Park & Walk East to West

[LaurieB]

First timer.

Arriving early 5/6am Wednesday morning from the east side but would like to aim for Wicket Ground family camping.

Should we park on east side and walk across site or aim to cross over to west side and have a shorter walk? In other words is it a problem at that time to get from one side of festival site to the other in a car?

Thank you.

[KryziF]

Wicket ground doesn't fill up that quick. I'm assuming taking kids to Glastonbury comes with lots of stuff so you'd probably appreciate the shorter walk from gate A and the west car parks.

You can see wicket ground in this photo, taken at 11am last year. We were in lime kiln and wicket ground is below the road with lots of space still. We parked in the west car parks at 8am and queued for two hours to get into gate A.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ndJqu9_Vgoo/VTe7pjXPdVI/AAAAAAAACog/-A6QY0o2r-k/w787-h443-no/2015%2B-%2B1

Edited April 22, 2015 by KryziF

[LaurieB]

Thank you for the info. I hope the weathers that good this year!

We're taking our 1 year old (gulp). So we'll have a good amount of 'stuff'.

I just didn't want to get stuck trying to get east side to west side in car. But will try get there super early.

[KryziF]

Obviously queues vary from year to year but you might actually be better getting there later.

Last year when we arrived at 8am the queue in the car was about half an hour but the queue on foot to get through the gates was about two hours.

They don't open the gates until 8 so if you arrive then or even slightly before you have to wait on foot behind the everyone who's been there all night. I've been told by people who arrived later last year that by lunchtime there was almost no queue to get through the gates.

They fill multiple car parks at once so arriving early doesnt guarantee you a closer parking space.

Since wicket ground doesn't fill up quickly you might be better aiming to arrive at 12ish and not queue to get through the gates, which I can't imagine would be fun with a one year old.

[LaurieB]

Thank you, I hadn't thought of it that way.

[glasto-worker]

First timer.

Arriving early 5/6am Wednesday morning from the east side but would like to aim for Wicket Ground family camping.

Should we park on east side and walk across site or aim to cross over to west side and have a shorter walk? In other words is it a problem at that time to get from one side of festival site to the other in a car?

Thank you.

sadly none of us can see into the future so what may or may not have happened in a previous year may or may not happen this year - roads that may have been quiet last year may or may not be quiet this year - its impossible to predict - the only thing that makes sense is to park nearest to where you wish to camp.What people forget is when you arrive ' you will have people going in all sorts of directions and they will be crossing your path from both directions so what may appear a short journey can take far longer than you were expecting so its crazy even thinking about trying to walk from the East Car park as you will soon regret it - sure if you park in the West Car Park you may not end up in the best spot for you but a baby can change things and can be the deciding factor as to if you are sent to a field in the distance or one that is much closer - the people doing the directing will not send you miles away as long as you make certain they are aware that you have a young child.

if you cant move everything in one go then make sure your tent is the first thing to be transported - once the tent is up this reduces the urgency.

I have seen people who thought it was a great idea to try and move everything together and then to be dumping stuff on the path when they have worked out they were never going to make it { mainly when its heavy going } - I am sure that some of them expect it to be like walking across a supermarket car park - see image below - You can just imagine the conversation - ' I have a great idea ' lets use a wheelie bin ' now that was fifty feet from Gate D and it had already lost its right hand wheel - the way that was wobbling about I doubt if they even reached the end of that field before the other wheel fell off - that will teach them - I bet he never used a wheelie bin again and you have to wonder how they got their stuff home { I bet most of it was dumped }

I live in London but the crew car park is on the west side but I was displaying a crew pass so it was easy for me to drive though Pilton - but there is lots of small roads that may or may not be blocked off and others have managed it in the past.

as you are new you should read http://www.glastoearth.com/the-faq sadly there was no such guide when I first started going in 1979 and in fact Pilton did not even appear on a Road map back then so it was a right shot in the dark.

[LaurieB]

Thankyou......we are quite sensible people, even if we are taking a 1 year old. But she is used to walking (being carried or pushed) for miles as we walk a lot in fields (dog).....

I'll work out the best route to get to the west side, as least it gives us a chance to walk less even if things don't always work out as planned.

I won't take our wheelie bin!

[glasto-worker]

I was not even thinking about your kid walking.

Trust me if its been raining for weeks by the time the site is open its well cut up { due to the amount of vehicles that work on the site } and with other people about getting from east to west or vice versa can take a good 90 minuets on foot as its a long old slog even for fit 20 year olds { who are on my team } as the ground is clay so its like walking on Quicksand - it slows everything a way down - sure they have metal tracks ' at places ' but they don't stretch everywhere - sure people will claim it will be nice and dry - well this will be my 30th Glastonbury and very few have ever been nice and dry { going back what will be 36 years } - sure we all hope it will be fine but we can never be certain.

[jamesrfisher]

I would aim to arrive on the west side. Where are you coming from? If you aim to come through Glastonbury town you would not be diverted, may need to take a detour to get there but it is worth it. If coming from south east area as we do try this

Take A303

At roundabout of A303/A37 which is signposted to A37 for the festival, take the exit before the A37 which is the A372.

Take 1^st exit off this, B3151 signposted to Somerton

Carry on this road following signs to Street

At Street take A39 to Glastonbury.

[cham08]

Thank you for the info. I hope the weathers that good this year!

We're taking our 1 year old (gulp). So we'll have a good amount of 'stuff'.

I just didn't want to get stuck trying to get east side to west side in car. But will try get there super early.

We are heading for Wickets as well this year for the first time and planning on arriving at 11am-midday. Last few years arriving at that time there have been no queues on the roads or the gates.

We first took our son in 2013 as an 8 month old. We stayed in the tipi's with friends but arrived at midday. We made the error of trying to take everything with us in one trip. Took a lot longer than we expected (we were parked miles from the gate too), it was hot in the midday sun and the boy wanted feeding. All of this added up to a fairly stressful experience - until we got to the first bar to sit down, hydrate and sort the boy out.

So my advice would be to take the family in with the tent and a few essentials for them. Pitch up - make sure they are ok, have everything they need, have a beer and then go back to the car for everything else. It may take a bit longer but I can guarantee it will be a lot more chilled out.

We camped in Baileys last year which was fine.

But this year none of our friends we normally go with could come for one reason or another so we thought we would try Wickets out so we may see you there in a few months.

[LaurieB]

Thankyou for all of the advice.

We are staying local near shepton mallet on the Tuesday evening. Is it possible to take a361 westbound from there and get to the west side car park (it's hard to tell from the site map)?

[KryziF]

No they usually put traffic restrictions on that road so you can't go that way. But they can be flexible in when the traffic restrictions apply if it's quiet. Some people have said that they have just asked how to get to the west car parks in the past and been directed that way.

Alternatively from Shelton mallet you could head to wells and then down to Glastonbury and in from the west that way. There shouldn't be any restrictions on that route.

[jamesrfisher]

We camped in Baileys last year which was fine.

What time did you get there?

Normally camp in Baileys (08-13) but last year were in Worthy View but back inside this year.

Have noticed Baileys getting busier year on year. Wondering how much room was left midday on the Wednesday, needing space for 2 large tents.

[glasto-worker]

Thankyou for all of the advice.

We are staying local near shepton mallet on the Tuesday evening. Is it possible to take a361 westbound from there and get to the west side car park (it's hard to tell from the site map)?

No they usually put traffic restrictions on that road so you can't go that way. But they can be flexible in when the traffic restrictions apply if it's quiet. Some people have said that they have just asked how to get to the west car parks in the past and been directed that way.

Alternatively from Shelton mallet you could head to wells and then down to Glastonbury and in from the west that way. There shouldn't be any restrictions on that route.

KryziF is correct as the odds are they will direct you to east car park unless you display a crew pass { or a local pass } - there is all sorts of local roads - you only have to head West for about three miles and then head down.

what tends to happen is they will have large signs saying ' No Festival Access ' which may or may not be true - they don't have Tank traps up - the worst that can happen is you have to turn round and try the next road.

[cham08]

What time did you get there?

Normally camp in Baileys (08-13) but last year were in Worthy View but back inside this year.

Have noticed Baileys getting busier year on year. Wondering how much room was left midday on the Wednesday, needing space for 2 large tents.

We arrived at ashcombe park and ride car park at about midday. So would have been 12.45 ish by the time we were setting up camp. Was still quite a bit of space - we had one big tent, one standard tent and one small tent and had no problem finding a space.

[jamesrfisher]

Thanks for that

[Bonedaddy]

We're taking our 1 year old (gulp).

Jeez! Good luck!!

[KryziF]

KryziF is correct as the odds are they will direct you to east car park unless you display a crew pass { or a local pass } - there is all sorts of local roads - you only have to head West for about three miles and then head down.

what tends to happen is they will have large signs saying ' No Festival Access ' which may or may not be true - they don't have Tank traps up - the worst that can happen is you have to turn round and try the next road.

If it helps I made this Google map last year showing where all the restrictions are.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zc7msGXvfoZk.k02z-Lz3QqjE

Red dot is road closed at that point. Other coloured doors and stars mean some sort of restriction (one way or no turn). The coloured lines are roads that become one way. Last year I knew what the colours meant but can't remember any more.

[glasto-worker]

If it helps I made this Google map last year showing where all the restrictions are.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zc7msGXvfoZk.k02z-Lz3QqjE

Red dot is road closed at that point. Other coloured doors and stars mean some sort of restriction (one way or no turn). The coloured lines are roads that become one way. Last year I knew what the colours meant but can't remember any more.

that is a very interesting map { must have taken you ages }

that B3136 I have used before but I was displaying a crew pass and that switches to a one way road on the Monday - very handy as I preferred to come down via Bath so avoiding the A303.

where it meets the A361 I was able to turn right but people who did not have a crew pass had to turn left.

[KryziF]

Having posted earlier I checked and they've released details for this year so have updated it at lunch time this time with sensible symbols.

It did say that all of the closures are subject to a list of exemptions eg local access, crew passes, buses etc.