Planning your trip to the Olympic Games can be both thrilling and challenging due to the travel logistics ratcheted up to an Olympic level. We want to help you plan this trip, so our pieces of advice apply for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which tend to occur about two weeks apart. It may be really hard to attend both, as they don’t take place in the same time, but usually, Paralympic Games are less crowded and even more exciting and inspiring, so they’re worth consideration in and of themselves.
Buy the tickets
If you live in the United States, the tickets will be sold by CoSport. In 2020, CoSport released tickets on the following schedule, according to spokesman Michael Clyne: “Past sales were on July 9, October 10, January 16, and February 6. Additionally, on October 17, CoSport debuted hospitality pass package sales, which combine high-demand tickets with access to a cultural hospitality experience at Japan’s National Theatre, where entertainment, fine food, and beverage combine into a world-class Olympic experience (these are still available).
You can also purchase tickets locally at event venues and other official Olympic locations once you arrive in the host city.
Here is a strategy that works great when choosing an event: Choose to see a sport you are really interested in and another you don’t know much about. By doing so, you’ll be able to enrich your general knowledge and have fun in the same time. For some events, tickets are sold a year in advance but are often still available through package deals from the official ticket vendors.
The biggest challenge – the lodging
The lodging is the trip component you should research and lockdown first because it tends to be the biggest challenge. You can compare your options to the venues you hope to attend by using your favorite search engines. You can start searching fairly early on, as the venues are set years in advance. Availability can be hard to come by and prices are really high. The sanctioned ticket sellers also offer Olympics travel packages that include a certain number of nights’ lodging with a certain number of event tickets—but those tend to be somewhat pricey compared to DIY lodging options.
The flights to the Olympics
It is worth your while to research airfares to all of the airports, as the host cities have more than one airport. You can choose between Narita and Haneda for the Tokyo Olympics of 2020. Narita is the much larger airport and has many more flights, but it is far away from the city center, while Haneda is smaller and has fewer flights, but is less than 10 miles from the Olympic Village and numerous event venues.
Return earlier or later
Everyone attending the Olympics tends to leave over the same day or two. In order to avoid the stampede as well as keep airfare prices down a bit leave the day before the closing ceremonies, or stay on a few days afterward.
Other important tips: travel light to each event, get into the spirit of it, get official info!