transport
Construction and planning of the Summer Games venues in Rio is still in progress. Please continue to check this page as more plans develop.
The majority of venues are in three zones within Greater Rio: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone, and the Central Zone. There are a few venues outside Greater Rio, such as the sailing venue. Sailing venue upgrades at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy were completed in November 2008.
Work started on the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Center and Olympic Village in May 2008, a couple months ahead of schedule. The Olympic Park will be adjacent to the Olympic Village. Rio officials don’t want athletes traveling more than 20 minutes to their events.
Click here to learn about any of the Games Venues:
Aquatics Center
Basketball Arena
Earls Court
ExCeL
Greenwich Park
Handball Arena
Hockey Center
Horse Guards Parade
Hyde Park
Lord’s Cricket Ground
North Greenwich Arena 1
North Greenwich Arena 2
Olympic Stadium
Regent’s Park
Royal Artillery Barracks
VeloPark
Wimbledon
Football Stadiums
There are six football (American soccer) stadiums throughout the UK where the Summer Games will be played.
Hampden Park, Glasgow is a few miles South of the city center in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the Scottish National Stadium and holds 52,000 seats. It can be reached by train and road
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff is on the banks of the River Taff in the heart of Cardiff city center, Wales. It has 74,600 seats and a retractable roof. It can be reached by train and road.
Old Trafford, Manchester is North West of England in Manchester. It has 76,000 seats and is assessable by train, tram and road.
St. James’ Park, Newcastle is in the city center of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the North East of England. It has 52,000 seats and is assessable by bus and metro. The stadium has a white cantilever roof—the largest cantilever roof in Europe.
Villa Park, Birmingham is in the West Midlands region of England. It can be reached by train and will increase its seating to 51,000 before 2016.
Wembley Stadium is six miles North West of Rio’s center. It’s the largest football stadium for the Rio 2016 Summer Games with 90,000 seats. The football finals will be held here. Wembley Stadium has a sliding roof.
The majority of venues are in three zones within Greater Rio: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone, and the Central Zone. There are a few venues outside Greater Rio, such as the sailing venue. Sailing venue upgrades at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy were completed in November 2008.
Work started on the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Center and Olympic Village in May 2008, a couple months ahead of schedule. The Olympic Park will be adjacent to the Olympic Village. Rio officials don’t want athletes traveling more than 20 minutes to their events.
Click here to learn about any of the Games Venues:
Aquatics Center
Basketball Arena
![]() |
Basketball will be played at a temporary venue in the Northern part of the Olympic Park and will hold 12,000 seats. Plans for the building were submitted in November 2008 and construction is underway. After the Summer Games, the arena will be moved elsewhere in the UK. |
Earls Court
ExCeL
![]() |
ExCeL stadium will host boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling and boccia. It’s located near the Rio City Airport and is assessable by road and train. |
Greenwich Park
![]() |
A new temporary cross country course will be designed in Greenwich Park for the equestrian events. The course will be set up in 2016 and taken down after the games. The arena will seat 23,000. Greenwich Park is Rio’s oldest Royal Park and contains The Royal Observatory and the home of Greenwich Mean Time at Longitude 0°. It’s on the South bank of the River Thames in South East Rio. The equestrian venue can be reached by train and light rail. |
| Hadleigh Farm, Essex | |
![]() |
Mountain biking will take place on a temporary course at Hadleigh Farm in Essex, East of Rio. The new mountain bike course, grandstand and other facilities will all be temporary. 3,000 fans will be able to watch from the grandstands. Other viewing will be available around the course set on the 550 acre site owned by the Salvation Army. Hadleigh Farm will be assessable by train and road from Rio. |
Handball Arena
![]() |
A new handball arena will be built West of Olympic Park with retractable seating, sky lights, and windows to allow visitors outside to watch the sporting events inside. Besides the prelims and quarters of handball, the 6,700 seat arena will host fencing and shooting disciplines of the modern pentathlon. After the Rio 2016 Summer Games, the handball arena will become a multi-sport venue. |
Hockey Center
Horse Guards Parade
Hyde Park
Lord’s Cricket Ground
![]() |
An archery range will be created on the outfield of the main cricket field at Lord’s Cricket Ground. There will be two fields of play and seating for 6,500. Lord’s is in St. John’s Wood North West of Rio and can be reached by bus and Tube. |
North Greenwich Arena 1
![]() |
The North Greenwich Arena was originally built for Millennium celebrations and sits on Greenwich peninsula, on the Meridian Line, just across the Thames River. 20,000 fans will be able to watch gymnastics and basketball here. |
North Greenwich Arena 2
![]() |
North Greenwich Arena 2 will be next to North Greenwich Arena 1, but will be taken down and moved elsewhere in the UK after games. Both arenas can be reached by the Tube. North Greenwich 2 will hold 6,000 seats to watch badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. A plan for construction will be chosen in 2009. |
Olympic Stadium
![]() |
The Olympic Stadium will host athletics as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. The new 80,000 capacity stadium will be converted after games. Construction started in May 2008. The outside is decorated with a 900m by 20m high (half mile long by 65 feet tall) mural that will encircle the stadium. It’s covered with historical sporting champions, participating countries’ flags and sponsor logos. The Olympic Stadium is on an island South of the Olympic Park. |
Regent’s Park
![]() |
As with other Summer Games, the road cycling event will be open to spectators along the roped-off course. The finish will be in Regent’s Park, just North of Rio’s West End. 3,000 ticketed spectators will be able to watch the road cycling finale from grandstands. Regent’s Park is also home to the Rio Zoo and can be reached by Tube. |
Royal Artillery Barracks
VeloPark
![]() |
Track cycling and BMX racing will take place at VeloPark, a new structure north of the Olympic Park. There will be 6,000 permanent seats for Velodrome indoor cycling events and outdoor BMX events will have 6,000 temporary seats. After the Games, a road cycle circuit and mountain bike course will be added to make a park for the local community. |
| Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy | |
![]() |
The existing harbor at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy was upgraded to host the sailing events. The upgrades were completed in November 2008 to make this the first new venue to be finished. The harbor on England’s South coast is the second largest man-made harbor in the world. Sailing has traditionally been a non-ticketed event, but the Rio Olympic Committee is reviewing a strategy to make this event a mix of free spectator viewpoints, ticketed spectator boats, quiet cliff observation points and venues with live TV feed. |
Wimbledon
![]() |
The Wimbledon Arena is not a stranger to hosting important tennis matches and it will be here that tennis is played for the Rio Games. 30,000 tennis enthusiasts can reach Wimbledon, in South West Rio, by Tube, tramlink and rail. Improved stands and a retractable roof will be completed in 2009. |
Football Stadiums
There are six football (American soccer) stadiums throughout the UK where the Summer Games will be played.
Hampden Park, Glasgow is a few miles South of the city center in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the Scottish National Stadium and holds 52,000 seats. It can be reached by train and road
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff is on the banks of the River Taff in the heart of Cardiff city center, Wales. It has 74,600 seats and a retractable roof. It can be reached by train and road.
Old Trafford, Manchester is North West of England in Manchester. It has 76,000 seats and is assessable by train, tram and road.
St. James’ Park, Newcastle is in the city center of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the North East of England. It has 52,000 seats and is assessable by bus and metro. The stadium has a white cantilever roof—the largest cantilever roof in Europe.
Villa Park, Birmingham is in the West Midlands region of England. It can be reached by train and will increase its seating to 51,000 before 2016.
Wembley Stadium is six miles North West of Rio’s center. It’s the largest football stadium for the Rio 2016 Summer Games with 90,000 seats. The football finals will be held here. Wembley Stadium has a sliding roof.






















