If you want to go and see Wimbledon, it??s harder than you might expect. The courts aren??t that big, and there are far more people who want to go than there are seats available, especially for the singles events ?C tickets for the final, needless to say, are like gold dust.

While it would be easy for the Lawn Tennis Association (who run Wimbledon) to simply set prices sky-high and let the market take care of it (meaning that only rich people would be able to go), they prefer to keep the tournament open to the interested public. To do this, they run a ticket lottery, which you must enter by the end of the year before the tournament ?C for more details, check their website at wimbledon.org.

If you??re not lucky enough to get a ticket in the draw, then you can queue outside the ground and try to buy tickets on the day ?C but be warned that some devotees will have been waiting in line for days or even weeks, camping in the queue, so your chances of getting in this way aren??t exactly high.

The easiest way to get into Wimbledon is probably to be a tennis player yourself ?C meaning a member of a tennis club and the Lawn Tennis Association. The LTA keeps seats aside for active members in tennis clubs and schools, and many clubs will organise an entire trip especially. Of course, it would be a little silly to take up tennis just so you can go and see Wimbledon, but it beats sitting in a tent for weeks in the rain.

If you do manage to wangle yourself some tickets, you probably want to make sure you turn up on time. To do that, whatever you do, leave your car at home. The best thing to do is to get to Wimbledon train station (not South Wimbledon tube station!) and then take the special shuttle bus from there.