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Olympia London
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Olympia London

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Olympia London
3.5
#1,071 of 2,703 things to do in London
Points of Interest & LandmarksArchitectural BuildingsConvention Centers
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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About
Inspiring spaces Olympia London is more than an exhibition venue, conference centre and live-event space. It's an inspiration. Against a backdrop of grand Victorian architecture, the seven connected spaces inspire engagement and enjoyment.
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Address
Neighborhood: Hammersmith / Fulham
How to get there
  • Kensington (Olympia) • 2 min walk
  • Kensington,Olympia • 2 min walk
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See what travelers are saying
  • Lisa B
    Greater London, United Kingdom87 contributions
    Better than 2021 show
    After a disappointing trip in 2021 we gave it another chance this year the show was better organisers had made an effort on the entrance this year with the snow machine and hit chestnuts once inside stalls were more like visiting you local market lots of fake goods on sale not sure how the traders get away with this. It meant to be a Christmas show not many decoration stalls, food hall very expensive and not enough seating. Won’t go again this is out last time sad but we will spend our money somewhere else next year.
    Visited November 2022
    Written December 15, 2022
  • ShaunH290
    London, United Kingdom2,294 contributions
    Sign of a Good Venue - always developing!
    Olympia is a reasonably large exhibition centre in Kensington and I suspect that all the reviews here will reflect the shows that the reviewers visited. We visited the Destinations show, and we have done so a few times. (We have been to various exhibitions for other groups over the years but we have been to Destinations about three out of the last five years.) This year it was heaving on the first day of opening (the second was a national rail strike, so that may have affected the week day audience). The weekend audience would follow that. Last year was much quieter - people are obviously keen to travel again and there was no shortage of specialist tour companies to help you achieve your ambitions. With the Earls Court Exhibition Centre closing in 2014, Olympia is now the west London competition to Excel in the Docklands. The latter is newer and seems larger and offers more flexibility to exhibitions. The catering in Olympia is mainly a reflection of the show on at the time. Last year, Destinations had very few places to eat - this year, there were loads! Either way, unless you really want to spend all day at the show (and given the prices, you would want to get your money's worth!), we would recommend eating outside either before or preferably after your visit. There are loads of places around for all budgets. This is definitely an advantage over Excel, which might as well be in the middle of nowhere in terms of restaurants. Seeing the more modern facilities at Excel, it is good to see some building work going on at Olympia, so hopefully things will be even better next year.
    Visited February 2023
    Written February 4, 2023
  • Bluebellplasnewydd
    Cardiff, United Kingdom1,939 contributions
    Bland
    This centre is now old fashioned with a lot of building work around. The signage when you get off the tube is poor and we were directed to the wrong exhibition. I can't see much to recommend this venue apart from its size.
    Visited February 2023
    Written February 22, 2023
  • Big Tom B
    36 contributions
    Poor show
    What a waste of money. Seen more classic cars at a local evening meet i go to . Hardley any stands for products, or placs to eat . Poor selection of cars . Go to the Nec its much bigger ,better all round. No comparison. Couldnt even get in before 12 noon on the Friday. Stood in the que getting wet . What a shambles. Wont bother again. Poor show/ set up.
    Visited February 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written February 26, 2023
  • 85437
    Portsmouth, United Kingdom6 contributions
    CRAP LACK OF PEOPLE DRESSED UP
    Went to London comicon march 2023 very poor show so very disappointed .Traveling with my son and daughter who have both autism and disabled .Not disability friendly security is a total joke told to walk all the way back round the block with my son who uses a chair but wanted to walk on that day ..made a complaint to door staff after a few trips round the block then given wrist bands . Total lack of seating to eat food found the cinema part and sat there most of the day so my son and daughter could have a place to sit .. Not many people dressed up on the Saturday don't know about Sunday as after Saturdays poor show we didn't go Sunday .. Nothing like Glasgow no comicon sign no Harry potter cart or car ..we have been to a lot of comicon but by far this was the worst .stalls selling fake pictures signed for lots of money just looked fake .the people that were signing most of them were not there .. Won't be back to Olympia or any further comicons the hold . traveling from Northern Ireland to London ..poor show
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written March 8, 2023
  • Pjramsey
    2 contributions
    Ideal home show 2023
    First time to ideal home show in years. Quite poor. The event didn't present anything new for the home and was comparable to a trip to IKEA. Very little in terms of new tech or gadgets with only one display of anything related to "smart homes". Most crowded stands where for a whisk, food chopper and a mop! 50% of stands were selling clothes, jewellery or items you could find from street market stands. A bit late but prior years reviews echo the same. Unless they up their game the show has run its course .... Builtit Live was smaller but had much better ideas to help transform your home. The above said it was a day out.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 18, 2023
  • Withheld
    1 contribution
    Very disappointed
    You would have to pay me to go again. I left after a short time maybe 30 minutes thinking I am just a moany old man, but met others walking out saying the same> Not like it use to be when they use to have real inventive ideas for your home. Even the staff showing us out were clearly unimpressed. However if you like spending £10K on a vibrating chair or buying a jacuzzi the size of a swimming pool, this may be for you.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 21, 2023
  • Paul s
    Chelmsford, United Kingdom10 contributions
    Ideal Home show disappointing
    First time for us to the show. Best bit was seeing our friends and having lunch but the rest of the show was very disappointing. Very little in the way of any new innovative ideas or anything to do with buildings. Lots of sales of massage chairs, some clothes and several stalls of kitchen knives, pots and pans etc and some outside stuff but little that was new or unusual in fact a trip around Ikea would give you more ideas!! Disappointing but at least the tickets were not that expensive but would not rush to go again if this show was representative.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written March 25, 2023
  • Christopher P
    Portsmouth, United Kingdom18 contributions
    poor event
    Greg Wallace restaurant very poor, cold food, hot chicken, sauce looked like water. Greg discuss ting - staff had zero personality and the older guy on the door needs a new jacket as it had stains all over it. we will never eat there again and will tell our friends. We did complain but were totally ignored and in discus left and got a meal in the food hall costing us effectively 4 meals. very unhappy about the whole thing / show
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 27, 2023
  • FuzzyBear43
    298 contributions
    Dreadful and depressing. The Ideal Home Show is well past its sell by date.
    I've gone to the Ideal Home Show since the 1980s when it was the Daily Mail Home Show. At that time, it was exciting, full of gadgets, gizmos, pets, fish aquariums, grand pianos, hi fi systems, toys and kids stuff, kitchen gadgets, automatic coffee machines, juice blenders. Anything you could think of related to home living, it was there, and you couldn't get this stuff on the high street. Booths were crowded and people queued to see the demos. This is the first time I've gone in over ten years. Oh my how it's fallen. Downstairs, just a lot of generic sofas, roller blinds, massage chairs, double glazing salesmen, some finely crafted wooden furniture. I saw a massive queue for the tiny show home, couldn't be bothered to wait. Overall, bland, nothing cutting edge, nothing interesting. Completely lacking in gadgetry and big name brands. Ikea and Tesco Extra has more cutting edge technology on display than here. Upstairs, full of tacky market stalls that look like they just moved in from a cheap London street market. Selling generic market stall tat like mobile phone covers, mystery junk bags and fake designer clothes. An over priced food court, again no different to what you'd get at Brick Lane or Portobello road street markets. I will never go back.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 27, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
3.5
756 reviews
Excellent
179
Very good
251
Average
116
Poor
89
Terrible
121
SGVK
United Kingdom15 contributions
Really disappointing
Nov 2022 • Family
We visited Olympia today (25/11/22) for the Christmas Ideal Home Show and it’s the first time for me, my husband and we had our baby with us. To park near Olympia you do have to pay around £30 which for us with a 9 month old baby is easier as we have the pram and everything needed for her. When we got to the car park, it was quite run down and a lot of people parked across two spaces so it’s not really managed very well at all - I only hope someone who did pay didn’t have trouble finding a space. The walk to Olympia is less than 1 minute - if you can the train is probably better to go there as it’s literally opposite the road from the station. The people who manage the crowd outside are so good, they are so bubbly and helpful. We got in to the show and I have to say it was extremely busy and very hard to actually enjoy the stalls and what’s going on because most of the time you are busy trying to get through the crowd. It was much more difficult with a pram as people don’t even give you way - there were actually people who would speed up just to barge past us even after seeing the pram with our baby in it. There were more stalls upstairs and there was only one lift in the whole building to get up there for anyone who needed this (wheelchair access, prams etc). As a result, you could be waiting a while amongst a huge crowd of people also walking straight in to you. Once we got upstairs, it was mostly food and drink stands which looked great. We bought from one of them and although they were lovely people, what you pay at these shows are a total rip off especially if you know the cost of this stuff outside of the shows. We can’t say that we enjoyed ourselves. It is not family friendly so if you do visit, avoid bringing a pram (which is very difficult for any family with a baby). Bring food with you otherwise you will wait a long time trying to get something and if you do get something, you will probably have to sit on the floor like so many others I saw upstairs. The place was too busy and I can’t say we would visit again.
Written November 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
thezine71
London, UK52 contributions
An Exhibition Sampling the Deep Med
Jun 2022
Ever found yourself spoilt for choice at an Iberian food feast exhibition held at London's Olympia or when sampling cuisines, confectioneries and wines that are established brands from Italy and Spain. Italy and Spain are both revolutionary in making food and drink work well and taste absolutely delicious.
The delicious treats from these Latin region in Europe have had moments basking in June's sunshine and the pleasure to attend the exhibition was memorable. Despite the enduring strike held across the week, the theme of determination made each exhibitor, visitor and member of staff sure that the event should be held as scheduled.
I had three top place that I visited which were the joint stand of Peroni and San Pellegrino, Cassibba and Birra Porretti. Each stand were made me feel very welcomed and spoke to me about the origins of their products before they invited me to sample the wonders of them.
@San Pellegrino exudes modern drinking habit that can be enjoyed at anytime of the day. There is something extraordinary about enjoy beverages with such effervescence and elegance. The moments made by having these drinks around the table because San Pellegrino provides a great time without overspending wildly. Its existence is to believed for the fizz given to lives of the costumers.
Cassibba gave me biscuits to sample and I tried the ones named New Elite Line and Tocchi D'artista. In taste New Elite Line was cocoa based yet it was not overly sweet to eat. With which made the sweet treat extremely impressible to my taste.
I swear by the artisan craftsmanship placed upon the taste of Peroni. There was a choice between alcoholic beverage or to have an alcohol free option. During a sunny afternoon I could not ask for anything better than a chilled brew of beer. Salute #Peroni for making their hospitality unforgettable.
As a conversation starter I explained that 'Birra Porretti has been on offer at many stores and I have recently seen it on promotion at a well known supermarket with a Royal warranty.'
His response was simply laughter tinged with adoration as a brand ambassador for the alcoholic beverage. His next reflex was to pour me a glass of beer. It was a chilled brew to toast the success of the occasion.
After sampling some more beers and a few wines, I reconciled with myself that I had a day out at London's Olympia. Naturally I had a few slices of pizza but I predominantly enjoyed the condiments that went along with eating quintessentially Mediterranean cuisines.
Written July 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Halima
Dublin, Ireland2 contributions
Shocking. Profit over people. Revolted by the organisers to be very honest. Appalled.
Jul 2022 • Couples
On the website when buying tickets it says (copy and pasted)

Adult: £26
Gains admission for one Adult to London Film & Comic Con on the Saturday of the event.

Yet when we arrived, with tickets. They are operating a one in one out queue system. They over sold tickets to make money with a complete disregard for customer experience. I am absolutely livid. What’s worse is they get away with it by not having a way to leave a google review which would be easy for anyone to see when searching to mistakenly buy tickets for this event.

We have been in the queue which could be now 300 plus people long for half an hour and a barrier has actually been placed at the front as they are not letting anyone in. This has been the same since we arrived. Yet everyone in the queue has tickets for entry today. It’s disgusting to be honest. I’m thoroughly disappointed with prioritising increased profit in ticket sales over whether or not the client base with tickets and who have had them for weeks or months can actually enter the venue. UNACCEPTABLE. I will be requesting a full refund. Disgusting from the organisers. Disgusting.
Written July 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Radders2106
Billericay, UK100 contributions
Not an Ideal Home Christmas Show!
Nov 2021 • Couples
Booked for a coach visit to the Christmas Ideal Home Show at Olympia.
Expected a Christmas themed ideal home show with loads of ideas for having a special Christmas with gift ideas.
What we got was basically a local market selling rip off fake Chinese tat at a high price as well as Hot Tub sales, Double Glazing, Teeth whitening, pain relief and back massage as well as massage chairs, garden furniture and gazebos. There were a few Christmas themed stalls. There were singers on a central stage but they were barely audible. We had people pestering us to make wills and donate to charity.
Very little seating on the ground floor.
Heading upstairs for the food stalls, we found a few genuine stalls such as birds of prey, and dog/cat food stalls. On the top floor were 4 or 5 kitchen gadget stalls. The rest being alcohol based stalls for gins and rums.
There were food stalls but these were overpriced. £15 for 2 small bits of beef in a Yorkshire pudding with a couple of chips a d a few little bits of veg or £15 for a cheeseburger, chips and drink.
We felt that the whole show was designed to fleece the public of money.
There could not have been any thought, checks or relevance to Christmas into the types of goods being sold.
Would I go again - NO. It was a rip-off. This was a thought echoed by the other people on the coach and some of the other visitors we spoke to at the venue.
Was it christmassy? Well apart from a sanatorium and MDF reindeer by the door and a couple of trees - no.
Very disappointed.
Written November 27, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
In_Search_Of_Cake
Overton, UK350 contributions
Ideal Home Exhibtion 2022
Mar 2022 • Couples
Not been since before Covid, so was really curious.

Looking at the other reviews made us more curious because it’s a real marmite year, you’re gonna love it or hate it.

Or both!

1st off I bought weekday tickets instead of weekend, do you think there was anyway to speak to a human being about it, eh no.
There’s an email query form, which send you an acknowledgement mail and that’s it, so for me this is a form of thievery.

So by happenstance we found a day to go, if not we would have lost money, so watch these ticket companies carefully make sure there is some way to contact them if needed.

Basically they need to change the name of this, it’s not an ideal home exhibition, it’s a fare of home related stuff.

There is really nothing there which showcases themes on what an ideal home is, so for example for this year why not a theme on smart tech, renewables helping people reduce their costs during this energy crisis, for me that is an exhibition, this was more a market.
One of the high street banks was there with a “green” mortgage which was an utter sham, there was nothing green about it except the colour ink used on the posters.

We bought a garden furniture set, which was awesome btw, salamis, rums, and some other bits, so it was fun in that respect, we saw people eating, drinking and socialising , pretty nice to see post covid.

The food court albeit, London, an exhibition and expensive was fun, we jumped from cookies, to noodles, to cocktails and fizz and oysters.

It was a day out, the day out gets 5 circles, because we made it what it was, the ideal home as an event needs an overhaul, a change of name, lower the price of the tickets, and find more exhibitor’s.
Written March 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tracie7_988
London, UK43 contributions
Poorly-run event (London Film and Comic Con)
Jul 2022
1st day of con went smoothly. 2nd day of con security staff outside were very miserable, and telling people to get close to each other in the entrance queue (because COVID doesn't exist anymore), and if you didn't get bunched up they whinged at you. Now my covid app has pinged 6 times since being there (all for Saturday 9th July). Toilets lacked toilet roll and smelt of pee. And considering the weather at the time, there weren't many drink vendors on site to suit the amount of people visiting.
Written July 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tigeriffic69
Leyland, UK1,233 contributions
January 2020 visit
Jan 2020
This was my first time here. I had tickets to attend the dragcon. The queuing system was a nightmare I queued for almost an hour to get in. The stage was small, and very crowded. You could not see anything on stage if you was more than 3 rows back, as people had their phones out filming etc.. I think there should be big screens around, so people can see whats going on, on stage. They ran out of merchandise really early on. I am glad I attended the dragcon, but I would not go to another one. The venue itself is like a massive warehouse.
Written January 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Olympia London
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate any feedback that we receive. We hope to see you again soon. Best wishes, Olympia London
Written January 29, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
James T
1 contribution
Film and Comic Con (Saturday) queuing farce
Jul 2022 • Family
A family ticket (standard entry) for the Saturday was bought by a family member as a gift. I arrived with children at around midday. Greeted by around 200 people already queuing. Was then told by security that the event was now operating ‘one in one out’ due to the event now operating at capacity. Meanwhile a further 100 people or so had queued behind us, with a mixture of adults and children. There had been no indication by the organisers that such a scenario would be operated at the event. Or I had known we would of ensured we arrived well before the event started. What was made worse was that the day was very hot with most people queuing in the sun. We decided to queue for around 30 minutes with no sign of the queue moving. Organisers should of been prepared for this eventuality and provided those in the queue with water bottles as a minimum.

Essentially, the event was poorly organised and poorly managed, with organisers knowingly oversold tickets which led to this debacle on the day.

I’ll be requesting a full refund, though I note that the organisers T&Cs don’t allow for refunds which makes the matter even more farcical and clearly indicates to me that profits are more important than the people that are supposed to be experiencing these events.
Written July 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MrT
Worcester Park, UK1 contribution
One word of advice DO NOT GO
Mar 2022
I was fortunate (or not) to get free tickets to the show. Thank god these were free, had I paid, I would have been asking for a refund. I had visited the show many years ago and from what I remember, it was busy, full of new ideas and innovation and gadgets you didn't need, but it was entertaining to watch the demonstrations.

I have been thinking about a garden room and an extension on my house, I thought this would be the perfect place to find some inspiration and new ideas. It was a disaster, a lack of interesting new products to view, 2 garden rooms from the same company, which were not impressive. Companies selling bi-fold doors, CCTV systems etc. nothing interesting. Most of it was full of tasteless, tacky rubbish. In fact the upstairs section just looked like some market traders had popped in from EastEnders.

The show house looked depressing from the outside, and 'conker living....wtf... I can't believe someone has actually thought it would be a good idea and made something as hideous as that. The y should have tied them to ropes and smashed them against each other for entertainment. Waste of time.

As for the food and drink section, this was a tiny section upstairs, half of it taken up with overpriced, hot food stalls. With the remaining section just brownies and alcohol. Nothing inspiring and don't be fooled by the 'Special Show price', cheaper on Amazon.

So disappointed in this, I spent more time getting there than actually inside the exhibition. Someone should get fired for trying to charge people for that.

If I could have given this a zero rating I would have done,
Written March 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard S
Evesham, UK331 contributions
Dated exhibition venue with poor refreshment facilities
Feb 2020
We visited for the London Classic Car Show. The venue is easy enough to get to via London overground, and within easy walking distance from the station. The refreshment facilities are very poor, with overpriced unimaginative food, and nowhere apart from a few scruffy tables to sit down. The car show itself was good in parts, with the car stories theatre the stand out feature. The tribute exhibitions were generally interesting, but the preponderance of exotic cars scheduled for auction took up far too much floor space. A greater focus on true "classic" cars would have made the show more enjoyable.
Written March 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Olympia London
Hi Richard, Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate any feedback that we receive. We hope to see you again soon. Best wishes, Olympia London
Written March 6, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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