5OHS

Sending my daughter to Wimbledon for Week 2 - any advice for queue'ers or other? What best to eat/drink? Where best to charge all-important phone/etc? She'll be staying in flat in Wimbledon proper.

It's her first trip to London - and it's hard to give her a "top 10" -- although I've tried!

Other than the AWESOME TENNIS .... she will be enjoying a show in West End (Mama Mia) and double decker bus tour to orient her and The Tower, Churchill War Rooms and St Paul's and the Eye .... Covent Garden... maybe some items in the British Museum and Harrod's for kicks ... she picked these locations from places I told her about and tour books/online ... any other "not to be missed"?

She is 19 and headed to college in the fall .... will be navigating on her own ... thoughts....?!

I haven't been there in several years, and I'm not 19 ... so any thoughts appreciated! She is a well rounded kid --- other than tennis --- she likes to see/do a variety of things...

Thanks!

Dukey1

How much did the tickets (to the tennis) cost????

RoamEurope

You forgot Westminster Abbey! Hope she has fun.

We will be coming in right at the end of the tournament but not for the tennis and can't give any advice on it.

Given her age, she might also like the Harry Potter exhibit- if so, book in advance.

janisj

>>How much did the tickets (to the tennis) cost????<<

It sounds like she doesn't have tix. >>any advice for queue'ers<<

50HS: I'd really advise her to skip the H-o-H-o bus tour. it is slow, expensive, and isn't really 'transportation'. IMO she'd be better off spending that time/money visiting sites she wants to see - not sitting upstairs on a bus listening to canned commentary.

Gordon_R

Yes, that's the way I read it too - Dukey you may not be aware but if you are prepared to queue up overnight you can get into Wimbledon on the day for not much money. It's a long-standing tradition at Wimbledon that's not found at many other major sporting events.

>>any advice for queue'ers or other?<<
All the Rules - if you haven't already seen them - are on:-
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/ticke...565749973.html

My only other advice would be:-
(a) Aim for a day when Andy Murray is not scheduled to pay.

(b) Bring your own snacks/drinks in in a small insulated bag if you want to save money - the on-site catering is a very high standard but pricey for a student.

(c) Once you're in, queue up at the Re-sold tickets office after about 5pm to get a ticket for a show-court. They re-sell tickets in aid of charity from people who leave before the end of play (which can be as late as 11pm on Centre Court now with the retractable roof).

Gordon_R

...was supposed to read: "not scheduled to play".

Ackislander

Not to be alarmist, but the phrase "charge her all important phone" scares the heck out of me.

If she plans to use her phone to stay in constant touch with her friends the way most kids do in the US, you both need to read some of the phone threads here. Constant texting, voice calls, checking data, sending pictures, using the gps, etc without making special arrangements can be incredibly expensive. How expensive? More than $1000 for a couple of weeks is not unknown.

There are ways around this, but you can't just get off the plane and start calling/texting.

Tulips

Get a local simcard that gives internet access and use that for whatsapp, skype, viber to stay in touch. These are inexpensive, but she would need to be sure they will work with her phone (ie an unlocked phone). Otherwise get a cheap phone with credit loaded onto it. Or use Wifi whenever it's available.

Royal

Hi. Getting into Wimbledon without tickets is very difficult. As an earlier poster mentioned you most likely have to line up overnight just for grounds admission. Ticket prices through Ticketmaster are astronomical.

It's a fantastic experience.

Gordon_R

>>Getting into Wimbledon without tickets is very difficult.<<

Not if you time it right. I went up to Wimbledon yesterday afternoon, with no advance tickets. Arrived approx 5pm, in the queue for 1 hour, then got ground pass tickets for £14 each. Went immediately to the ticket resale office and had no trouble buying a show-court ticket (£10 for Centre Court, £5 for other showcourts). Had a wonderful evening of top quality tennis.

Dukey1

Yeah, Gordon, it was great on TV, too!!!

Royal

Lucky you Gordon_R as you obviously had the right timing. I guess that's what it's all about and definitely in the first few days of the tournament you have the best chance.

annhig

lucky you, gordon - though good planning also had a lot to do with it, by the looks of it.

who did you see?

griz_fan

My daughter is the same age. She LOVED the Camden Markets for clothes and dorm room decorations. We didn't make it on our last trip, but this summer, we plan on visiting the Portobello Road market, which looks great, too.

Gordon_R

We had seats 4 rows from the front on Court 2 and saw Kanepi knock out 7th seed Jelena Jankovic first (got Kaia's autograph as she left the court), followed by Tara Moore putting up a spirited performance against Vera Zvonareva. We could just as easily have seen Bouchard v Hanchukova followed by Ivanovic v Schiavone on Court 1 or the Halep v Pereira match on Centre Court.

Smeagol

I went Wimbledon for the first time on Monday, was lucky enough to have centre court tickets just behind the Royal box!!! to see Andy Murray start the defence of his title... Bucket list thing ticked , Wimbledon was brilliant. As we left around 6:30 after the Djockovic match they scanned our ticket to resell as another match on centre court had started.

annhig

sounds brill, Gordon. Somehow you don't get the same impression of the play from the TV do you? I remember my first visit to Wimbledon when I was about 15 and we managed to get onto a court where Virginia Wade was playing [yes, that's how old I am] and couldn't believe how hard she and her opponent hit the ball.

Glad you enjoyed it Smeagol - are you sure you weren't IN the Royal Box?

annhig

DD found this very funny article on the net - enjoy:

http://www.10sballs.com/2014/06/25/w...y-alix-ramsay/

Smeagol

Oh Ann if only.... I did get to meet Stan Smith, John Lloyd and Jeremy Bates though!!!!!!,

annhig

wow - and I'm old enough to know who Stan Smith, John Lloyd and Jeremy Bates are!