"A tour of Wembley Stadium" Wembley Stadium Tip by toonsarah

Wembley is synonymous with one thing in the eyes of the world, and that is football. OK the famous stadium, now totally rebuilt, hosts many other events, both sporting and musical, but it is for football that it is most famous. We have visited the “old” Wembley Stadium twice, both times to see Newcastle play Manchester United – once in the Charity Shield, once in the FA Cup. Both games were embarrassing defeats for the Toon, so forgive me if I don’t dwell on them too much here!

But we recently went on a tour of the new Wembley Stadium. We went because visiting friends were interested to see it, but we found that we too thoroughly enjoyed the tour. And after all, it’s highly unlikely that Newcastle will be playing there again in the near future, so how else were we going to see it?!

We booked our tickets in advance online, although you can also simply turn up and hope to get on the next available tour. It didn’t seem too busy on the weekday afternoon when we were there, despite being the school summer holidays, but even so people were having to wait for a tour, so booking in advance would be best if you know your plans.

Tours cost £15 for adults, £8 for children under 16 and seniors (over 60) and £38 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children). Under fives get in for free. The tour gives you a great look at the stadium, naturally, and also covers:
~ Press Room
~ Changing Rooms
~ Players’ Tunnel
~ Pitch-side
~ Royal Box
You hear lots of facts and history about the stadium, and get plenty of time to take photos in each place. You also get to pose with a replica of the FA Cup and can buy a copy of the photo for £10 (plus £5 for each additional shot) – I usually reckon these “photo opportunities” a bit of a rip-off but I actually thought that was quite reasonable and we bought a couple as a souvenir of our visit and of our friends’ trip to London - see photo 5.

Our guide was excellent. OK he thought himself a bit of a comedian, but a lot of the patter was amusing, and he made an especial effort to make it fun for the children in the group. They all got a turn at being “captains” etc. Our friend Michael was chosen to sit in the manager’s seat in the Press Room, others got to lead us out on to the pitch or on the climb to the Royal Box. All in all it was an excellent afternoon and good value for money.

Directions: Nearest Tube station is Wembley Park – check Getting To Wembley for more directions
Phone: %s3%cb+00 44 (0)844 980 8001
Theme: Other
Website: http://www.wembleystadium.com/tours