Home of Rugby - a great day out! (Twickenham Rugby Stadium)

Member Name: honey000

Product:	Twickenham Rugby Stadium
Date:	28/05/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: World class rugby, good facilities

Disadvantages: Not cheap but there are good value tickets to be had!

I am lucky enough to have a father who bought a debenture for Twickenham over 10 years ago which gives him the right to buy tickets for every game there, so I have been a regular visitor to Twickenham for many years.

I visited the stadium this weekend for the International Rugby Sevens and thought that it was about time that I wrote a review.

Location and transport links
The stadium is in Twickenham (although almost as close to Whitton as Twickenham itself). It is accessed by car (not recommended - parking is usually at least £15 per match if not £25 and the traffic in the area is shocking!

You can get the train to Twickenham, Whitton or St Margarets Stations and walk (around 15 minutes walk from each). Or get a bus to Twickenham. I would always recommend not driving to a match as you can do a pub crawl through Twickenham town sharing banter and beers with the opposition fans (immediate difference to football where the fans want to kill each other!)

It is also great fun walking to the ground with the crowd. It is amazing how many locals open up their front gardens selling food for hungry match attendees! Generally good quality and cheaper than in the ground - especially the kids selling home made cakes!

Ticket Prices
Vary from match to match - the sevens cost £10 for adults £5 for kids on the first day and £15/£10 on the Sunday which is very cheap. Harlequins also hire out the stadium for a "big game" just after Christmas - again this year tickets were £10 - £20 and you could take a family of 5 for £50 pounds which was great.

International games ARE expensive - tickets go from £60 - £90 per game.

Concerts vary depending on who it is and the seats that you get. Expect to pay £30 - £100 per ticket.

Events
Twickenham of course mainly hosts rugby - large club games, internationals, the sevens, the varsity match and the inter service games.

It also holds various pop concerts over the summer - I have seen The Rolling Stones and U2 there.

Facilities
The stadium seats 82000 people so is well fitted out. There are lots of toilets although of course there is the obligatory queue for the ladies. Top tip - head up the stairs to the middle or upper tiers as the queue for the ground floor loos is always ridiculously long!

There are a number of bars around the ground. Some selling just one product eg a Guinness bar selling Guinness and bottle bars selling bottles. The range of drinks is OK - Bitter, Lager, Guinness, wine, soft drinks. Pints and bottles are around £3.50 - expect to pay £5- 7 for wine. Not cheap but typical stadium prices.

Food is available from a large number of outlets. A huge range of products is available including burgers, chips, fish, curry, pizza, sweets, baguettes and pies. The Aussie Pie company does a great pie, mash, peas and gravy deal if it is cold.

The stadium is fully seated - the seats are actually quite comfortable for a sports stadium - I didnt get a numb bottom sitting for the best part of the day on Saturday!

There is good disabled access - but only on the ground level - but I think that you can specifically book disabled seats.

In the new south stand there is a huge merchandise shop and a smart hotel - very expensive on match days!

There is also the Museum of rugby which is open (but not on match days). It is really interesting and can be visited in conjunction with a stadium tour. You get to go to the changing rooms and onto the pitch - definitely worth while!

Atmosphere
Historically the Twickenham crowd has been very quiet - if you pay the £25 to park in the official Twickenham carpark then people have picnics - but we are talking very posh picnics here. No Asda multipack crisps - very much posh cheeses and nice wines. THe crowd have got much more vocal over the years and of course if the opposition is a southern hemisphere team expect some noisy fans. Despite that it is very friendly - even in the hardest fought game fans all sit side by side and while there may be a little banter there is rarely any trouble. Definitely a great family day out.

Overall
A great stadium - slightly expensive but if you pick your event carefully there are value for money days to be had and some world class rugby to be seen!

Summary: One of my favourite stadiums