castle cary to the festival, on the wednesday morning

[nicktrow]

Just tried to book a single from castle cary to London on the monday, and they're 96 euro for the peak time!

They are coming up as £38.50 each for a one way ticket to Paddington from Castle Cary on the Monday. And that is for almost all the trains all day.

[coma girl]

Just tried to book a single from castle cary to London on the monday, and they're 96 euro for the peak time!

Anyone know of any cheap rail sites?

Is that for an advance ticket? Until advance tickets go on sale they'll just charge you the max price for a single. I was only able to get a cheap advance for the 22nd of June last Saturday so advances for the Monday may not be available yet.

Trainline allows you to set up an alert that will email you when advance tickets for your chosen journey go on sale, I wouldn't buy off them though as they charge card fees which other sites won't.

[eoinca]

They are coming up as £38.50 each for a one way ticket to Paddington from Castle Cary on the Monday. And that is for almost all the trains all day.

The early morning ones are 96.50. We have to be back in London to get a flight, so can't wait too late.

[eoinca]

Is that for an advance ticket? Until advance tickets go on sale they'll just charge you the max price for a single. I was only able to get a cheap advance for the 22nd of June last Saturday so advances for the Monday may not be available yet.

Trainline allows you to set up an alert that will email you when advance tickets for your chosen journey go on sale, I wouldn't buy off them though as they charge card fees which other sites won't.

I tried a few different sites and they're all showing the same.

[coma girl]

Train tics are released at staggered dates by the train operators so in theory all the 3rd party sites will get the cheap tickets on the same day. Just wouldn't want you to pay nearly a hundred then find out that the cheap tickets are released tomorrow. National rail sit has a list of how far in advance each operator is selling tickets.

[eoinca]

Thanks Coma Girl, I'll check ti ouy.

[coma girl]

No worries, hope you manage to find a better deal. The tickets I bought were showing at the full price of £60 last week and I was checking daily for the advance tickets, they were released on Saturday so only stung me £15 in the end.

[nicktrow]

The early morning ones are 96.50. We have to be back in London to get a flight, so can't wait too late.

If you are going straight to whichever airport, look at http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx for coaches from Glastonbury (Festival) to the airport. Might be a better option for you if you have a deadline and need to be on a specific service.

[mr gumby]

Bloody glad i live a bit closer than some. My train to Castle Cary is £4.90 each way. Just got to decide whether to get there at quarter to eight, or get up ultra early to arrive at 6.30ish.

[eoinca]

No worries, hope you manage to find a better deal. The tickets I bought were showing at the full price of £60 last week and I was checking daily for the advance tickets, they were released on Saturday so only stung me £15 in the end.

Turns out the advance tickets for the return journey aren't out yet, should be on sale next week.

Thanks coma girl!

[eoinca]

If you are going straight to whichever airport, look at http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx for coaches from Glastonbury (Festival) to the airport. Might be a better option for you if you have a deadline and need to be on a specific service.

Thanks for the tip, we're spending a few days in London before the festival though, and want to leave a suitcase in the left luggage in paddington to lighten our load.

[kalifire]

The train tickets/timetables for the festival are out this Friday 11th, according to First Great Western.

[Pbird81]

Is it possible to get on the advance train you book for when going back home on the Monday - imagine CC is crazy then....? Need to get a train down as can't leave London before Friday eve, but contemplating coach back to avoid chaos....

[Mr.Tease]

How strict are they about you being on your reserved train on the journey back? I've always been put off pre-booking my train ticket because it's hard to predict how long you'll be waiting for the shuttle bus back to castle cary- do they make you buy a new full priced train ticket if you miss your booked train, or are they reasonably understanding?

Edited April 20, 2014 by Mr.Tease

[eoinca]

How strict are they about you being on your reserved train on the journey back? I've always been put off pre-booking my train ticket because it's hard to predict how long you'll be waiting for the shuttle bus back to castle cary- do they make you buy a new full priced train ticket if you miss your booked train, or are they reasonably understanding?

They charge you full cost to change your ticket. Make sure you get there in plenty of time for the train you book.

[Mr.Tease]

They charge you full cost to change your ticket. Make sure you get there in plenty of time for the train you book.

Eek- I was hoping they'd be a bit understanding, as sometimes there are issues with the buses/coaches that can cause significant delays.

I was going to get a coach from glastonbury to Bristol, and then book a cheap train ticket from Bristol back up north, but I'm not sure whether to take the risk or not, as if the coach gets stuck in a jam, I'd be out of pocket.

[kalifire]

If you're unsure when you might leave the site, the trick is to get an open return on stretches of line that don't charge more for doing so. For example, Castle Cary to Bristol Temple Meads is a line that charges a consistent fixed rate on an Anytime Return, so it makes sense to get two tickets - a fixed one from Bristol to up t'north, and then a separate open return from Bristol to Castle Cary. This gives you the choice of any train from the festival rather then being tied down to a specific time, as long as you're in Bristol by the time your fixed train up north leaves.

[stardustjunkie]

I've never enjoyed travelling by train. I've done it twice, 2010 and 2011. 2010 was ridiculously hot as we all know and it made it a lot more unpleasant. We travelled from Hastings to Bournemouth then stayed overnight at a relatives, then did Bournemouth to Castle Cary on the Wednesday. On the Monday we did the whole journey in one. It cost about £50 in total because we went via the coast, if you're going in to London it will cost more. It's worth looking at any alternative routes if the cost is a bit much, routes going in to London are generally quicker but they're more expensive and busier.

When you get to Castle Cary I think it's a matter of luck, in 2010 we queued for a good hour if I remember correctly, the were giving out water bottles though so it wasn't too bad. By the time we got to the festival site we were exhausted from the heat and had to queue for about 20 minutes to get in. It wasn't an experience I'd like to relive but I guess it wasn't awful.

2011 it was wet and muddy but the whole thing seemed to go smoother, despite arriving around the same time as the previous year.

Last year we went by coach and despite the downside of limited luggage, it is amazing. We're doing the same this year, getting a coach from London at 3am and we'll be at the site for 7:30, straight to the gate, can sleep on the coach. Easy peasy. And it cost £55 for a return I believe.

[nicktrow]

getting a coach from London at 3am and we'll be at the site for 7:30, straight to the gate, can sleep on the coach. Easy peasy.

I don't think there will be much sleep on the way to the festival.

On the way home though you can hear a pin drop.

[stardustjunkie]

I don't think there will be much sleep on the way to the festival.

On the way home though you can hear a pin drop.

It's 3am, I'll be asleep!

To be fair, I can sleep through a lot of things and in a lot of places. The only place I don't like sleeping is on a train because I worry I'll miss my stop or someone will steal my stuff.

[mungo57]

We had a right mare of a time when we did this in 2009 I believe it was.

The GF's dad dropped me and the GF down to CC Station at about 2am on Weds (he couldnt get off work for some reason and he didn't arrive until just before the Specials on Friday!) as that was the only time he could drop us down there.

Spent until 7am on our own when a few early arrivals came. They plonked their stuff down and waited with us and we got talking.

At about 08:45 the station car park was rammed and noone knew what time the first bus would arrive so I went to ask. I was gone 5 mins and came back to find the GF about halfway back along the queue. Turns out we had been queuing in the wrong place (noone told us) and she couldnt take the weight of our trolley so had to stay where she was when they moved the queue. The chaps at the front even told the station staff we had queue jumped when we tried to rejoin them!

So yeah, we got on a shuttle at about 11am and got on site just after 12 I think, that was the year we camped next to the pylon near Pyramid as we couldnt take the long trek any further than that and it was the first big field we came to after going through the ped gate. I hated that pitch! lol

Edited April 24, 2014 by mungo57

[kalifire]

That sounds like a bad start, mungo57.

One thing I read on an old thread from last year that concerned me a bit was that the shuttle bus will hang around waiting until enough people fill it up before leaving CC station and that it doesn't get full until at least a couple of trains arrive which can take you to mid-morning.

That didn't sound plausible to me, but does it ring true for anyone else? I'll be there first thing in the morning and the last thing I want is to be sat around waiting for more people to arrive so the shuttle can start moving!

[Mr.Tease]

That sounds like a bad start, mungo57.

One thing I read on an old thread from last year that concerned me a bit was that the shuttle bus will hang around waiting until enough people fill it up before leaving CC station and that it doesn't get full until at least a couple of trains arrive which can take you to mid-morning.

That didn't sound plausible to me, but does it ring true for anyone else? I'll be there first thing in the morning and the last thing I want is to be sat around waiting for more people to arrive so the shuttle can start moving!

That's nonsense!- Half of each bus is usually taken up with peoples rucksacks and tents- a train holds more than half a bus-worth of people! The organisers are very good- they want to transfer people ASAP so as not to build up a backlog at Castle Cary. Besides which train arrivals are pretty much constant anyways- by the time one train load have all got to the bus, the next trainload has arrived.

[rischbrit]

Or (yes I know it costs more) buy an open return then you're at least not aiming for one train case you miss the shuttle bus

[kalifire]

That's nonsense!- Half of each bus is usually taken up with peoples rucksacks and tents- a train holds more than half a bus-worth of people!

That's what I thought. Even the first train in (from Weymouth) must have at least half a bus-load of people, not to mention those who catch it locally without needing to get a train at all. There are two trains arriving before 6:45am so I'd hope the first shuttle would leave at 7am latest, getting to the site for around 7:30am ish?