Leave it to Anna: Ballots, Bracelets, and Strawberries - A First-Timer's Guide to Wimbledon

What do you think of when you think of Wimbledon? It may be strawberries and cream or tennis whites. It may be the Royal Box and celebrity sightings. Or it may be hitting refresh on your browser waiting for tickets to become magically available. For me, it was definitely all of the above, but most specifically the refreshing-your-browser bit.

I have been entering the public ballot (aka lottery) every year since I moved to London with no luck winning tickets. However, this year my friend let me in on a secret way to get in, and I scored Centre Court tickets two days before the women’s semi-finals and finally got to go! I break it all down in this post: tickets, what to wear, how to get there, what to eat, what to shop, and how to live your best tennis life. Read on for all of my tips and tricks.

Know What You Are Buying

Wimbledon tickets come in tiers, and the tier determines both the price and the scramble. Centre Court is the main event with its retractable roof, the Royal Box, the finals… and the hardest ticket in British sport! This is the ticket that everyone wants.

No.1 Court is the second show court (also roofed, and hosting matches just as good), followed by reserved seats on No.2 and No.3 Courts. Then there is the humble grounds pass, which gets you onto every outside court and the Hill. In the first week, however, when all of the big stars are still playing early rounds on the smaller courts, a grounds pass is one of the best-value tickets around.

Debentures are the tickets that all of us wish we had, but sadly only the wealthiest can afford. They are effectively five-year bonds sold by the All England Club to fund grounds improvements: holders pay a five-figure sum upfront and receive a premium seat for every day of the tournament for five years, plus access to their own VIP restaurants and lounges. Debenture tickets are the only Wimbledon tickets that can be legally resold and often appear on resale sites at exorbitant prices.

A grounds pass this year was a flat £33 for the first eight days, dropping to £26 for the quarter-finals and £21 by finals weekend (yes, it gets cheaper as the tournament gets more famous since there’s simply less tennis left on the outside courts). Centre Court started around £115 on Day 1 and climbed to £350 for the best rows at the finals; No.1 Court ran roughly £65 to £155.

However, there is a loophole you should know: Once you’re inside on a grounds pass, returned show-court tickets go on sale at the on-site resale kiosk at 3pm each day at £15 for Centre Court, £10 for No.1 and No.2 (with proceeds going to charity). It’s first-come, first-served and requires the myWimbledon app, but people really do hand back show-court seats with hours of play left, especially when the roofed courts run into the evening.

Now for the other end of the spectrum: debenture resale seats ran from about £2,495 per ticket for early rounds to £9,995 for the men’s final and buying an actual debenture in the new 2026–2030 Centre Court series cost £116,000 per seat.

Centre Court holds only about 15,000 people, so there is really no bad seat in the house. The bowl has four levels (100, 200, 300 and 500), and the conventional wisdom holds up: the 100s put you close enough to hear the ball off the strings, the 300s give you a calmer bird’s-eye read of the patterns, and the sweet spot is mid-tier sideline seats near the middle of the court, balancing proximity with perspective. (Tellingly, that mid-tier ring is where the debenture holders sit.)

If you can’t choose your seat (and via the ballot or returns shop, you can’t) the useful thing to know is shade: the courts run north–south, and on a hot afternoon the west sideline and south baseline fall into shade first while the east side bakes longest; the 500 level sits under the roofline all day. No.1 Court is smaller and more intimate, so even the cheaper seats feel close. And on a grounds pass, the best view in the whole place might be the Hill itself, sprawled on the grass in front of the big screen with the crowd picnicking all around.

Everyone tells you to “enter the ballot.” That is exactly what you should do but there are caveats and exceptions to every rule.

The Public Ballot: This is the free lottery run by the All England Club, and you enter through a myWimbledon account at wimbledon.com. It opens in early September and runs about three weeks, one application per household, and you don’t get to choose your day or your court. If you win, you’re offered one pair of tickets at face value for whatever the draw gives you. I have entered for the last several years since moving to London and have never won. That said, enter it anyway and read the next entry to understand why losing is actually the path to your winning ticket.

The Ballot Returns Shop: This is the secret my friend let me in on, and it’s how I ended up on Centre Court two days after buying my tickets. If you entered the ballot and lost, you’re granted access to an online returns portal. You get a custom link for that in the email that notifies you that you didn’t win. This is where you can buy tickets that were returned by the ballot winners. Usually people return their tickets closer to the date of the matches, so start checking the returns site as the tournament gets closer (a lot of people I know scored tickets the weekend prior). You do have to hit refresh a lot and tickets are frequently gone before you can add to cart, but years of online shopping and sample sales prepped me for this experience! Two days before Coco Gauff stepped foot on Centre Court, I secured my tickets. Were they cheap? Absolutely not. However, I wanted for my first time at Wimbledon to be the best that I could afford. Know your budget before you start, so you can manage your own expectations.

The LTA Ballot: The Lawn Tennis Association runs its own separate ballot for members. You need a paid LTA Advantage membership tier to qualify to enter the lottery - and a year membership only costs 25 quid. You will then opt in for the lottery through your member account during the entry window, which is usually open through the month of August. And yes, you can enter both this ballot and the one above.

Pro Tip: Create your myWimbledon and LTA accounts today. Opt in to ticket communications, so you’re notified the moment entries open.

The Queue: And then there is the famous Queue. Every morning of the Championships, thousands of people line up in Wimbledon Park for tickets sold the same day. Join The Queue and you receive a dated, numbered Queue Card marking your place; hold onto it until ticket sales open at 9:45am, with the grounds opening at 10am. Most Queuers are after a grounds pass, which gets you onto the outside courts and the Hill but a limited number of show-court tickets are also sold each day for those in the front of the line. For show courts, that means that some dedicated fans camp overnight or show up super early. I took the online returns route myself, but The Queue is for those who want to play it by ear and see what happens.

Wimbledon is the best-dressed sporting event you will ever attend, and the vibe is more of a garden party, not athletic shorts. You can’t go wrong with wearing all white to channel the players, but I also saw a lot of green and purple (colors of Wimbledon), chic stripes, polka dots, and strawberry print. Also, a straw hat is a must for sun protection (along with sunscreen)! I saw really cute straw bags as well, oftentimes complete with strawberry charms.

I wore a white linen skirt I got at a market in Provence with a simple white tank and tied a silk scarf from Lake Como along my waist for a pop of color. For shoes, I wore my most comfortable espadrilles I got in Madrid and carried my classic Aspinal Mayfair bag.

While we did not get invited to the Royal Box, we did have a perfect view of everyone sitting in it (and what they were wearing) from our seats. On the day that I went, there were no royals present but some of their celebrity guests were there, to include Cynthia Erivo and Priyanka Chopra. Cynthia arrived fresh from a couture show and dressed like it, in an off-the-shoulder peony pink shirtdress with a matching cap and a structured bucket bag. Priyanka kept it simple in an ivory shirtdress with a matching headscarf (this summer’s on-trend accessory).

Princess Kate is the patron of the All England Club (the purple-and-green ribbon pin she always wears is the club pin). This year she wore three distinct looks to the matches: a sky-blue Gabriela Hearst linen suit for a surprise early appearance, where she handed out tickets to fans; a strawberry red peplum dress by Roland Mouret for the women's final worn with her Gianvito Rossi nude pumps; and an olive green Emilia Wickstead dress with a partial cape for the men's final, which she attended with her husband and kids in tow. The takeaway for the rest of us: one strong color, tailored but easy, and neutral pair of comfortable heels.

There is no parking available, so driving is not the best idea. Luckily, there are several train options or some of the fancier hotels offer a car service to and from the match. My tip would be to try and arrive shortly after the grounds open at 10, so you can walk around, shop, eat, and drink without the major crowds that descend on the premises later in the day.

Southfields station: The District line (the green one on the Tube map) drops you a 15-minute walk from the grounds, and during The Championships the whole route is signposted and lined with fellow tennis pilgrims. This is the one I would probably choose next time since you can just take the tube here.

Wimbledon station: Mainline trains from Waterloo land you slightly farther out but shuttle taxis run frequently during the tournament. We just hopped into a taxi with some other fans going to the same place and it was a short drive. The walk back to this station after the tournament was hilly and took about 25 mins, so drink lots of water and wear comfortable shoes!

Strawberries and cream: Non-negotiable since they’ve been served here since the very first Championships in 1877. The strawberries are picked that morning in Kent, and the price has been kept at around £3 for a box. If you are expecting this treat to be similar to strawberries with whipped cream, they are not. It’s more like strawberries with half-and-half poured on them (very thin, watery cream). Maybe this is a hot take, but I would probably skip the cream next time and just get the fresh strawberries.

Pimm’s Cup: A refreshing beverage, which is a gin-based summer cocktail with added lemonade, cucumber, mint, and fruit. I found this to be delicious at Wimbledon in particular and the serving was quite large. Sip this in your seat as you watch some good tennis.

Bring a Picnic: If you’ve ever been to Disney World, you know that you will go to Disney jail if you try to sneak in your own food. At Wimbledon, however, it’s encouraged. They let you bring your own food and booze into the grounds, including one bottle of wine or champagne per person. You can either eat at your seats or on The Hill, where there is a big screen set up for everyone to watch the matches.

The Wimbledon Shop: The official shops on the grounds are dangerous. There are so many merch options: hats, tennis towels, bag charms… I got a white visor from the kids section that was a perfect size for my head and some tennis ball bag charms. (I did see some gorgeous 100% silk Wimbledon scarves, which I later scored on Vinted for much less.)

My tip is to purchase your souvenirs shortly after you arrive (we got there a little after the grounds opened at 10). That way you can get into the shops before the crowds arrive and have a good look without elbowing your way to the merch.

I saw huge lines (or queues if you will) for the shops starting in the early afternoon and they remained long until we left. It was pretty balmy when we went, and people looked miserable baking in the sun. Again, better to do it first thing and then spend the rest of the time walking around, eating, and drinking prior to the matches starting at 130 pm.

Hope that you enjoyed this guide and may the ballot gods (or returns portal gods) be with you for next year’s tickets!