After swearing i’d never go back to Queens, I took the plunge this year to try out the women’s tournament which returned in 2025 following a 50-year hiatus. I really enjoyed watching the event on TV last year so decided to change my beliefs. This is a guide for visiting Queens covering everything from buying tickets, travel and entry to the venue and a review of the courts, grounds and facilities. I wrote about the tennis that I saw at Queens in the previous post on the blog.

Buying tickets 🎫

Tickets can be purchased for Queens via the LTA ticketing website so you will need an LTA tickets account. If you have the LTA Advantage Fan + membership then you will have access to the pre-sale so take note of any e-mails from the LTA. Otherwise, you will be able to purchase tickets through the general sale which follows a couple of weeks after the priority sale. For the 2026 tournament, the LTA sent out the first e-mail on the 7th October 2025. The pre-sale started on the 4th November 2025 and the general sale opened on 11th November 2025. The tickets for LTA tournaments always seem to be released on a Tuesday at 10am. Note that ticket releases for Queens are separate from Nottingham and Eastbourne which are normally released in February.

We bought tickets in the general sale and purchased them immediately when tickets became available at 10am on the 11th of November. We managed to buy 5 Category 1 tickets together for the Friday. This wasn’t our intention but we wanted 5 tickets together and didn’t know how popular it would be so we acted fast. In hindsight, I think we would have found 5 tickets together in a lower category just fine. Availability will depend on the day you’re going for as the semi-finals and final on Saturday and Sunday respectively will likely be the most popular days. The ticket prices are very expensive but granted, we did pay them. I’m not sure we would pay them again though!

The tickets for the women’s event are not as popular as the men’s event which sold out very quickly. For the last three days of the women’s event at Queens, you could still buy tickets at Christmas time although there was limited availability only in the gods. Semi-final tickets were sold out by March and most seats for the quarter-finals and final were sold out by April. By the time of the tournament, the last four days were completely sold out.

Getting to and from the venue 🚃

The tournament is held at the Queen’s Club in West London and it is advisable to use public transport to get there. There are two designated entrances to the ground on Palliser Road and Perham Road.

If your seats are in blocks 19 to 23 on the Andy Murray Arena then you are advised to enter the grounds via the Perham Road entrance. The closest Tube station is West Kensington on the District Line and then it’s about a 10 minute walk. For all other ticket holders, the LTA website advises to use the Palliser Road entrance. The closest Tube station is Baron’s Court on the District Line which is barely a 5 minute walk.

Entering the grounds & what to take 🎒

We followed the advice based on where are seats were and used the Perham Road entrance. We were met with a large, snaking queue! We had a bit of a journey and picked up family members along the way so didn’t arrive until about 11:20am. The queue did move quite fast so it took about 10 to 15 minutes to get in. Other family members managed to get in via the Palliser Road entrance as the staff were aware of the queues at Perham Road so it seems they are not strict with which entrance that you use.

There is a bag check before you head in. There are no restrictions on taking food and drink – I took lots of food and a filled water bottle. They didn’t even notice my camera. I think the general rule is that any lenses less than 300mm are fine. I’ve never had any problems at the LTA tournaments. The full list of prohibited items can be found on the LTA website.

The courts 🌱

There are four match courts at Queens, as well as practice courts that are accessible to the public.

Andy Murray Arena

The Andy Murray Arena (AMA) is quite a structure, particularly the North stand. It’s been 15 years since I last attended Queens and it feels very different as I remember walking around the area that is now accommodated by the significantly larger North stand. There are three stands available to the general public. The terrace on the West side is for members only – this side was out of the sun and comes into shade around 5-6pm. The rest of the stadium is in sun for most of the day. We had the sun behind us in the South stand. It wasn’t a significantly warm day (20-22C) but was pretty toasty in the sun by the time we left so i’d recommend coming equipped with hats and suncream.

Our seats were in the South East corner in Block 20 and row T. We managed to get five seats together almost in it’s own row which was sweet. We had a nice view, looking diagonally towards the court. It was great when the seats in front of us were empty as our view was clearer – i’m a short arse so that has always been a problem for me. It was difficult to take any photos as we were slightly obstructed by the barriers at the front of the stand. I understand why these need to be there but I would expect a completely unobstructed view for the price of the ticket. The seats were reasonably comfortable and had a little bit of padding – not as good as Wimbledon but better than the bog standard temporary seats you’d get anywhere else. Leg space was also better than average. I guess you get a bit more comfort for the extortionate ticket prices 🙃.

Since 2025, the LTA have introduced zones of movement for their Centre Courts. At Queens, there are three zones. These range from restricted movement (the previous default where you can only enter the court at the change of ends or set breaks) to free movement (you can enter at any time during the match).

We were in Block 20 and the green coloured free movement section so we were able to come in and out of the court with no restrictions. I have mixed feelings about this. It’s nice not to have to wait and just stroll in – if you had been waiting for that eight deuce game in the Jovic-Anisimova match then it would have been tedious!

On the other hand, I was sat on the end of a row and quite close to the Block 20 entrance so had to put up with people coming in every few minutes which can be quite distracting. Perhaps i’m just easily irritated 🤔. I tried my best to be respectful when I came into the court and not move during a point. Some people get up and leave at weird times – humans! There was also the odd person who cheated the system and came in our entrance and then darted off to their seats right behind the court where they wouldn’t have been able to enter during play.

Court 1

Court 1 is close to the Palliser Road entrance. There is a decent sized stand of seats behind the court and whenever I looked over, there seemed to be available seats. There’s also a couple of rows of seating on the East side. I didn’t try to get onto Court 1 during my visit so not much more to add!

Courts 5 and 6

Courts 5 and 6 were also used as match courts and they can be found in the South West corner of the grounds. Court 5 has some seating on the west side off the Court 1 pavilion. We didn’t try to get into the seats for court 5 so I cannot comment on how easy this was.

Court 6 has two banks of stands on the west side of the court. We watched Cameron Norrie practising on Court 6 and I was surprised how few people were there and it was easy to watch and take some photos.

Practice courts

There are seven other courts which are used as practice courts – Courts 2 to 4 and Courts 7 to 10 (see site map below). Access for the practice courts was good. You have a clear unobstructed view standing next to Courts 4 and 10 looking across the practice courts towards AMA. We had no issues finding a spot to watch players practice on these courts.

There’s also a narrow walkway (very narrow!) that runs between courts 2 and 3 (and presumably courts 8 and 9 but we didn’t try it). It’s single file so difficult to get down there but once you do, you have a nice view of two courts and we managed to get up close to watch Jodar and Buse practice with each other. This is always my favourite thing about going to a tournament and the best opportunity to get close to the action.

Grounds and facilities 🏟️

The grounds are unique as they are enclosed on two sides by flats. I enjoyed wandering around the outside courts which never felt too busy or overwhelming. The South West corner of the grounds by Court 6 was particularly nice and quiet.

There were various Brita water refill stations dotted around the grounds – one in the South Pavilion, one near Court 10, one by the Court 1 Pavilion and one near the Palliser Road entrance. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t a hot day or because we picked good times, but we didn’t have to queue at all. The taps are slow but it’s great to be able to fill up water bottles for free.

The toilet facilities were excellent – the best i’ve experienced at any tournament venue. There’s a huge block of men’s toilets in the South Pavilion and a trendy block too in the South Tunnel. The family also reported that the women’s toilets were decent and much better than the majority of venues. As always, timing toilet visits before the main court empties out after a match is advisable to avoid queueing.

Food and drink 🍴☕️

I always tend to bring my own food and drink because it’s often very expensive at tournaments and you end up spending a lot of time in queues. All of the food and drink menus for Queens can be found on the website here. The only thing I bought was a whippy with a flake from one of the food trucks next to Court 10. This was £4 which was cheaper than what I paid at Nottingham last year!!! My sister bought a salad bowl from the Delicatessen. Apparently it was good quality but £11.50…

Final thoughts 🤔

I’ve always been put off Queens with the vibes – I remember the last time I went that I felt uncomfortable wearing shorts because so many people dress up 😂 . I wasn’t so bothered by that this time and to be honest, it’s similar to Wimbledon. I’m still going to be bitter at how this tournament has impacted on Eastbourne but I cannot deny that the women’s tournament at Queens has been a success. They’ve had two excellent entry lists and it’s so great to see the crowds packed out for women’s tennis. I’m undecided as to whether I will go again. I definitely wouldn’t rule it out 🤔.

If you have any questions about the women’s tournament at Queens then i’d be more than happy to help. Please leave a comment or e-mail MooTennisBlog@gmail.com