Out of London Venues

Set in a wonderful 400-acre park near Windsor Castle, Eton Dorney will host the Olympic and Paralympic Rowing competitions as well as the Canoe Sprint event. The eight-lane, 2,200m course was already a world-class training and competition facility when it hosted the Rowing World Championships in 2006 to critical acclaim. For London 2012 several enhancements have been made, including warm-up lanes, a new cut-through between the competition lake and the return lake, and a couple of new bridges. Located 25 miles west of London (a short 15 to 45-minute train ride from Paddington or Waterloo), the superb venue - which should attract up to 30,000 spectators daily during the Games - is privately owned and financed by Eton College, the swish alma mater of Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Located 30km north of the Olympic Park, the brand-new state-of-the-art Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire cost £31m and was opened by Princess Anne in December 2010. The first new venue to open - and the only new London 2012 venue that the public can use ahead of the Games - the Lee Valley White Water Centre features a 300m competition course and a 160m intermediate/training course, which are both fed by a new 10,000 square metre lake which pumps 15 cubic metres of water per second. The total drop of the competition course is 5.5 metres with parts of the course reaching 7mph. Temporary seating will have a capacity of 12,000 and will be removed after the Games, when the Centre will become a venue for canoeing and kayaking for the local community and visitors. The Centre, easily reached in half an hour by rail from Liverpool Street Station in East London, will also host the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. Lee Valley White Water Centre in pictures.

The scenic Hadleigh Farm in Essex will host the Olympic Mountain Bike competition for London 2012. Owned by the Salvation Army, Hadleigh Farm covers a 550-acre site which boasts wonderful grassland and woodland, some fantastic gradients conducive for a technically challenging course, and a stunning backdrop in the shape of the 700-year-old ruins of Hadleigh Castle and the Thames Estuary. The new Mountain Bike course winds through woods, parklands, meadows and a marsh, and was completed in March 2011. A temporary stadium will be erected for spectators, around 20,000 of whom should also be able to wander over the hilly terrain to view the action close up to the riders. Hadleigh Farm is around 45 minutes from London Fenchurch Street station. Hadleigh Farm in pictures.

The oldest surviving Tudor palace in England will make a stunning backdrop for the Road Cycling time trial events, which will begin and end at the historic Hampton Court Palace in south-west London. Held on Wednesday 1 August, the men's and women's time trials (44km and 29km respectively) take place over a single lap which will incorporate sections of Richmond, Kingston-upon-Thames and Surrey. Riders start 90 seconds apart and the winner is the rider with the fastest time over the course. What's more, both events are free to watch, which should make them a popular choice for spectators. Easily accessible by train from central London, Hampton Court Palace has housed some of Britain's most famous kings and queens, most notably the colourful Henry VIII. The Palace has a rich sporting history too, being home to the oldest surviving real tennis court in England, one of fewer than 50 real tennis courts in the world. Hampton Court Palace in pictures.

One of Europe's leading motor racing venues, Brands Hatch will be the venue for the Paralympic Road Cycling events from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 September. The former Formula One circuit is located in Kent, around one hour's travel from the Olympic Park, and will play host to the start and finish of both the Paralympic Road Race and the Time Trial. The course will start at Brands Hatch before passing through the Kent countryside and the district of Sevenoakes, and then heading back to the race track for the finale.

The first London 2012 Games venue to be finished, Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour will host the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing competitions (29 July to 11 August and 1-6 September). Located off the beautiful Dorset coast in the south of England, the venue was ready for competition by 2008 and has already hosted numerous international sailing events. New lifting and mooring facilities have been added, as well as a new permanent 250m slipway, while there will be a ticketed onshore area for up to 17,400 spectators (please note, there will be no seating available). Weymouth is accessible by rail from London Waterloo in under three hours. Weymouth and Portland in pictures.

While the finals of the Olympic Football competitions will take place at Wembley Stadium in London, the preliminaries games take place in stadia all over the UK: the Scottish national stadium of Hampden Park in Glasgow; the home of Manchester United, Old Trafford; Newcastle United's St James' Park; the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the City of Coventry Stadium in the Midlands. Stadia around the UK in pictures.