Take a guided tour of the Olympic park as it's built
Andy Wilkes
The London 2012 Olympics may still be a little way away, but work is well underway at the Olympic Park in East London.
The Olympic Park in Lower Lea Valley will house the new sport venues, including an 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome, Olympic Village and Broadcasting and Media Centre. If you’d like to see the site’s dramatic transformation in progress, you can take a tour of the sites. Here’s what to expect from an Olympic site tour:
The ‘2012 Olympic Sites Tour’ starts in Stratford in East London, where you’ll see the construction work in progress on the Olympic Park. You’ll also hear the history of London's Royal Docks, as you travel to the Boxing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Table Tennis and Taekwondo venue. Other London landmarks on the tour include the Millennium Dome, Thames Barrier Park and University of East London. The company also runs an East London and the Olympic Park Tour and a 2012 Olympic Greenwich Tour.
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Web: Olympic Tour Guides 2012
This ‘View the Sporting Vision’ tour takes place on a traditional London Routemaster bus. The tour starts at the Olympic Park site, where the regeneration plans will be explained. Travelling to the Royal Docks, you'll see the Excel Centre where martial arts, weightlifting and boxing events are planned. After a lunch break in Stratford the tour moves south of the river courtesy of the Woolwich Ferry. After seeing the Royal Artillery Barracks on Woolwich Common, you’ll move on to Greenwich where the Millennium Dome will play host to basketball and gymnastics. The tour finishes in Greenwich where the park, once a royal hunting ground, is now the proposed scene of equestrian events.
Duration: Available as full-day of half-day tour
Price: Around £18 - £20 per person (prices may vary)
Tickets: To buy tickets, contact info@goeastlondon.co.uk or call +44 (0)20 8883 4169
Web: Go East London
Take a private car or minibus tour to visit this regenerated area of East London, including the 500 acre Olympic Park, where London will host the 2012 Olympics. You can either take the 3-hour dedicated Olympic Tour or combine a trip to the Olympic site with the British Tours London Tour. Prices are per car/minibus and include your private tour guide, collection and return to your central London hotel.
Duration: 3 hours
Price: £245-310
Tickets: Buy tickets at British Tours or call + 44 (0) 207 038 0688
Web: www.britishtours.com