Arielle

We are looking for detailed directions from the Bloomsbury area of London to the Wimbeldon Tennis Arena using the subway. Does this destination require more than a zone 1 or 2 subway ticket? Is there a subway station near the tennis stadium or would we need to transfer to a bus? We are tennis players and fans, and even though the big tournament is over, we would enjoy touring the facility and purchasing souvenirs at the gift shop. We will be there the end of September. Does anyone know the days/hours the arena and gift shop are open? I submitted an email with these questions to the contact information on the Wimbeldon website, but did not receive a reply. Thanks for your help.

avalon

Too Bad CWi s banned!

BigRuss

A subway? London doesn't have one.

It DOES have an Underground or "Tube" and the way to get to Wimbledon only on the Tube is to take the District Line train. From Bloomsbury, you'll likely take the Piccadilly line from Russell Square or Holborn, whichever is closest, and go to Earl's Court.

Earl's Court is the intersection for all the District Line trains (there are a bunch of branches) and you hop on the one in the DIRECTION of Wimbledon and disembark at Southfields station.

You'll be going to ZONE 3.

Here's some Wimbledon info:

http://aeltc2010.wimbledon.org/en_GB...eum_about.html

Royal

Hi. We were at Wimbledon for the tournament at the end of June. The closest tube stop is Southfields on the District Line which is before the grounds itself. The village of Wimbledon is past the grounds and apparently is further away than Southfields.

We were taken by shuttle bus to the grounds from the tube stop as it was included with our ticket package. I believe there is a bus which runs regularly to the grounds from Southfields. The Museum is open year round - not sure about the shops.

It's an amazing place and if you are tennis fans am sure you will enjoy the visit.

Hooameye

Ask directions to a "subway" in London and you'll probably end up at one of these:
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/10/...8_d1d89cf3.jpg
Or one of these:
http://www.timw.com/wp-content/uploa.../10/subway.jpg

BigRuss

HAHAHA = funny pictures.

The term "subway" in London refers to a crosswalk that goes underneath a busy intersection. They used to look a fair bit nicer than Hooareyou's first picture.

janisj

You have been given the directions you need to Southfields. And if you get confused on the day - just go to the ticket window in the tube station (from Bloomsbury, it could be Russell Sq or Holborn or a couple of other stations - it depends on <u>exactly</u> where you are staying)

But definitely don't ask for a 'subway'. That means 'pedestrian underpass' and is NOT what you want at all. Like traveling to most countries -- it is always a good idea to learn a few words in the local language

Hoai

Just realized that we will be in London while Wimbeldon is going on. Very exciting for our tennis family. We definitely would like to add Wimbeldon to our to-do list. We will be staying near St Pancras / King's Cross. Can we take the tube from there to wimbeldon and back? We are thinking of the evening session which start at 5PM. Would it be safe to travel by tube back to our hotel in the evening around 10PM?

jamikins

Travel on the tubes in central London is safe, even later at night...there will be lots of others on the tube as well.

Gordon_R

Hoai, you can't just show up at the world's premier tennis tournament and get straight in. Demand for tickets vastly outstrips supply and the ballot for the 2014 tournament closed months ago. It <i>is</i> possible to join the famous queue for the daily allocation of ground tickets (which are for the so-called outside courts only and don't include show court access). To do this you really need to join the queue <b>the previous evening</b> and queue all night! I don't know where you got your info about an "evening session" - there's no such thing at Wimbledon (note the correct spelling by the way).

annhig

in fact, the idea of going for the "evening session" is not a bad one - there is a facility whereby people who are leaving can hand in their tickets to the show courts and they are resold for charity.

so if you were to turn up at about 5pm, you might be able to buy some tickets to see a decent match. and even if you couldn't, entry to the grounds themselves should be easier as people who have been there since noon head for home.

I would suggest avoiding any day on which Andy Murray is playing - or any of the brits come to that - as that will attract more fans. Another option is to go on finals days but to try to get onto the other show courts where there may be junior or senior finals going on - you might spot a star of the future.

You could catch the Tube to Wimbledon and catch a bus to the ground, or walk from Southfields. there should be no problem getting a train or the tube back after the matches have finished - you won't be alone!

Gordon_R

annhig - you're correct about the re-sold show-court tickets, but to get one of those you first have to obtain a ground entry ticket to get onto the site. Although many people do leave in the early evening, there are plenty of others to replace them and it's not uncommon for a longish queue to form.

Thinking about it, the last time I got in this way was the same night an an England football international when there was a mass exodus at approx 5pm. This year the World Cup is running at the same time as Wimbledon. Hoai could go on the evening of 24 June when England are scheduled to play Costa Rica. I'll probably be doing the same thing!

Hoai

I was thinking of just getting ground tickets. If we are LUCKY we might score some re-sold tickets although it would probably be near impossible to get four.

jamikins

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/ticke...565749973.html

Hoai

Thank you jamikins for the link. I did not know that you have to join the queue for ground tickets! Looks like I will not be able to check this off my bucket list after all

annhig

Hoai - like i said, if you aim for later on in the afternoon you might be lucky. but it's a long way to traipse out to Wimbledon on the off-chance.

Why not do what the rest of us do and watch it on the telly? The BBC's coverage is very good - last year they used the same system that they used for the Olympics so that there was live coverage of most matches.

janisj

Hoai: May I suggest that when/if you have new questions re your trip . . . start your own threads instead of topping these really old ones. Even when they are about the same topic/issues . . . things can change over the years, plus often people will post responses to the OP and not notice the dates.

Hoai

How long is the walk from Southfields to the grounds? Is it better to walk, take the bus, or a taxi?

Gordon_R

Southfields is less than a mile to the AELTC - maybe 15-16 minutes walk. And it avoids the steep hill you have to climb if you were to arrive at Wimbledon station.

annhig

And it avoids the steep hill you have to climb if you were to arrive at Wimbledon station.>>

last time I went, there was a shuttle bus from the station to the ground and back.