In a few days, one of the major sporting events around the world will start: the 2012 London Olympics. They will take place between 27 July and 12 August 2012 and they represent the 30th edition.
It is the third time London, the UK capital has hosted the Olympics, they were held in this city in 1908 and 1948. During the 17-day celebration of the 2012 Olympic Games, a total of 39 competitions divided in 26 Olympic sports, among athletics, swimming, gymnastics, basketball and football will be develop.
If you’ll be in London at this time and want to experience the thrill of these international competitions, do not miss the ultimate guide that, we have prepared for sport travelers. This is the Guide to the London 2012 Olympic Games for iPhone and Android where you will find information on the Olympic venues, so you can take the map and tips on stadiums and places in which the competitions will take place, very useful in a large cities as London.
Venues
The main center of the games will be the new Olympic Park, which has 200 acres in Stratford, east London, and in other parts of the city.
The London Olympic Park, is built on a former industrial area and it has large green areas, with more than four thousand trees and here, it is also located the Olympic Village and nine sports facilities, one of which will be used for Paralympic Games: Aquatics Centre (swimming), Basketball Arena (basketball), Copper Box (handball and modern pentathlon), London Velopark (track cycling), Olympic Stadium ( athletics), Riverbank Arena (hockey) and Water Polo Arena (water polo).
The Olympic Village consists of eleven residential parcels comprising 62 buildings with 2,818 apartments and leisure training, school
The competitions will be spread over several locations in the city, as in Earls Court, where we can enjoy volleyball, the ExCeL Exhibition Centre – boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling, Hampton Court Palace, with road cycling. In Hyde Park will take place the triathlon and 10 km swimming and how could it be otherwise, we can enjoy the tennis at Wimbledon and the football at Wembley Stadium we can also enjoy this sport at the Millennium Stadium and Old Trafford).
Activities, tickets and schedule
Besides the 640 Olympic competitions, we can enjoy a number of activities that will begin on July 25. In addition, the official website of London 2012, offers a full schedule of activities in which you can find the dates, times and venues of all competitions.
The London 2012 Festival is an exciting program of cultural events organized in parallel, including exhibitions, concerts, theater and several free events.
The opening ceremony will be held on Friday 27 July at the Olympic Stadium and will be closing on August 12.
You can still get tickets to any of the competitions, although the price is quite high. You can visit the official website of London 2012, where you’ll find more information about the buying process and some last minute deals. Here you can see the official pricing for the 2012 London Olympics. However, there are still tickets available for the Paralympic Games, to be held from August 29 to September 9.
Also, you can see all the competitions and ceremonies live on giant screens that will be installed in central London.
Getting in
The airplane is the fastest and cheapest mean of transport to get to London, but from the opening of the Eurotunnel in 1994, the access by car and train or bus has gained speed and convenience.
London has five airports well connected to downtown by bus, train and taxi: Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City. You can find cheap flights to London here.
Getting around
London’s public transport is characterized by its efficiency, but due to the exceptional influx of visitors from around the world, it could have a direct bearing on trains, buses and metro.
The organization of the games, wanted to anticipate this situation and it has developed a journey planner for London 2012. Another option is to use the bike, so they have enabled a large number of parking spaces in all sports venues that will host competitions.
It is also advisable to buy an Oyster Card, a card that allows you to load money on it and it is valid for all transport to take you to the Olympic events.
Where to stay
We hope you have already booked your hotel in London, because at this point , it will be very difficult to find a place to stay at a reasonable price. You can opt for private apartments, rooms or special places like castles or even a taxi.
More information
- For more information about the Olympics visti www.london2012.com
- On festival.london2012.com you can find more information about the London 2012 Festival.
- If you have any specific questions about this the Olympic Games, you can get real-time answers in ask.london2012.com
Tags: london 2012, longon travel guide, olympic games, olympics, tips london 2012
