Britons could book last-minute flights to Morocco for less than a day out at Wimbledon, can reveal.
More than half a million punters will be flooding through the gates in SW19 for the next two weeks of Grand Slam tennis – but many will be having to break the bank for lunch, drinks and afternoon teas.
For those looking to soak up the atmosphere over a crisp pint of beer, fans will have to pay an eye-watering £8.50 for a Stella Artois – up almost £1 from £7.55 last year. A 250ml glass of Pimm’s will set punters back £9.80 while a reusable glass is £11.95.
Tennis fans looking for a bite to eat are also in for a shock, with £7.50 salads, £6.50 Cornish pasties, £13.30 fish finger sandwiches and Greek wraps for as much as £14.
Ice cream tubs are being flogged for £4.50, while families treating their kids to a packet of Haribo tangfastics will have to fork out £4.20.
Come teatime, fans will have to shell out £9 for the full scone and clotted cream experience. Luckily, the traditional strawberries and cream will cost a more reasonable £2.50.
has analysed flights across the Wimbledon tournament, which runs from July 1-14 using Skyscanner. And incredibly, a return flight from London to Ouarzazate, Morocco, between July 9-13 would cost just £39. This would only get you three glasses of Pimm’s at Wimbledon.
There are also last-minute single flights available to Italy, France, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Ireland all for between £15 and £19 less next week. Just two pints of Stella is £17.50 at Wimbledon this year.
Similarly to Morocco, a return flight from London to Rodez, a bustling small city in the south of France, is also just £39 from July 8-13.
And a return flight from London to Billund, a town in central Denmark, on the same dates is £40.
A lunch for two at Wimbledon, made up of a salad, glass of Pimm’s and an ice cream would set a couple back £41 (£20.50 each). But burgers, wraps and sushi is far more expensive.
Holidaymakers could also nip over to Dublin from July 4-11 for just £32. A bottle of wine at Wimbledon is only 20p more.
Return flights from London to the Dutch city of Eindhoven are £51 from July 9-13, while a return from Manchester to Brussels is £45 between July 7-11.
For those looking for some Spanish sunshine, return flights from Bristol to the medieval city of Girona would be £43 from July 7-10.
Wimbledon punters have been left shocked by the price increases over the last few years.
The price of a pint and a glass of Pimm’s has increased £2 in the past two years, with a Sipsmith’s gin and tonic also rising to £9.80. In 2022, a Sipsmith’s gin was £8.70 and £9.70 in 2023.
Glasses of wine are also £9.80, but bottles will set punters back £32.20 or £36.10 for the cheaper options.
Non-alcoholic drinks are also available, including Kombucha – £3.20 – Frobishers juices at £4, and Heartease Farm canned sparkling presses costing £3.
Soft drinks such as Coca Cola Zero have slowly risen by 50p in the last two years. Cans were on sale for £2.10 in 2022, £2.25 in 2023 and now cost £2.60.
For something a little more lavish, the highest-priced beverage on the menu is a bottle of Lanson Le Rose Creation Brut champagne, at a staggering £95 – £40 more than the limited edition tournament bottle available off the shelf.
Tournament sponsor Evian is on hand to provide the competition’s mineral water, with a 750ml bottle of still water priced at £2.95 – an increase of almost £1 in two years.
A bottle of Evian still water could be purchased for £2.20 in 2022, rising to £2.65 in 2023 and up another 30p this year.
But fans are being heartily encouraged to take part in the competition’s new sustainability initiative, which will allow visitors to receive unlimited mineral water refills from the French label’s mineral water fountains for £5 per day.
The tournament’s qualifying rounds found themselves in light crisis when refill stations at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton were deemed ‘undrinkable’ as the system broke down.
Free bottles of water were handed out to spectators during the qualifiers last week, which commentators on social media mocked for not getting the event’s sustainability drive ‘off to a good start’.
No doubt hungry after a long day court-hopping in SW19, fans will be looking to pair their Pimm’s with a cupful of equally recognisable Wimbledon fare, strawberries and cream.
A serving of the summertime snack will cost punters £2.50, a price which has stayed mercifully fixed for a number of years.
A number of hot snacks including a Kerelan cauliflower, chickpea, and onion bhaji pasty and sausage rolls are also available, for £6.50 and £4.90.
For fans looking for something more substantial, the competition will also sell sausages from their designated sausage grill, with a Cumberland sausage on a brioche role a pricey £7.90, the same price as a vegan option served with kimchi.
Also available are Greek-style wraps, with the most expensive option a gut-busting £14 for a lunch option stuffed with chicken and halloumi.
Social media users quickly slammed Wimbledon for it’s high prices, with one writing: ‘Christ, these prices are becoming normalised aren’t they? Seems not long ago that a £5 pint seemed ridiculous!”
Another said: Its always annoying to queue for eight hours just to find yourself confined in a place that has no sensibly priced food. Always a major weakness of Wimbledon.’
A third wrote: ‘Pity the fool who buys bottled beer rather than draught. A pint of Stella is £8.50, but a 330ml bottle of the same beer is £7.50, which equates to £12.91 per pint.’