The London Stadium, formerly known as the Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, is a multi-purpose stadium in London. It was originally built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. At the time, it was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the track-and-field contests.

Since then, London Stadium has been repurposed as the home of football club West Ham United, although it does still serve as a multi-purpose venue. Aside from football matches, the stadium hosts concerts, baseball, rugby, cricket, and athletics events.

As far as football goes, the London Stadium is the fourth biggest stadium in London, after Wembley, Twickenham, and Tottenham Hotspur. When hosting such events, the stadium has a capacity of around 60,000 seats, but when operating in concert mode, the capacity is greatly increased to 80,000 seats.

Today, you can visit the London Stadium on a guided or self-guided tour, or get a ticket for one of the regularly scheduled events (both sports-related and not). Visitors are free to spend as much time as they want inside the stadium when on a tour, but we recommend setting aside at least 1 hour and 30 minutes for a complete visit.

Location

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 2ST.

London Stadium is located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in the Stratford area of London, just northeast of the centre. With the stadium being where it is, you won’t find any famous sights within walking distance aside from the ArcelorMittal Orbit, which is in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park itself, just south of the stadium. However, if you take the Underground or the bus, you can easily reach the inner city. The closest touristy areas are Whitechapel and the City of London.

Tickets

Tour tickets at London Stadium can be bought on the day of your visit directly at the stadium. However, we recommend you pre-book your tour online on the London Stadium website to avoid any surprises.

There are several different types of tours available at London Stadium, the most popular and frequent one being the Guided London Stadium Tour. Other types of tour available are the VIP package, the Matchday Tour, and the Legends Tour.

The cost of an adult ticket for a regular London Stadium Tour is £20.00, with a reduced price of £17.00 available to students and visitors with disabilities. Children under the age of 5 and carers can participate in a tour for free. Other discounted tickets are available to families and young visitors.

Remember that the London Stadium Tour is also included in the London Pass (free access for every pass owner) and the 2FOR1 offers (two entries for the price of one).

If you want to try the ultimate London Stadium experience and see a live football match or perhaps any one of the other scheduled events, you can get your ticket directly on the London Stadium website . Prices vary depending on the event, number of seats still available, and location of the seat.

Schedule

The London Stadium is normally open for tours from Monday to Sunday between 10:00 and 3:00 pm. On Saturdays, the closing time is delayed by half an hour. However, you’ll have to keep in mind that opening times can vary throughout the year depending on season, events, and tournaments programmed.

In particular, tours are not always programmed for the same time, but rather they are individually scheduled. On busy days and at peak hours there are as many as two tours per hour. We suggest you check the London Stadium’s tour page to see when the available tours are.

Outside of tour hours, London Stadium stays open for matches, concerts, and community events, which normally take place all throughout the afternoon and evening. You can check the upcoming events on the London Stadium’s website to see the updated programme .

Transport

If you want to take the Underground, the closest and best-serviced station is Stratford. You can get there with lines Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth, and even with the DLR and London Overground. Stratford station is roughly a 15-minute walk from the stadium.

If you prefer taking the bus, you’ll have quite a few options. Lines 108, 308, 339, 388, and D8 drop you off the closest to the stadium, but you can also use any of the buses that stop at Stratford Bus Station, which is only a 15-minute walk from London Stadium. The lines that take you there are 25, 69, 86, 97, 104, 158, 241, 257, 262, 276, 425, and 473.

If you wanted to, you could take a cab, but keep in mind that London taxi fares tend to be expensive and traffic can make your journey slow. The drive from London city centre to the London Stadium should take about 30 minutes.