A Tourist's Guide to the London Olympics

GUEST POST OVERVIEW: The Summer Olympics are coming to London, England, in 2012, and today’s guest post has all sorts of great information for those of you lucky enough to be there for the festivities. Can’t make it? Don’t worry…there’s plenty of great info for visiting London any other time as well!

The London Olympics Tourist

Some people travel to beaches, some people travel to historic monuments, and some people, a very niche group of people, travel to the Olympic Games. They are called Olympic Tourists and every 2 or 4 years is their time to journey to a different country to experience the most famous sporting event on the planet.

I think London 2012 has the potential to be one of the finest Olympic travel experiences of all time. Combine a city so rich in cultural, history and iconic sights with exceptional athletes from all over the globe and imagine the travel experience that you can create.

The Venues

The All-England Club, Wimbledon

The All England Club in Wimbledon will host the tennis events. The London Olympics will mark the first time in history that Olympic Tennis will be played on grass.

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The Olympic Stadium

I snapped this shot in the summer of 2010 when the Olympic Stadium was still under construction. It is now finished and will be hosting some test events open to the public in the coming months.

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The History

Is there a more famous landmark in London than the London Bridge. This shot is different because the modern “Bullet Building” appears to be shooting up in the center of the frame.

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The Culture

I had to take a picture of a phone booth. My guide said no one actually uses these anymore but they remain a popular tourist attraction so the city keeps them available.

Every tourist has this picture if they have been to London! Located outside of Buckingham Palace. I had to fight through about 1000 tourists trying to take this exact same picture to get a good angle.

About the Author: Anbritt Stengele is the founder of SportsTraveler.net, a leading sports tourism site offering trips to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.