Ian Cartwright's guide to Vicarage Road

Well, we're almost there. Our final pre-season fixture sees the Addicks venture to Hertfordshire to face Watford, the Hornets obviously keen to get a glimpse of their potential Championship opposition in 2011/2012.

Fans can enjoy a real ale trek en route to Vicarage Road

Tickets for the clash are priced exactly the same, unbelievably, as Bromley, with adults able to gain admission for £10, and U16s and over 65s just £5. Tickets will be on sale on the day.

Vicarage Road seems to have been one of those grounds which has been undergoing some form of change every time we have visited and, following our visit back in August 2008, Saturday is no exception.

The old main stand, which still evokes memories of Graham Taylor in a dugout halfway between the stand and the pitch, is now closed, so fans can only use three sides of the ground. Furthermore, rather innovatively, you will notice that blocks of flats have appeared around the stadium on Vicarage Road, which provide affordable accommodation for key workers.

While the building changes continue, merciful stability seems to have now taken place in the form of the visitors' section as we seem to be settled in the Vicarage Road end of the stadium. This is good news, firstly because it's the closest entrance to the town centre and secondly, it means that the formerly traditional circumnavigation of the ground via the allotments at the Rookery End is no longer necessary. This means we can have an extra 10 minutes in the pub, although some may still like to check on the progress of the collective vegetable patches of Watford.

The view is pretty good, although it is a bit of a steep climb towards the rear, but given the fact that the stand quite literally backs onto Vicarage Road, there was never going to be a great deal of scope for extension. The concourses are therefore pretty cramped, with the inevitable consequence of the queues for the toilets and the kiosks melding into one another.

Despite signs all over the place for a well known Danish lager, Vicarage Road is a dry ground for visiting fans - although you never know for a friendly - but after the way we have been spoilt at Bedford and Bromley, it's probably time for some relative disappointment.

Again, it is a non-competitive fixture, but the closest pub to the ground, coincidentally the Red Lion for the second successive Saturday, is not quite so away-friendly as its Barnet counterpart.

Just around the back, however, is what was always known as Mac's Bar. It has had a variety of different names and on our last visit it was called the Oddfellows Arms, but it has always been a bit of a favourite. There is a nice beer garden, satellite television and, on summer days, they lay on a barbeque, which is significantly more imaginative than the food inside the ground.

Similarly, the pub outside Watford Junction station on the site of the old Benskins Brewery has gone by various names under the years. On my last visit, it was called The Flag and was very reasonably priced.

If you turn left from Watford Junction and left again, real ale enthusiasts will have a field day on a nice little tri-pub crawl. In the middle of the town centre, you will find the Moon Under The Water, of which there are several within this particular chain. Again, it's a friendly so who knows, but on the past couple of visits the outside of the pub has doubled for the overspill car park for the local police station.

Getting there is simple enough by road or rail. Basically, it is a case of leaving the M1 at Junction 5 and following the A4008 Ring Road towards Watford town centre, aim for the infirmary and you are there.

Parking is at a premium, however, once you are at the ground. Some industrial units may open and there is some street parking at the back of the hospital, but the infirmary car park itself is a no-no. Thankfully, the ground is a very short walk from the town centre where there are a couple of multi-storeys.

The closest train station is Watford High Street, but there are many more trains that run from Euston into Watford Junction, which is in Zone 8, so if you have a Travelcard and so on then topping up is better than a standard return fare.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk - basically, take the second left when coming out of the station (unless you are on the real ale trek), aim for the town centre, walk straight through it and you are there. A mile away from the ground is Watford underground station on the Metropolitan line, but unless you have a book that you find impossible to put down, a lot of patience and a tolerance of heat, then stick to the overground!