The London Olympics are fast approaching and they are still the talk of the nation. It was a tough battle between New York, Madrid, Paris and Moscow, but the United Kingdom came through in the final rounds to win the Olympic bid. However, the bar has certainly been set very high, and the Beijing Olympics are going to be very hard to beat. Despite this, London is determined to host the most amazing Olympic Games in the 30 years that it has been officially held.  Of course, the Olympics are going to mean big money for the UK economy, and after the last few years this is definitely a much needed boost.

So, what is London doing to prepare for their 3rd time around hosting the games? Well, first of all there is the Olympic Village. The Olympic Village is situated in the Lower Lea Valley, which is situated in East London. The basic idea of this is so that the athletes and officials have somewhere to stay during the games where they are not too far away from the venues that they will be performing in. it has said that this is going to be the biggest Olympic Village yet. Officials have guaranteed that every single athlete will have their own bed. Not only this, but each of the apartments that are to be built will be state of the art. They will have all of the modern facilities possible, including wireless internet access.

When it comes to venues, there are actually a lot of different ones that are divided into certain zones. First of all there is the Olympic Zone. This contains various different venues that are designed for the different events. First of all there is the Olympic Stadium. This will host the track and field events, and this is also where the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony will take place. After that, there is the Aquatics Centre, which of course, is where all of the water based events will be taking place. The London Velodrome will host all of the cycling events, and has the capacity to seat up to six thousand people. The other venues included in the Olympic Zone will include four other arenas for different events, the Olympic Village, and a tennis training centre.

Another zone is the River Zone. This will contain five different venues. The first venue is the ExCeL Exhibition Centre where various different events are going to be hosted. Then there is the Millennium Dome, the Greenwich Arena, Greenwich Park, and the Royal Artillery Barracks. The other venues are all outside of greater London. So, as you can see, there are a lot of different venues to be built, a lot of which are already on the way to being completed.

If you have been following the Olympic news since it was announced that London would be host, then you will be well aware of the controversy surrounding it over the last couple of years. The first thing that caused a lot of talk was the financial side of the games. A lot of people are angry that money is being drained from various sources to be put towards the games when it could be used elsewhere. However, if you think about it then the money is likely to be returned once the games are over, plus profit. The other thing that caused a huge uproar was the logo that was created. A lot of people were disgusted with the quality of the logo, stating that it could have been drawn by a child.

Despite the controversy surrounding the games, the vast majority of the country is fully behind hosting the Olympics in London. The benefits of hosting the games here are huge. First of all, we have to consider the fact that thousands of new jobs are likely to appear. We all know how difficult it can be to get a job in this country, especially with the way that the economy is looking at the moment. However, there will be a lot of different jobs on the horizon as the games draw nearer. Of course, the main benefit is the fact that there are going to be hundreds of thousands more people coming to the UK to watch the games and support athletes. Because of this, the UK is likely to see a huge boost in the economy which is good for all of us.

Perhaps one of the most famous things about the Olympics is the torch. As you will know, the torch goes on a relay around the country before the games. So, where is the torch going this time around? The torch relay will take seventy days in total. The route has been planned so that the torch will be within one hour of ninety five per cent of the British population. The torch started it’s journey at Lands End in Cornwall. It has already made it’s way across a lot of the country, and will finally arrive in London on the 21st of July.

When it comes to visiting London to watch any of the events there are several things that you will need to think about. First of all, there is the difficulty of getting a ticket to the event that you actually want to go. What seems to have happened is that thousands of people have actually applied for a lot of tickets thinking that they would be lucky to get one, only to find out that they have gotten all of the tickets that they applied for which of course, they cannot afford. So, first of all, you need to make sure that you only apply for the tickets to the events that you want to and can afford to go to. Another important thing to keep in mind is that the only place that you should be buying from is the official site.

Next, you will need to think about how you are going to get there. If you are in the United Kingdom then this will be a much easier task. As the event draws closer you will be very likely to find that there are deals for coach journeys and train journeys. If you live in another country however, you may find it a little more difficult to get to London. There are actually several travel agents that can offer package deals where they are authorised to sell tickets in conjunction with flights and accommodation so this is definitely something to keep in mind. However, you should make sure that it is one of only three travel agents that you are buying from, as there are only three that have been authorised. These three are listed on the official Olympics site.

Of course, if you are not going to do it this way then you will have to think about accommodation yourself. There are a lot of hotels in and around London where you will be able to book rooms, but remember to book very far in advance because these hotels are going to be jam packed. The hotel industry in London is going to see a huge rise in business in the week before the Olympics, and during the Olympics.

The UK has already started reaping the profits from the upcoming Olympic games. As you can imagine, merchandise is a huge part of any big event like this, and the shopping has started already. For example, there is the range of collectable mascots. As you will know by now, the two official mascots are Wenlock and Mandeville. The collectable range features both of these characters performing a range of different sports. It seems that these sets are incredible popular already, with a huge amount of them being sold.

The official Olympics store also features a range of toys for the kids. Again, these are mostly mascot based. As you can imagine, just the merchandise alone are bringing in a lot of money already, so this is a definite plus point.

Obviously, security over the course of the Olympics in London is incredibly important, especially given the amount of publicity surrounding them and the amount of very real threats that are there. So, what security measures are officials going to take?  Well, first of all there is the fact that the public are going to be asked to be extra vigilant and report anything happening that shouldn’t be. Whilst this may not sound very powerful, you have to consider that there will be millions of people around so there will be lots of eyes and ears.

Although it has not actually been confirmed yet, it is said that military planes are going to be employed in order to patrol the skies. This is especially important considering the recent death of Bin Laden and the fact that the London Olympics is going to be a very high profile event. Of course, Scotland Yard are in charge of the policing when it comes to the Olympic Games. There will be thousands of police officers around and all events will be highly policed. This is obviously a good thing as it ensures the safety of the public and the athletes during all events.

Something else very interesting about this particular Olympic Games is the fact that London is aiming to make this event stand out from the last thirty games that have been held. One way that they are going to be doing this is by aiming to make this event Green. Going green has been the focus for everyday life for a good few years now, and by making this Olympic Games sustainable, London hopes to create a pattern for all forthcoming Olympic Games events for years to come. However, how are they going to do this exactly?

Well, for a start the Olympic Village where the athletes and officials will be staying through the duration of the games will be turned into accommodation afterwards for local people. Why is this a good thing? Well it means that the building work has not gone to waste. It will also provide more housing options and boost the area that they are being built in. Because of this they are saving on building materials and the carbon emissions that are being produced by building machinery. This is just one of the things that are being planned to make this Olympics the most green in history. It is likely that other hosts will try to follow or out do London in years to come.

The Olympics being held in London is probably the best thing to happen to the United Kingdom for years. It is a very welcome boost in the economy and tourism. After the last couple of years, the UK was definitely struggling, but with the games on the horizon this all looks set to change, especially with the amount of money that the tourists are going to bring in.