2012 Olympic Sites - take your pick

It's 500 days to go before London 2012 gets under way, so here's a run down of some of the more popular venues that are going to be used.. To find more about getting tickets for the Games, check the official 2012 Olympic website.

Olympic Park, East London

Work is well under way at the Olympic Park in East London and the site includes the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the Velodrome. If you’d like to see the site close up, you can visit on the open days from 22-24 July.

Horse Guards Parade, London
My sons favourite, Beach Volley Ball, will take place on Horse Guards Parade, just behind Downing Street.

Lord’s Cricket Ground, London
Lord’s Cricket Ground in North West London will be transformed into an Archery range for 2012. Crowds of 6,500 will enjoy the competition with two fields of play inside the stadium. You can also visit Lords to see the Ashes urn, and among other things, the stuffed sparrow ‘bowled out’ by Jahangir Khan. You can also tour players’ dressing rooms and see the famous Lord’s Honours Board.

Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park, will host the Triathlon course in 2012. Triathlon is among the fastest-growing individual sports in the UK, and thousands of people will line the route during the races. The park itself is one of the largest parks in London.

Football stadiums, UK-wide
The London 2012 Football competitions will be held at stadiums throughout the country (but not Hull!) Games will be played at Hampden Park in Glasgow; the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; Old Trafford in Manchester; St James’ Park in Newcastle; Villa Park in Birmingham and Wembley Stadium in London, where the finals will take place.

Weymouth & Portland Harbour, Dorset
Weymouth & Portland Harbour in Dorset, on England’s South East coast, will be the venue for the 2012 Sailing and Paralympic Sailing competitions. Weymouth & Portland Harbour provides some of the best natural sailing waters in Britain and during the Games you can watch the action for free.

Lee Valley White Water Centre, Hertfordshire
The White Water Centre that will host the London 2012 Olympic canoe slalom competition opens to the public on 22 April. It’s the only brand new London 2012 venue that non-Olympic competitors will be able to use before the Games.

Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon in South East London will be used for the Tennis competition at the 2012 Games. Up to 30,000 people will be able to watch the players compete. Highlights at the club’s museum include the Championship Trophies, a 200° cinema screen and a ‘walk-through’ of the men’s dressing room as it was in the 1980s, with John McEnroe.

North Greenwich Arena, London
Otherwise known as the 'O2 Arena'. During the Games, it will seat 20,000 spectators for the Basketball final and 16,500 for the Gymnastics.

Greenwich Park, London
Greenwich Park will host the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian competitions, plus the combined running and shooting event of the Modern Pentathlon.

I'd just like to add, that the Cycling will becoming through Surbiton (nearly) - and we are all looking forward to that!