Anyone been to the volleyball at Earls Court?

Resident_Evil

We are going to see the volleyball at Earls Court for the evening session on Wednesday. We had read that you need to be at the venue 2 hours :eek: beforehand because of the security checks. Does anyone know if this is proving to be correct. We are travelling down from Cheshire and would like to spend as much time as possible taking in some of ther other sights and sounds in the captial rather than standing in a queue or sitting at the venue waiting for 2 hours.

Omar_Little

My office is literally next door to, and overlooking Earls Court 2 and seeing how I travel there from North London every working day, I'm familiar with tube travel and also the way in which things have been altered during the Olympics.

There is a one-way system in place for people entering and leaving the games. Earls court station is long and there are only two exits - one at Warwick Road opposite the entrance to the exhibition centre, and one on Earls Court Rd. You will NOT be permitted to leave the station at the Warwick Rd end, instead you will have to leave at Earls Court Rd and follow the longish route round. The queues there today were very long.

To avoid all this, you need to travel for one stop on the District Line to West Brompton (get on the train on the very last carriage). When you exit West Brompton you will come out directly opposite the other entrance to the exhibition centre, the only one you can use to enter. You can then queue on the other side of the entrance and will probably be inside in 5-10 minutes, rather than 2 hours if you go the other way.

Resident_Evil

Thank you so much this is really helpful. We are staying overnight at the Ibis at Earls Court and arrive about lunchtime so we will be going to and from the exhibition centre from the hotel avoiding the tube. Will check on the location of the entrance you mention and plan my route by foot!

Omar_Little

You're in the best place then, it's a 3 minute walk from the Ibis to the Brompton Rd entrance with barely any queueing. When you exit the exhibition centre though, you will have to come out at the other side, opposite Earls Court Tube. If you look on Google Maps and use streetview you will be able to get a feel for it. There's also a nice pub called the Prince of Wales between the hotel & Earls court that does pretty nice food.

Resident_Evil

I have done as you suggested and been on Google Street View. Had a virtual walk from the hotel to the Brompton Rd entrance and can see exactly where we come out the other side from your very clear description. I even found the pub and had a virtual tour of the inside! This looks as if it would suit us perfectly, it can be a real pain searching for somewhere to eat if you don't know the area.

Thank you again for your help, such a friendly crowd on here.

pandora205

That's useful advice Omar Little. We have volleyball tickets for 9.30 start so checking in two hours early would mean no breakfast! We're staying at the Premier Inn, Hammersmith which is near to Ravenscourt Park tube so we were planning a very early start.

If anyone has tried the alternative route into Earls Court, it would be appreciated to know just how long the queue was please.

Thanks

willeynotwiley

We were at the Volleyball last weekend and got there maybe 45 minutes before the event started to find no real queue (maybe 5-6 people in front of us) and got in really quickly. Even with having our seat relocated (apparently someone had complained about the view from our original seats during the first session) and hunting for where to store the pushchair (as none of the volunteers knew - for anyone who needs to know it's up the escalator and to the left ), we were still in our seats in plenty of time for the first match to start!

pandora205

willeynotwiley wrote: »

We were at the Volleyball last weekend and got there maybe 45 minutes before the event started to find no real queue (maybe 5-6 people in front of us) and got in really quickly. Even with having our seat relocated (apparently someone had complained about the view from our original seats during the first session) and hunting for where to store the pushchair (as none of the volunteers knew - for anyone who needs to know it's up the escalator and to the left ), we were still in our seats in plenty of time for the first match to start!

Thanks - was that from the West Brompton or the Earl's Court tube entrance please?