Wimbledon

For this June? Unless you have excess money to burn to purchase tix from a 3rd party vendor, you won't get a ticket to a match on of the main courts. Your best bet is a grounds pass. People line up for that quite early in the morning though so you'd have to be on one of the first tube rides out to Wimbledon. Gates open at 10-10:30? If you are lucky enough to get in then there are 15 - 18 or so outer courts for the earlier rounds when you will be there. Since you are there near the beginning of the tournament you may see some of the top seeded players on these courts. Grounds passes aren't that expensive early in the tournament...no more than 20 pounds. I've done this several times and it is WELL worth it! Sit on Henman Hill to watch the jumbo trons, watch matches from the bleachers at the outer courts, eat strawberries and cream, and drink Pimm's!

As best I can tell from this site, tickets are $1,000.00+ EACH

https://www.viagogo.com/Sports-Tickets/Tennis/Wimbledon-Tickets/E-2925708

I did not do an extensive search, so maybe there are some for less. (Stubhub was even higher)

The cheapest way is to pick up a grounds pass in the evening for a couple of hours play. There isn't that much of a queue by then although entrance does require someone to leave first. Ground capacity has increased a bit this year

Also a few hundred tickets are sold by Ticketmaster at 9am for the next day. These go very quickly. Returns are also sold, so best have an alert set.

We bought tickets for July, quarter finals. In anticipation of a great game! A little expensive, but it's life...

This has all been so very helpful. We have decided to change course and do whatever it takes to see Wimbledon on Saturday, July 6.
We will probably take an Uber from our hotel - which is in London City, Tower Hill - because I think that would be the quickest way to get to Wimbledon. I did a cost estimate for an Uber XL and, unless the information I got was incorrect, the price doesn't seem to be much more than if we paid for 5 people on the tube. I do have one more question: what time would you recommend that we all get there in order to basically secure tickets to the grounds? I know someone said that the gates open at 10:00 or 10:30, so I'm wondering how much earlier than that would give us the best chance of getting in. Thank you!

Good Luck
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wimbledon-2019-tickets-how-to-queue-centre-court-games-a8929111.html%3famp

Thanks, Claudia. This website answers all my questions. We will aim to all get to Wimbledon by 7:00-7:30 and keep our fingers crossed that we'll be able to get ground passes.

Do hope your experience turns out to be positive especially with the short amount of time you are there.

Also hope you will make time to report back and tell us what happened i.e., pay it forward.

Safe travels.

I will for sure. Thank u

Here’s a guide to queueing and visiting, from the Wimbledon website. You will find several hundred people ahead of you in the queue at that time of the morning - note that some camp overnight.

http://www.wimbledon.com/pdf/Guide_to_Queuing_2019.pdf

I think you should ask again for the best way to get there from Tower Hill, considering the time of day ( rush hour). I checked the Uber price estimator and it shows £24-32 for an Uber X, but that is based on "now". Won't it be higher during rush hour and the Wimbledon event? I don't understand Uber all that well but my husband uses it and we have encountered "surge pricing" several times and it was not pretty.

We took a black cab from the Tower of London to Wimbledon 8 years ago for the Centre Court tour, not during the Grand Slam event and not at rush hour ( it was noon). Despite the fabled "knowledge" the driver went a strange way ( or so it appeared to us) and then had trouble fining the All England Tennis Club. When we saw the meter reading £48 my husband asked me how much cash we had and I answered "£50". The driver heard that and stopped and let us off on the street to find it on our own. We arrived 2 minutes late for the tour and were not admitted. It was not a good experience, especially for our tearful daughter.

The TFL website says it is a journey of 46 minutes by Tube from Tower Hill to Wimbledon on the District Line, with a fare of £2.80 each ( using Oyster Card or contactless payment), even at 6 in the morning. I am sure the locals would be happy to tell you if this is the best way or not, if you mention the starting point and time of day.

I really appreciate the info about Uber prices. For any of the locals who might be reading this, I would greatly appreciate your input. Our hotel is Premier Inn, Tower Hill at 22 Prescott St. The only day we can go to Wimbledon is Saturday, July 6. From what I’ve read we should get there by at least 7:30 in order to assure that we can get ground passes. If Uber is too expensive, we can take the tube but I don’t know where to take it or what time it begins it’s journey to Wimbledon. Uber would be less of a hassle especially since we will all be very jet lagged from arriving the day before, but we will do whatever is best. Thank u

The Tower Hill tube station is just a couple of blocks from your hotel.

But since it is a Saturday, I guess rush hour will not be a traffic problem if you choose Uber. You could check the actual price that morning when you want tomdepart, and if it is too high you could still opt for the Tube. Locate the station when you have a free moment on Friday after you arrive.

I hope the locals will still weigh in, but right now it is the middle of the night for them!

There is a direct District Line service from Tower Hill to Southfields which takes 35 minutes and then 10-15 minutes walk from there ( change at Earls Court if no direct service is shewn on the board). Don't go to Wimbledon station and walk back as this is a bit further and mainly uphill.

I’m re reading every post and I’d like to point out that no where did anyone say you’d be assured getting a day pass.

I get the desire to see a match. However it seems you are of the frame of mind getting a day Pass is easy, it isn’t. People will be camping overnight hoping to get day pass. Wimbledon is not the Super Bowl BUT IT IS WIMBLEDON and there is no guarantee you can arrive at 7:30am, queue and obtain day passes.

I wish you well but considering you will Be jet lagged from your arrival the day before I’m concerned your patience level will be taxed. Also, not a plus to start the short visit being disappointed.

Is a day pass the same as a ground pass? I had gone on the Wimbledon website & it did say something to the effect that if we got to the queue by about 7:30 we’d have a good chance of getting ground passes. I shouldn’t have made that leap by saying we’d be assured of getting in...I do realize there’s really no assurance until we actually get into the grounds. My fingers & toes will remain crossed for the next month...😊

Linda, Saturday is usually the busiest day for obvious reasons. So 7.30am will by no means guarantee you a grounds pass. You have to go to Wimbledon with the mindset that it’s an awful lot of queueing with no guarantee of seeing tennis. You should be okay to get a grounds pass but don’t assume that what works on a weekday will also work on a Saturday.

Have a read of this: https://londonist.com/london/sport/how-where-when-queue-wimbledon-tennis-tournament

The daily capacity is dependent on the number of courts in operation and the prevailing weather conditions - the maximum has been increased to 42,000 but this is reduced if the weather is especially hot, which can put the squeeze on ground passes since those going to the ticketed show courts have to be admitted.

Who knows what price Uber will come up with. I've experienced surge pricing in Portsmouth at a time when there was no obvious reason for a surge in pricing. There have also been cases where drivers collude into falsifying availability thereby inducing a surge in pricing. The only way of determining an Uber price is to check at the time you require it which is of little use to you at this stage. A better option would be to arrange a minicab. The rirce may be slightly more expensive than an Uber but at least you'll have it arranged beforehand and know the price.

The latest posts for several of you makes me wonder if, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, July 6 in the hopes of securing ground passes, maybe we should think about going straight from the airport on Friday morning. Our plane arrives at 7:30, with a big unknown being the length of time to get through customs & get our luggage. We do have tickets on heathrow express to paddington station & could leave from there for Southfields. Luggage can be stored at Wimbledon for a reasonable fee. I would greatly appreciate your input about this - mainly if it would be better to do it this way rather than the next day (Saturday).

Lola, your post makes me wonder if Uber in London is different than in the States. We’re you not able to put an Uber charge on your credit card in London? Your experience must having been such an ordeal! Really sorry, & it definitely has me rethinking using Uber

The experience I described was with a Black Cab (official London taxi), not Uber; it was back in 2004. And they did not take credit cards then.

Oh I see. I must have misread your post from earlier. Thank you for clarifying

Ubers and taxis all take credit cards. Most black cabs also have wifi now!

Thank you for confirming this

I had gone on the Wimbledon website & it did say something to the
effect that if we got to the queue by about 7:30 we’d have a good
chance of getting ground passes.

That is probably a pipe dream. People overnight on the queue. Many of them will want to buy court seats but once they are sold out, those people patient enough to be there all night will buy grounds passes. I would be there long before 6am for a grounds pass for Saturday tennis and that too isn't a guarantee. So prepare your daughter & grandchildren for that.

The latest posts for several of you makes me wonder if, instead of
getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, July 6 in the hopes of
securing ground passes, maybe we should think about going straight
from the airport on Friday morning.

I believe they won't sell you grounds passes for Saturday on Friday. Email them to verify.

WIMBLEDON 2019: HOW TO QUEUE FOR GROUND PASSES AND COURT TICKETS