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First Time Driving


McCor
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36 minutes ago, Junglist1981 said:

If you're not too bothered about getting into one of the popular campsites then have a lie in and leave at 11 or 12. You'll hardly queue at all for car park or gate and you'll be in the festival with tent up in no time ready to have a wonder and enjoy the afternoon.

Also resist the temptation to drive home on Sunday night, get a few hours sleep at least. I speak from experience having fallen asleep at the wheel before, was very very scary. Almost ended up in a ditch. You're much better off getting up at 5am to beat the traffic than trying to do it the night before after a long day of festivaling.

 

 

I'm aiming for Wicket Ground with the wife and baby for the first time. Normally, we'd aim to get to the site for 6am Wed, with the usual chaos of getting in and pitched.

This year, we're just going to have a lie-in, get a nice breakfast and try and get to the site for 11-ish (as close to Gate A as we can). I guess by that time it's far less mental? (let's ignore last year, that was nuts anyway!).

We're driving back to Scotland, but we get a hotel for Sun night about 2 hours up the road. 

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40 minutes ago, McCor said:

Ideally we'd like to camp in Darble again, so will want enter on the West side. Presumably follow the route from Swindon?

My tip (from many years of driving from that direction) is to go M4 across to the M5 then go south to J23 and off onto the A39 and across..... I realise it seems a bit arse about face, but you are on fast roads for most of it and end up approaching from the right direction for the West car parks.  

happy to be corrected by someone with more local knowledge

 

edit: i see this response has already been rejected... it might be long, but it is quick and guarantees the west carpark

Edited by Kay95
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8 minutes ago, Junglist1981 said:

That goes about 50 miles out of the way!

Just come down the A361 and follow it through Pilton, you'll be absolutely fine.

True, but I once tried that way and they kept trying to send me to the East car parks as they're the ones you'll come across first. Whilst my route is a bit longer, it's very simple and guarantees entry to the west car parks. 

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1 minute ago, Stu H said:

 

I'm aiming for Wicket Ground with the wife and baby for the first time. Normally, we'd aim to get to the site for 6am Wed, with the usual chaos of getting in and pitched.

This year, we're just going to have a lie-in, get a nice breakfast and try and get to the site for 11-ish (as close to Gate A as we can). I guess by that time it's far less mental? (let's ignore last year, that was nuts anyway!).

We're driving back to Scotland, but we get a hotel for Sun night about 2 hours up the road. 

We used to come down first thing too, but once we started camping in Darble we realised there wasn't much point of getting up super early and queueing as there's always plenty of room to camp. Still get in and set up with plenty of day left.

We normally to get there about 2 and there's very little traffic at all, we've even driven straight into a the car park before. Not sure how it is at 11 though.

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4 minutes ago, kingjamma said:

True, but I once tried that way and they kept trying to send me to the East car parks as they're the ones you'll come across first. Whilst my route is a bit longer, it's very simple and guarantees entry to the west car parks. 

Hey if it works for you I'm not knocking it! But that's a long old detour. And the traffic through Street and Glastonbury can be awful!

We come down from Stroud through Bath and then Shepton Mallet, always end up parked near gate A.

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14 minutes ago, Junglist1981 said:

Hey if it works for you I'm not knocking it! But that's a long old detour. And the traffic through Street and Glastonbury can be awful!

We come down from Stroud through Bath and then Shepton Mallet, always end up parked near gate A.

Yeah it was more of an easier drive choice than distance, once off the M5 it's basically just a straight road to follow. Luckily I always arrived early enough to avoid any bad traffic, so wouldn't really know what it's like in and around gates opening. 

Yeah that's another route I've done before heading to the East as going through Shepton Mallet you have a choice for one way East and the other West. I just remember the other route as being the easiest and less hassle, albeit longer.  

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2 hours ago, p.pete said:

1. Yes

2. B, or C if you drive past B routes

How do I miss the B routes and hit C? 

We got C the first year and got so lucky with queue time. Went in the same entrance the last 4 years and got B and it's been such a longer queue and the "hill of death".

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1 minute ago, Dan190984 said:

How do I miss the B routes and hit C? 

We got C the first year and got so lucky with queue time. Went in the same entrance the last 4 years and got B and it's been such a longer queue and the "hill of death".

C should have hill of death - after you've marched through the campervan fields...

Re which car route - I've never really noticed them aggressively directing all traffic into the first gate you pass on that road - we've driven past some routes intentionally some years and accidentally other years.  If you're really want to influence it you can hold off putting on your car sticker until you're at the gate you want.  

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We've driven down the last 5 years and wouldn't go back to public transport unless we had to. The convenience of arriving and leaving when you want and stopping along the way when you want is great, plus you get to blast out the playlist and sing along on the way. We've normally driven down Tuesday night and queued overnight but this year decided not to do that. We have a air bnb booked in Glastonbury for Tuesday night so will have a bite to eat and a few drinks in Glastonbury then a decent nights sleep and get up when we want and drive down. Will probably aim to get onsite around midday so hopefully the queues will have gone by then.

We have left around 10-11am Monday morning every year and drive up to Bath and stay in a hotel overnight then make the long drive home on the Tuesday nice and refreshed. Also doing all this makes our holiday nearly a week rather than 5 days

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5 minutes ago, p.pete said:

C should have hill of death - after you've marched through the campervan fields...

Re which car route - I've never really noticed them aggressively directing all traffic into the first gate you pass on that road - we've driven past some routes intentionally some years and accidentally other years.  If you're really want to influence it you can hold off putting on your car sticker until you're at the gate you want.  

Just checked on google maps and looks like we are going in the right way for C but prob getting there too early (if there can be such a thing) and ending up in the early car parks nearer B. 

If that happens this year is it possible to walk the extra to C or will the stewards stop that?

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There will be a lot more enforced road closures this year, together with closed laybyes and clear ways.  

The organisers are under a lot of pressure from licensing committees, locals and police to ensure the same chaos does not happen after last year.  

Will try and find closure information and post in a new topic so people are aware.  

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1 minute ago, Mr Splodge said:

There will be a lot more enforced road closures this year, together with closed laybyes and clear ways.  

The organisers are under a lot of pressure from licensing committees, locals and police to ensure the same chaos does not happen after last year.  

Will try and find closure information and post in a new topic so people are aware.  

 

13 minutes ago, Stu H said:

look no further...

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unless you're desperate to get into a packed campsite, I wouldn't bother geting down early and queuing, have a decent kip, arrive at 11am and walk straight in, you'll feel much better for it.

on the way back, either stop drinking on Sunday evening and try get out the next morning before 9am, or have a lie-in and leave after lunch.

I've done festivals by public transport and I far prefer going by car. much more convenient, cheaper, and less stress.

Edited by ghostdancer1
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16 minutes ago, Stu H said:

 

2 minutes ago, p.pete said:

 

look no further...

Blimey, think I'll just follow the road signs rather than try and read and remember all them many words :D

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10 minutes ago, p.pete said:

Ha, great news - glad we've been able to help :P

Hahahaha! Thanks for all the advice though guys!!!! I just find getting the coach a lot easier, zero planning needed (apart from obtaining tickets!), and dropped at the gate. Kip on the way home always helps!!!

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Forgot to say in earlier post I use the mobile app 'Waze' which I think is brilliant as it's basically a free sat nav with the added bonus of other users notifying you of issues ahead and vice versa. I use this almost daily for work and can't fault it. It shows speed cameras, speed traps etc as well as updating your arrival time if traffic is building up ahead for whatever reason and giving you the option to divert.

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In terms of routes, the easiest is definitely coming in directly from Dorset to the South. We took to having a B&B somewhere like Charmouth or Lyme Regis the night before - then about 40 minutes door to door because there's so many fewer people coming in from that direction!

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Drive from Oxford each year too.

This year for the first time i'm driving Tuesday afternoon and staying at Yeovil Podimore Travelodge at the junction of the A303/A37 to get a few extra hours in bed and then heading to site, usually end up going through Ped gate B or C.

Good route is drive down the A34 to Andover then get on the A303 via Stonehenge and then up the A37. 

 

:)

 

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