The Roland Garros Guide for Fans Who Actually Care

The Quick Verdict

Roland Garros is the most atmospheric Grand Slam on earth. Two weeks of red clay, the smell of damp Paris mornings, strawberry-coloured soil on everyone's shoes, and a crowd that treats tennis like an art form. If Wimbledon is about tradition and the US Open is about spectacle, Roland Garros is about passion. That said, if you go in blind you will queue for an hour for a mediocre hot dog, get confused by the ticketing system, and spend good money on a stadium seat while the best tennis on the grounds is happening on the outside courts. This guide exists so you don't make any of those mistakes.

Getting Your Tickets — Read This Before You Do Anything Else

The Ballot (Best Option If You're Organised)

Roland Garros runs a public lottery each December. In 2026 the ballot opened on 3 December and closed on 17 December 2025. If you were selected, you received an email in late February with a purchase window. This is the right way to get face-value tickets if you're planning ahead. For 2027, watch the official site from late November and register the day the ballot opens — it fills fast.

Pro tip: apply for early rounds on Court Philippe-Chatrier or Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Everyone applies for the finals. First-week play on Chatrier can be brilliant — the top seeds are still in, the atmosphere is electric, and you have the whole day.

First Come, First Served Sales

Roland Garros holds a second sales phase in late March for Opening Week tickets (qualifying rounds, 18-22 May) and outer court access during the final week. These go on sale at 10am Paris time and sell within hours. Opening Week is genuinely underrated — you watch qualifiers up close, practice sessions are open, and the grounds feel spacious. For 2026 this sale opened on 31 March.

Important: The App and ID Requirement

All Roland Garros tickets are 100% digital and linked to the official Roland Garros app. Download it before you travel. Your ticket is tied to your name — you may be asked to show ID matching the ticket at the gate. This is enforced. Bring your passport or national ID, not just a screenshot.

Secondary Market

Debenture-style resale doesn't work the same way at Roland Garros as at Wimbledon. Official hospitality packages through Keith Prowse and Grand Slam Tennis Tours include first-category seats on Philippe-Chatrier. Expect to pay from around £800 per person for early rounds with hospitality, rising to £3,000+ for finals packages with premium lounge access.

Getting There — Public Transport Wins Every Time

Stade Roland Garros is in the 16th arrondissement, on the western edge of Paris near the Bois de Boulogne. It is not in the centre of the city. Do not underestimate the journey time.

The best approach: Metro Line 9 to Exelmans or Michel-Ange Auteuil, then a 10-15 minute walk through residential streets. Alternatively, RER C to Avenue du Président Kennedy then a 20-minute walk along the river — pleasant if the weather is good. From central Paris (St-Germain, Le Marais, the 7th) allow 45-60 minutes door to gate.

Taxis and Uber are fine for arrival but budget time for the return — thousands of people leaving simultaneously around the Bois de Boulogne is not fast. The metro is always the smarter option home.

If you're staying in the 16th, the walk through the Bois de Boulogne on a May morning is one of the great pre-match rituals in tennis. Give yourself the time to do it.

Seat Guide — Where to Sit and What to Avoid

Court Philippe-Chatrier

The centre court seats 15,225 and has a retractable roof installed in 2020. The four stands are named Lacoste (south), Borotra (west), Cochet (east), and Brugnon (north).

Sun guidance: the Borotra stand (west) gets direct afternoon sun. If you're attending a day session and heat sensitivity is a concern, choose Lacoste (south) or Brugnon (north) — both offer more shade, particularly from mid-afternoon. The upper tiers under the roof overhang stay shaded longer. Category Gold seats in the lower sideline rows offer the best proximity to the action; Category 1 seats slightly higher provide a cleaner tactical view of the court.

One thing to know: Chatrier is the most intimate Grand Slam centre court. There are genuinely no bad seats. A Category 3 upper-tier seat still puts you remarkably close to the action compared to the equivalent position at Arthur Ashe or Rod Laver.

Court Suzanne-Lenglen

The second show court received a retractable roof in 2024 and is arguably the best watch in the tournament for pure tennis intimacy. 10,000 seats, all close to the court, and the order of play regularly puts a top-10 match here that would headline any other event. If you can get a Suzanne-Lenglen ticket for the second week, take it.

Court Simonne-Mathieu

Built in 2019 and nestled between four botanical greenhouses. Genuinely one of the most beautiful tennis venues on earth. Seating capacity is 5,000, and the upper high stands are free and open to all spectators with any ticket. Worth an hour of your time regardless of what's playing.

Outside Courts

Any ticket to a show court also gives you access to the 17 outside courts in open seating. The Place des Mousquetaires — a circular terrace between Chatrier and Lenglen — is the social heart of the grounds. Get there early, grab a spot on the lawn chairs, and watch a show court match on the giant screen. It is one of the better ways to spend an afternoon in Paris.

Food and Drink — The Honest Guide

This is where Roland Garros disappoints relative to its city's reputation. The stadium food is expensive, often mediocre, and the queues are brutal during changeovers. Queues of over an hour during peak times are real. Pre-order on the app if you can — it helps.

The one exception worth the money: the Moet and Chandon booth near Philippe-Chatrier. A glass of champagne on a warm Paris afternoon, watching the clay courts through the crowd, is a very good thing.

Practical alternative: there is a Carrefour City supermarket about 15 minutes' walk from the venue. Buying a proper French sandwich and a drink there, then carrying it into the grounds, beats the stadium food in quality, speed, and price. Roland Garros allows outside food in — use this.

After the tennis: the 16th arrondissement is not the most exciting dining neighbourhood in Paris, but there are good options. For the full Paris experience, go back towards the river — the 7th and 6th are a short Uber away and have some of the best brasseries in the city. L'Avenue in the 8th is the traditional post-match celebrity spot.

What to Wear

No formal dress code. Paris crowds tend to dress with slightly more flair than at other Grand Slams — this is Paris, after all. Smart casual is the norm: linen, light layers, simple elegance. White works here too, though you will get red clay dust on everything. Wear shoes you don't mind getting dusty.

May and early June in Paris is unpredictable. Warm and sunny one day, cool and overcast the next. Always carry a light layer. The covered courts mean you won't lose a day to rain, but the outer courts remain at the mercy of the weather.

Things to Do Beyond the Tennis

The Museum of Roland Garros is free with any ticket and genuinely worth visiting. The trophy collection, vintage photographs, and history of the tournament going back to 1891 make it one of the better sports museums at any Grand Slam.

Practice sessions during the first week are open and often produce magical moments. Players warm up on the outside courts adjacent to the main stadium. Turn up early, find a quiet practice court, and you can watch a top-10 player hitting from five metres away.

Paris during Roland Garros fortnight is Paris at its most itself. The Musee d'Orsay is 25 minutes by metro and worth the detour. Versailles is an hour by RER and spectacular if you have a full day. The Marais neighbourhood for lunch, the Seine for an evening walk — you don't need recommendations, it's Paris.

The Singles Finals Tip

Unlike Wimbledon, the men's and women's finals at Roland Garros are on consecutive days — the women's final on Saturday, the men's on Sunday. If you can only attend one day of the final weekend, the men's final traditionally produces some of the most dramatic clay court tennis of the year. The atmosphere inside Philippe-Chatrier on that Sunday afternoon is incomparable.

Hospitality Packages — Worth It?

For Roland Garros, the hospitality question deserves serious consideration. The main options are L'Orangerie (a 19th-century building 100 metres from Chatrier, with a gourmet restaurant and outdoor terrace), La Mezzanine, Le Pavillon, and Club Chatrier — the loge-level VIP suite. Prices range from around £800-1,000 per person with a Category 1 seat and lunch at L'Orangerie, up to £4,000+ for Club Chatrier loge packages.

Given how poor the general food experience is at Roland Garros, the hospitality upgrade is more meaningful here than at most tournaments. If you're celebrating something, or if dining is important to your day, it's worth considering. We've curated a selection of packages at different price points — view hospitality packages here.

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Last updated: April 2026. Know something we don't? Submit a tip and we'll add it to the guide.