LONDON - So you could not afford London 2012 tickets and are dreading the prospect of spending all of next summer staring at the television?

Competing as an Olympic athlete or being wined and dined as a VIP visitor are probably not options either but do not despair.

In a time of financial belt-tightening, and with a nod to the spirit of the Austerity Olympics of 1948, there will be ways to get out, soak up the atmosphere and watch some live sport without handing over hard-earned cash.

Standing on a south-coast cliff top to watch the yachting somewhere out to sea off Weymouth is always one possibility but there are other less distant and dramatic alternatives.

Even with a full year to go until the July 27 opening ceremony of the 'greatest show on earth' at the Olympic stadium, it is never too early to start planning one's own wallet-friendly 2012 experience.

If you want to witness that opening extravaganza, or the men's 100 metres final, from the inside and for free then you will probably have to charm a sponsor, fast-track your media career or try to worm your way into the army of technical support staff.

Best to get started on that right away. With more than one million applications for the sold-out 80,000-seat stadium, those who do have a ticket have won the lottery and they know it.

A more profitable use of time might be to attend some of the test events next month for sports that offer free access, such as road-race cycling and triathlon, to check out the best viewpoints.

Beer garden

The men's and women's cycling road races, on the opening weekend of the Games, could produce Britain's first gold medallist with Tour de France multiple stage winner Mark Cavendish likely to be the big home hope.

Both events start and finish outside the Queen's central London residence of Buckingham Palace with spectators likely to throng the route through leafy south-west London out into the Surrey countryside.

The London-Surrey Cycle Classic test event next month will be a good advance opportunity to find a prime vantage point.

"We have the opportunity for thousands of people to engage with this, on their doorstep, in the local park, in the pub beer garden and all sorts of other places along the route," said LOCOG cycling manager Simon Lillistone.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for people to actually see an Olympic event first-hand and hopefully link into what London 2012 is here to do and really inspire young people."

Hampton Court, the palatial home of 16th century Tudor monarch Henry VIII, will be the base for the men's and women's time trials on Aug. 1 next year.

The men will also do a loop through the royal Bushy Park which - always allowing for the vagaries of the British summer - offers the potential for picnics while watching the riders.

The marathons pass a string of London landmarks and parts of the triathlon course and race walking will also be fantastic free opportunities for those who get there early enough.

The ticketed sections along the northern edge of the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park for the Aug. 4 and 7 triathlons were an early sell-out in the British public ballot but other areas inside the Park are open to all.

Top spectator spots identified by British Triathlon, who are also running a free test event next month, include the Wellington Arch/Hyde Park Corner area, the south side of the Serpentine Bridge and around Buckingham Palace.

The archery ranking rounds at Lord's cricket ground on July 27, likened improbably by those within the sport to Formula One qualifying without the noise or frenzy, caused some excitement when they were listed as non-ticketed events.

That could score as a bullseye for the freebie hunter although the rounds, in a part of the cricket ground used as a training area, are more likely to be behind closed doors.

Organisers are still considering the options but could make a limited number of tickets available to local residents and schoolchildren as well as athletes' friends and family.

"You'd get to see the world's best but it's really just a load of people standing in a line shooting arrows, rather than the excitement of a head-to-head," said Archery GB spokesman Peter Jones.