Eton Dorney

Eton Dorney is the Olympic venue for rowing located 25 miles to the west of London. Travelling there by train was a breeze with the fast train from Paddington to Slough in 15 minutes. A whole fleet of buses was there to ferry the spectators from Slough to the drop off point at Windsor Race course. No wait and very efficient. From there it’s quite a hike, about 15 –20 minutes to the actual rowing venue, in a beautiful country side setting near to the Thames.
As with the other Olympic venues I’ve visited, we were greeted by loads of smiling and helpful volunteers ’ the games makers’ who have to be one of the biggest success stories of the whole Olympic organisation and the army manning the security pass through which again was a breeze with so many lanes open there were no queues at all and everyone was friendly (and why can’t airports be as easy as this, can someone tell me?)
The stands are located towards the finishing line, around 25,000 capacity, I think and happy to say were brimmed to capacity with cheering crowds for the canoeing and kayaking heats and semi finals. A hot sunny day added to the whole positive experience.
Food and drink venues and outdoor seating provided but ran out of ice cream mid morning and were strangely closed when we left so no over priced refreshments to quench our thirst after sitting in the hot sun.