. Look for accommodation in neighbouring borough Tower Hamlets - it's close to central London and the Olympic park, but some parts are pretty rough, so check them out on streetview before you book. Good luck!
posted by curious zoe at 3:14 AM on June 20, 2011
posted by curious zoe at 3:14 AM on June 20, 2011
Thomas Cook has ticket/room packages that I assume are legit with a range of prices. Their cheapest seems to be 99 pounds for a footie ticket and one night in an airport hotel room which doesn't sound too bad to me, and they go all the waaay up from there.
I have tickets to a number of things and in browsing cosport's site a couple of hours ago with a friend who wasn't awarded anything in "round one" there were tickets available to canoeing and table tennis and beach volleyball among other things (we're in Canada). Apparently no Olympics has ever been 100% sold out but this one seems to be close!
posted by jamesonandwater at 7:01 PM on June 24, 2011
I have tickets to a number of things and in browsing cosport's site a couple of hours ago with a friend who wasn't awarded anything in "round one" there were tickets available to canoeing and table tennis and beach volleyball among other things (we're in Canada). Apparently no Olympics has ever been 100% sold out but this one seems to be close!
posted by jamesonandwater at 7:01 PM on June 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by roofus at 2:18 PM on June 19, 2011