48 replies to this topic

[musiclove123]

Like my topic says, what is it like using a motorhome at glasto? Is it easy to get into the campervan field? Thinking of doing it next year because whether rain or shine it is perfect for avoiding sweaty tents and somewhere to shelter from the rain.

A few more questions-how big is the field, how hard is it to get a campervan ticket and can anybody recommend any good and cheap campervan/motorhome websites?

[Poleski]

I've been doing a bit of research on this topic and heres what I've found from various different sources:

• £75 to park a campervan on site
  
• Campervan areas are located out with the actual festival perimeter.
  
• One site is located behind Shangri-La the other east of Pennards.
  
• No electricity point on the site, there is however water and waste disposal.
  
• Campervans can park up on Tuesday night.

[musiclove123]

Poleski, on 06 August 2010 - 05:44 PM, said:

I've been doing a bit of research on this topic and heres what I've found from various different sources:

• £75 to park a campervan on site
  
• Campervan areas are located out with the actual festival perimeter.
  
• One site is located behind Shangri-La the other east of Pennards.
  
• No electricity point on the site, there is however water and waste disposal.
  
• Campervans can park up on Tuesday night.

No electricity? Mmm what about gas? Think the campervan we are looking at has a grill which is probably the only thing we will use for cooking. 75  pounds isnt bad at all between 5 or 6 people and well as the actual cost of the rental for five days. Key is to not damage or crash the thing!   Think we have a tele and an x box included so no games on that haha not that you'd care at glasto

Edited by musiclove123, 06 August 2010 - 05:54 PM.

[jameshunt]

musiclove123, on 06 August 2010 - 05:53 PM, said:

No electricity? Mmm what about gas? Think the campervan we are looking at has a grill which is probably the only thing we will use for cooking. 75  pounds isnt bad at all between 5 or 6 people and well as the actual cost of the rental for five days. Key is to not damage or crash the thing!   Think we have a tele and an x box included so no games on that haha not that you'd care at glasto

The no electricity was in answer to there being no electrical points to use (as is to be expected in a cow pasture ).  Just about every campervan will have a 12v leisure battery which will power internal lighting for days, or a fridge for 12-72 hours (depending on its efficiency) without the need to run the engine to recharge it.  Some will have 2 or even 3 way fridges which means that they will work off the 12v leisure battery, a 240v on-site hook-up (for sites that provide electrical points - not Glastonbury Festival) and some from a gas cannister.  

p.s. There are no gas hook-ups in the fields either, it needs to be self-contained within the vehicle!  In fact there are no hook-ups for any external services (gas, electricity, water, waste disposal).  It is just a field for cows 90% of the time.

[grumpyhack]

We invested at the end of last year in a trailer tent which had its first proper outing at Glasto.  To book a campervan ticket at least one of your group has to have paid for their ticket in full (not just the autumn deposit).
When I booked my CV field ticket I had to choose between CV West and CV East.  Because we come down the M5 I booked CV West.  It was only later on looking at the site map that I realised that CV West was out beynd the John Peel and Dance areas wheras CV East was very close to the Acoustic Stage.  Given that our group spend most of their time at the Acoustic I realised my mistake and was luckily able to arrange a swap with someone who wanted to do the opposite.
So we ended up in field East 23 which was a superb location.  A two minute walk down the hill each morning to Pedestrian Gate C and then straight into the festival.  We were actually closer to the heart of the festival than if we'd been in our traditonal camping spot in Home Ground.
On the supposed down side of the Campervan fields: there are no electric hook ups - you survive on the leisure battery for lighting and calor for cooking and the fridge.  Water still comes from traditional taps, as in camping fields, but you just take a water roller barrel with you (almost certainly one will come with a campervan).  There is also the much overhyped Hill of Death to climb back from Ped Gate C to the CV East fields.  But that's really a lot of fuss about nothing and is no more than many of the hills to go up to the outlying fields,  The CV fields are also quite quiet at night.
We didn't find any of those things a drawback.  Trailer tenting made it our most enjoyable Glasto ever and no way would I want to return to traditional tenting.  We had a lot more space (room to put three small tents alongside the TT for our mates) and the joy of a fridge with fresh strawberries for the first three days and still cool beer by the end of the fest.  A decent two burner cooker with grill and a sink to do the washing up.
Our TT is traditional canvas and we remained cool by day and warm at night.
We were also able to get onto our pitch on Tuesday afternoon - though not onto the site proper till Wednesday,.
The only piece of advice I can offer is that if you go for a campervan you need an awning or gazebo to sit outside,  That's essential for the social and chilling side of the fest.  Sitting inside a caravan or camper is nothing like as nice as sitting outside.  Also if you rent a campervan there may well be a no smoking inside the CV rule laid down by the people you rent from.

[musiclove123]

grumpyhack, on 06 August 2010 - 06:51 PM, said:

We invested at the end of last year in a trailer tent which had its first proper outing at Glasto.  To book a campervan ticket at least one of your group has to have paid for their ticket in full (not just the autumn deposit).
When I booked my CV field ticket I had to choose between CV West and CV East.  Because we come down the M5 I booked CV West.  It was only later on looking at the site map that I realised that CV West was out beynd the John Peel and Dance areas wheras CV East was very close to the Acoustic Stage.  Given that our group spend most of their time at the Acoustic I realised my mistake and was luckily able to arrange a swap with someone who wanted to do the opposite.
So we ended up in field East 23 which was a superb location.  A two minute walk down the hill each morning to Pedestrian Gate C and then straight into the festival.  We were actually closer to the heart of the festival than if we'd been in our traditonal camping spot in Home Ground.
On the supposed down side of the Campervan fields: there are no electric hook ups - you survive on the leisure battery for lighting and calor for cooking and the fridge.  Water still comes from traditional taps, as in camping fields, but you just take a water roller barrel with you (almost certainly one will come with a campervan).  There is also the much overhyped Hill of Death to climb back from Ped Gate C to the CV East fields.  But that's really a lot of fuss about nothing and is no more than many of the hills to go up to the outlying fields,  The CV fields are also quite quiet at night.
We didn't find any of those things a drawback.  Trailer tenting made it our most enjoyable Glasto ever and no way would I want to return to traditional tenting.  We had a lot more space (room to put three small tents alongside the TT for our mates) and the joy of a fridge with fresh strawberries for the first three days and still cool beer by the end of the fest.  A decent two burner cooker with grill and a sink to do the washing up.
Our TT is traditional canvas and we remained cool by day and warm at night.
We were also able to get onto our pitch on Tuesday afternoon - though not onto the site proper till Wednesday,.
The only piece of advice I can offer is that if you go for a campervan you need an awning or gazebo to sit outside,  That's essential for the social and chilling side of the fest.  Sitting inside a caravan or camper is nothing like as nice as sitting outside.  Also if you rent a campervan there may well be a no smoking inside the CV rule laid down by the people you rent from.

Oh yes the sitting outside and socialising is an absolute must so we will get a gazebo and chairs

Edited by musiclove123, 06 August 2010 - 08:33 PM.

[fuzzylogic]

Has anyone hired a campervan before for the festival? Where from and How much did you pay?

[markeee]

I'd love to try a campervan for a festival someday. but bit too expensive for me at present, plus im still young...few more years of sleeping on the hard ground for me

but if its bad weather i imagine a campervan is a godsend

[billyfenlon]

where is the best place to hire a campervan/caravan and what is the best price anyone has got?

cheers

[amfy]

We started to look into it last year and gave up. The rental prices go through the roof that week even if you book early. Those firms aren't daft and they always know what week Glastonbury is!

There'll be some ITK people on this site I'm sure but it's clearly something that takes some research and definitely isn't a last minute thing.

[grumpyhack]

Our trailer tent, very fully equipped and in good condition cost us £1,100 second hand.  A lot less than a campervan or motorhome (mega money).  The only additional cost is fitting a towhook on the car.  No extra insurance and small enough to store in a garage.
If you are going to pay £500 to hire a motorhome for a week you might consider investing in a trailer tent.  Two festivals and it's paid for itself against hiring.

[jono_01]

I have the same opinion as a few others here - something I would love to try out but simply don't have the cash to do at the moment.

Think it would be nice if one of my mates sorted it and I tagged along but I know fine well my mates are too bone idol to sort anything themselves so I would no doubt be the one organising things and being responsible!


Think it mat be owrthwhile looking in to this trailer tent idea.....

[jeanettekaren]

We hired this year from a company called motorholme.  They are essentially a pimp for campervans but the system worked well for us.  Collected the van from the owners about a half hour drive away, we left our car in their drive and went off in their pride and joy.  Turned out they didn't know we had hired for Glastonbury but Motorholme did obviously (due to the hiked up prices).  We paid £800 for the week.  Two berth, pretty new, immaculate inside.  I'm pregnant so was worth its weight in gold but I think we are going to invest in a caravan for next year.  £1000 and will get used for unlimited festivals.

tbh though I'd have paid the £800 just for a loo at night this year so was worth it for us, although very expensive.  

We were in the family campervan field (east) and were no more than 5 mins walk from the hill of death, at the pyramid stage in about 15 mins from the campervan door.  Definitely couldn't argue with the location

[davelucs]

Just got a quote for a 4 berth. £1250!!!!!
Think i'll give it a miss.

[grumpyhack]

jeanettekaren, on 09 August 2010 - 08:01 AM, said:

We were in the family campervan field (east) and were no more than 5 mins walk from the hill of death, at the pyramid stage in about 15 mins from the campervan door.  Definitely couldn't argue with the location

We were in the same field.  Best location I've ever had at Glasto.  Trailer tent this year, which has loads of space but thinking about buying a cheapo caravan for festivals next year.

[souldancer]

fuzzylogic, on 07 August 2010 - 11:39 PM, said:

Has anyone hired a campervan before for the festival? Where from and How much did you pay?

We hired one this year from a place in Newton Abbot, the motorhome was kept in Ashburton so we went to see it aswell before we used it. The company was motorhome-hire.uk.com. We booked it just under a year in advance so he gave us an early booking fee with 10% off. We paid £645 for a 6 berth for a week which was very good we thought.
I think you need to book really early and just hope you get tickets.

[Steve P]

My parents are thinking of buying a campervan, so I'm pretty interested in all this now. Could some of our friends pitch tents in the fields with us as well?
Are fires still allowed? (I assume not)
What is the atmosphere like? We're thinking of bringing our little one with us so wondering how quiet or otherwise the fields are.

[jeanettekaren]

You can have one tent next to / behind the van but there seemed to be a few people who had more than one so I don't know how strictly thats enforced.  We were in family camping because I was pregnant this year and it was really quiet, even in the mornings but considering it was family camping there weren't many kids around so I don't think this is strictly enforced either.

[jameshunt]

Steve P, on 06 September 2010 - 10:35 AM, said:

My parents are thinking of buying a campervan, so I'm pretty interested in all this now. Could some of our friends pitch tents in the fields with us as well?
Are fires still allowed? (I assume not)
What is the atmosphere like? We're thinking of bringing our little one with us so wondering how quiet or otherwise the fields are.

Fires are allowed only using something like a metal fire pit (and common sense).  But fires on the ground are not allowed.  The fields are generally fairly quiet, especially the Family camping one.   You are allowed one tent, but depending on how much space you have already taken up and the stewarding you may be able to get away with another.

[lwcollings]

Hi all,

A friend of mine has a small campervan hire company if you're interested: Free Wheeler Campers.

2 and 4-man vehicles - and each is a newly converted, high-top VW vans.

Think he's doing them for £75/day for the 2-man, £110 for the 4.

Give me a shout if you're interested; there's also loads of info on their site (www.freewheelercampers.com)

This year's going to be good, can't wait!

Laurence