Going to Wimbledon was our dream since we came to London. We were able to go to Qualifying rounds last year, and we also went for a tour of Wimbledon, which was very insightful. However, nothing can beat the moment of actually going through the gates as a visitor, when there are other 40 000 people with you, not counting the best tennis players in the world.
In this mini-guide, I am not going to focus on the way how to get tickets – we consider ourselves extremely lucky that we secured "returned tickets" on Ticketmaster for the second Monday.
Despite reading up on the Wimbledon guide on the website and numerous articles on other places, nothing can really prepare you for the actual atmosphere, as well as how everything is run at Wimbledon. We almost came unprepared, and only at the very last minute, we have actually realised some snacks might be good, as eating strawberries and cream the whole day might not be the best idea.
So we have put together a few tips from first-time Wimbledon visitors, but, wish us luck, not last-time visitors. If you ever get the chance, definitely visit Wimbledon!
ARRIVE EARLY
Very cheesy and you will find this on your tickets, the website and every other tip! But, hear me up. Despite going on a tube at 10 am in the morning, when it is usually quite busy, tens of thousands of people are actually heading the exact same direction.
Moreover, Wimbledon lies directly between tube stations Southfields and Wimbledon. It is at least 15 minutes walk to the gates, therefore, if you arrive at the tube station just before 11 am, when most of the plays start, you might not be able to see half of the play anyway. Don't take a taxi or Uber from the station either, as the roads are extremely busy and you will spend most of the time moving slowly, and the people walking will be quicker than you.
Lastly, if you have purchased your tickets through Ticketmaster, you will need to collect them, too, and therefore stand in a queue for some time as well. If you arrive early, the chances of queues are much smaller, as the grounds open at 9.30am already.
PURCHASE A TICKET WITH AN ALLOCATED SEAT
There is an option to buy ground tickets only, meaning that you have access to the grounds, but you don't have any allocated seating. This means that you can either walk around the smaller courts in the middle, and hope that some seat becomes available, or queue for seats on courts 2, 3 and all of the bigger ones, or spend all day at the Murray hill watching the big screens.
Ticketmaster ticket came with allocated seating on the Court 3 (you could get Court 1 or Centre court if you are lucky!). We have found it extremely helpful. If we wanted to, we could just stay seated on "our" court and watch the game (the players playing on this court were rather good!) or we could have left anytime we wanted, go around, for a snack, sit on the Hill and watch Kvitova playing on the Centre court, and then return back to our seats.
PREPARE FOR ALL TYPES OF WEATHER
Given that we have spent 2 years in London now, one would think that we have finally learnt a lesson. But no, we just check the weather forecast and run with it, despite all Wimbledon sites telling us to come prepared for any type of weather.
This resulted in getting a horrible sunburn, but only on one side of our faces, into feeling a heat stroke coming, and into almost freezing in the evening when we could feel the rain coming any minute.
So. Bring a hat. Bring a sun screen. Bring an extra layer. You WILL need it.
BRING SNACKS
We absolutely loved that we were able to bring snacks with us. We only had water in the beginning, but upon seeing people bringing almost picnic hampers with them, we have decided to buy some snacks too – sandwiches, hummus, carrots, fruits, and cans of Pimm's. It lasted us the whole day and it was the best decision ever. But don't get me wrong, you definitely need to buy strawberries and cream, the most traditional Wimbledon food, and maybe get a little tub of ice cream, too.
If you are feeling up to it, you can also bring one bottle of wine or champagne, which is, especially on Murray Hill, constantly poured.
Don't forget to bring a bottle, of water, too, and don't worry about having to buy a new one – there are water filling stations everywhere!
HAVE FUN
This might be the only opportunity you have at Wimbledon – have fun, enjoy every moment of being at the centre of this tremendous sporting event, and enjoy watching how extremely "London" and British this is. Because during Wimbledon, nobody cares that all of their employees are out at 11 am sipping on Champagne and eating strawberries and cream.
Have you ever been at Wimbledon? Do you have any other tips?