jpickle

I am trying to surprise mey husband with tickets for a day at Wimbledon this July. Has anyone ever been? And if so do you know of the best way to go about acquiring them?

mangosalsa

You have to enter a lottery, which ended in December. If you name is drawn, then you are given the opportunity to purchase tickets. The give you a date and court, and you have the option to buy.

enzian

You can also join a packaged tour, but it is frightfully expensive. To see the options, click on the "ticketed packages now available" link on the Wimbledon webpage:

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/tickets/tours.html

You'll see it runs around 350 to 850 pounds per person, for a day at Wimbledon and a night's lodging, depending on which court you pick (Centre is more expensive) and what level of lodging.

You can also "queue up" each day for grounds passes.

We were going to take our daughter a couple of years ago, but gave up on the idea when we saw the prices. We went to the Swiss Open for 2 days instead, and had a great time (and saw some great tennis, on clay courts).

annhig

hi jpickle,

unless you are willing to pay a large amount of money as set out above, you can pay to enter the ground, and then camp out on "henman Hill" [aka Murray mound] and watch the action of the big screen. if you hang about the exits to the show courts at the end of a big match, you amy be lucky and get returns from someone or go to the ticket office where they resell the returns for charity.

otherwise, you'll have to try to try the ballot for next year or join an LTA affiliated tennis club in the UK [clubs get an allocation of tickets every year when they distribute between members by ballot, raffle, etc. one year I won men's finals tickets in the raffle and drew semi-finals tickets in the ballot. boy was I popular!]

regards, ann

gilroyg

If you decide to queue, Get there before 0800. This year's ground only price is £20 which gives access to all courts except No 1 and centre. We usually take a picnic and a box of wine and watch most action from the top of the hill. The outer courts are pretty easy to access and if you plan ahead get to your court the match before the one you want to watch and as people leave you can end up with a good standing spot or seat. Use Wimbledon rail station if arriving by train and "Southfields" if arrriving by tube (subway) One thing to watch for, if you catch the connecting buses from the rail station to the ground, the bus will drop you at the ground and you have to walk back up the hill a considerable way to join the back of the queue. A taxi (shared) will drop you at the back of the queue.

alanRow

If you get a ground ticket during the first week of Wimbledon, you will have a good chance of seeing some of the top tennis players on one of the outer courts

Cholmondley_Warner

Don't pay an arm and a leg for the special buses - just get he 156 from outside Smiths opposite the station. It will drop you right outside.

supertraveler

Hi I will be in London on 24,25,26 June and am looking to queue overnight to get tickets for the show courts No 1 and 2. Does anyone have any experience in doing what im about to do ? What time must i get in line to ensure i get the show court tickets ?

stevelyon

Supetraveler
If you are queuing overnight you should definitely get a show court - not necessarily Centre Court, you should get Number 1 or 2. I have queued on many occasions but rarely get the showcourts but that's because I try and get in the queue by 7.00am (not overnight). Good luck.

supertraveler

Hi Stevelyon
Thanks for the advice. I am thinking of getting in the queue at about 8 or 9 pm because that was what i was advised to do. So fingers crossed i hope i can get show court tickets.

stevelyon

Hope you do supertraveler. Let us know how you go on.

Feldie

Anyone have advice for showing up to buy tickets turned in by those leaving early? We don't want to queue - I'm thinking of maybe showing up after lunch and trying my luck. I think I remember reading there was separate area to buy 'donated' tickets?

BigRuss

Note that "in July" Wimbledon will be in its second week, which means fewer matches. Men's semis are on July 3 and women's are on July 2 -- that's two matches each day (excluding *YAWN* doubles). On July 1, there will be men's quarterfinals. This means that it is less likely that folks will leave early because there are only the BEST matches and the best players remaining.

The championship matches are July 4 (women -- at least one Williams sister) and July 5 (men). If the men's final ends up as Nadal-Federer IV . . . that will cost you a LOT of money.

Thanks to the new roof on Centre Court, the number of make-up matches in the second week will be lower than recent totals.

Feldie

Ooops I should have specified my days. First week, June 21st onwards. We're leaving London June 28th.

I spoke to a nice lady today and she said one has to gain entry to the grounds before one could purchase the returned/donated tickets. Meh. That means I have to stand in line with the other thousands of great unwashed

I am assuming that the hill (Henman Hill?) with the giant video screen is inside the grounds, so same problem?

Gordon_R

Yes Henman Hill is inside the grounds so you'll need at least an general admission ticket to the grounds. If you don't already have a ticket now and you don't fancy queueing up for several hours, you could try to get in late in the day (after about 5pm). During the middle of the afternoon, the grounds are usually full and you won't be admitted until people start to leave for home. Once inside you can see all the matches on the outer courts, or buy a re-sold ticket for the show courts from the special booth near Henman Hill. I've sone this a couple of times and it worked out well as the early evening weather was good and play continued unto about 9pm. BUT there's no guarantee you will get in so there is a risk of a wated journey.

Feldie

Gordon, thanks, you answered my questions perfectly. I would rather go spur of the moment and risk wasting a little time, at least I could get a picture of my kid in front of Wimbledon LOL.

(One more question - the Wimbledon website has very very general info, will it tighten up as the matches begin so we would even know if there were games that day and times?)

Gordon_R

Yes, once the championships start, you'll be able use the Wimbledon website to follow the draw and the order of play for the next day (the latter is decided late in the previous evening depending on the outcome of that day's matches). This info will also feature on the BBC TV website. The UK newspaper The Daily Mail (in print and on the web) also has particularly good and detailed daily coverage of the matches.

Bear in mind that the duration of a match is entirely unpredicable, and there's always the chance of rain interruptions (apart from on the new, upgraded Centre Court), so who you will actually see playing is never completely certain.

supertraveler

Hi everyone i just got back from a month in Europe and i was able to queue and get tickets for Day 5 of Wimbledon 2009 !!! It was the best experience ever watching Federer and Djokovic on centre court ...

Ok here are some tips :

1. I arrived at Wimbledon Park carpark 10 at 5pm and i was given a queue card numbered 334. The first 500 ppl for that day had a choice in chosing if they wanted show court tickets or not. To get there, take the Tube to Wimbledon park tube station. From there, ask a conductor how to get to wimbledon park. There will be signs put up for you to follow and its rather straight forward. If you look out the window on the right of the train from Southfields to Wimbledon Park, you will be able to see long lines of people and tents as the train goes pass Wimbledon car park 10.

2. Bring a tent and sleeping bag. I didnt have one and froze to death at night. I didnt get a wink of sleep. But i must say the centre court tickets were well worth it.

3. Bring food. Its really nice sitting out in the sun and eating your late lunch / dinner. If you dont bring any food, there are some grocery stores nearby which you can walk to to get drinks. As for food, different restaurants will be giving out leaflets, selling chinese food, pizza or italian food. You can just order through them and most will deliver to the park gates.

4. Bring an umbrella.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask . I'll try to help with my limited experience.