The Coach - is it better than driving?

[russycarps]

I drove the last two years and my experience coming back last Monday means it's a definite no go this year. Is the train from Bath a relatively painless experience?

I cant speak for bath, but from london it was painless. Straight on the train at paddington, got a seat no problem without booking and once at castle cary straight on a bus and whisked to the festival.

On the way back it was straight on the bus at the festival to castle cary, then a 30min wait for the train, which again we got seats on.

I am doing it again this year. The drive home monday is deadly.

(that being said, some people have reported having nightmarish train journeys, I guess it's just pot luck)

Edited April 21, 2015 by russycarps

[jamiemaher]

I can only speak for London coaches but they segregate the times into different queues. It becomes a bit of a mad crush when they let people on, but it's just other people scheduled for that time. I assume other destinations are similar or have further spaced apart coaches.

Cheers. I'd be heading back to London Victoria so that's all good for me. As long as I can get onto my schedulled coach then I'm happy.

[trainwreck]

I cant speak for bath, but from london it was painless. Straight on the train at paddington, got a seat no problem without booking and once at castle cary straight on a bus and whisked to the festival.

On the way back it was straight on the bus at the festival to castle cary, then a 30min wait for the train, which again we got seats on.

I am doing it again this year. The drive home monday is deadly.

(that being said, some people have reported having nightmarish train journeys, I guess it's just pot luck)

Cheers!

[LEDZEP66]

I've got the train from London twice, the coach from Nottingham twice and driven 3 times from Nottingham and by far the best way is car.

The train was was good getting there apart from travelling across London on the tube in the morning rush hour but coming back was hard work. There seemed to be no idea about how many people they were letting on the trains so it was so squashed and loads of people having to stand all the way back or if you were lucky enough to have space sit on the floor. The coach takes longer but at least you know you get to sit down, the mandatory stops are annoying though. As people have been saying it is a bit of a free for all on getting onto the coaches on the way back and if it is raining you could be stood for hours getting drenched. The main benefit of both of these is of course drinking on the way there and no need for someone to go steady on the Sunday.

Driving is by far the best way to go for me though. You have so much flexibility on what to do. Since the weather has been nice the last few festivals we've gone down early and visited Glastonbury and gone up the Tor. You can take alot more stuff, we took 90 cans last year to save on money. The drive back is the only downside but we go to Bath and stay the night in a travelodge, costs £30 and have a couple of beers and a nice meal then drive the rest of the way on Tuesday. This makes my glastonbury festival a 7 day event.

[Thisismartell]

Usually we drive, but last year, we got Coach tickets from Bath in the resale out of sheer desperation. We live in Stevenage, so it wasn't ideal.

In the end my gf and I drove down to the site on the Tuesday with 3 friends who had regular tickets. She dropped me off in Shepton Mallet, where I settled down in a pub to watch the football, drove the car to the car park and left it there with our 3 friends and all our gear + booze (most importantly). I got a cab, picked her up in Pilton and then we went to Bath.

We stayed the Tuesday night in a Travelodge and had a nice morning in Bath on the Wednesday before getting the coach down. There was no traffic or queue at the gate. When we arrived at Dairy Ground, our friends had done 3 trips to the car and back to bring all the gear in, and put our tents up. I can only assume they were just really bored waiting for us.

So, in conclusion, the coach is great if you've got some very bored friends. We probably didn't deserve our green traveller privileges, though

[thurlow84]

Same. 2.15am from B'ham. First time I've gone by coach since I was in my 20s Looking forward to the much shorter walk to the gate than some of my car park experiences.

Im catching the same coach out of birmingham

[gooner1990]

Usually we drive, but last year, we got Coach tickets from Bath in the resale out of sheer desperation. We live in Stevenage, so it wasn't ideal.

In the end my gf and I drove down to the site on the Tuesday with 3 friends who had regular tickets. She dropped me off in Shepton Mallet, where I settled down in a pub to watch the football, drove the car to the car park and left it there with our 3 friends and all our gear + booze (most importantly). I got a cab, picked her up in Pilton and then we went to Bath.

We stayed the Tuesday night in a Travelodge and had a nice morning in Bath on the Wednesday before getting the coach down. There was no traffic or queue at the gate. When we arrived at Dairy Ground, our friends had done 3 trips to the car and back to bring all the gear in, and put our tents up. I can only assume they were just really bored waiting for us.

So, in conclusion, the coach is great if you've got some very bored friends. We probably didn't deserve our green traveller privileges, though

There is no way my mates would ever do that for me!!

[verrymerry]

Out of interest did people who booked a coach in October get an email with their coach time? I only got mine on Thursday so I don't think they've allocated yet

[Spindles]

Im catching the same coach out of birmingham

Cool, I shall be the shambles with bad hair. Can't miss me.

[The other Bellboy]

Out of interest did people who booked a coach in October get an email with their coach time? I only got mine on Thursday so I don't think they've allocated yet

We didn't get an email, but if we check our order on see tickets it tells us there. There is supposed to be an email once they have finalised the depature points, this email will also have (or serve as) the electronic caoch tickets

[Stokesy10]

Hi guys can someone tell me where I can find the coach departure times please? I'm sure I've seen them somewhere but can't find them!

[verrymerry]

We didn't get an email, but if we check our order on see tickets it tells us there. There is supposed to be an email once they have finalised the depature points, this email will also have (or serve as) the electronic caoch tickets

Thanks, I'll just keep checking. Hopefully we'll have an early coach there, but tnh anything is better than nothing

[Twisted Melon]

I have driven twice and last year I took the coach. I'm on the coach again this year. It's so much easier, the only difficulty being that you have to do a booze run on the Thursday but that's no real problem as loads of buses go to Shepton Mallet from gate A. If I was a passenger in a car then it might be different but driving back on the Monday is a real pain plus at that point all you want to do is sleep

[Winslow Leach]

I have driven twice and last year I took the coach. I'm on the coach again this year. It's so much easier, the only difficulty being that you have to do a booze run on the Thursday but that's no real problem as loads of buses go to Shepton Mallet from gate A. If I was a passenger in a car then it might be different but driving back on the Monday is a real pain plus at that point all you want to do is sleep

How long does a bus to Shepton Mallet take/how much is it?

[Perks]

I have driven twice and last year I took the coach. I'm on the coach again this year. It's so much easier, the only difficulty being that you have to do a booze run on the Thursday but that's no real problem as loads of buses go to Shepton Mallet from gate A. If I was a passenger in a car then it might be different but driving back on the Monday is a real pain plus at that point all you want to do is sleep

So do you leave the site after you've pitched up and go on a booze run to Shepton? How long does it take?

[Spindles]

That's a fair question. I don't know if I'd give up my time onsite to head out for booze, but I can see how that is a really sensible option considering that liquids are about the heaviest thing most of us bring to the festival and it would be a big help in lightening the load.

[verrymerry]

Each to their own but leaving the site to buy alcohol sounds like a colossal waste of festival time to me

[Lou1983]

Anyone been on the Glasgow bus before? Pretty sure it's overnight and I'll want to indulge in a few Vinos, will also help gettin a kip at some point, will be shit if they uphold the alcohol ban

[Winslow Leach]

Each to their own but leaving the site to buy alcohol sounds like a colossal waste of festival time to me

Sure it wastes time, but some of us are coming by coach and can't afford to be buying all our booze from the bars all weekend.

[Spindles]

Sure it wastes time, but some of us are coming by coach and can't afford to be buying all our booze from the bars all weekend.

Indeed, and if you and a mate or two decided to pop out and grab a case or 2 each, you'd still be in the festival mode I guess.

[Cieran]

I have to get the train as I'm volunteering so I'm required on site on the Monday. Only way I can get to Castle Cary is to go through London, so that means getting a tube which I am really not looking forward to with all the stuff i'm bringing

Each to their own but leaving the site to buy alcohol sounds like a colossal waste of festival time to me

I'm going probably gonna go over to a near by super market on the Tuesday, not a chance I'm gonna be able to bring much alcohol with me, due to the above

Edited April 22, 2015 by Cieran

[Northernsoul45]

_{I salute all those braving a bus trip to Glastonbury.}

_{would drive me insane stuck on a bus for that length of time (either side of the festival) for the journey time down from Scotland.}

_{I remember going on bus to donnington to see metallica in '95 from glasgow...horrible journey on the way home, and that's a good few hours easier than Glastonbury!}

Edited April 22, 2015 by Northernsoul45

[Twisted Melon]

We pitch up Wednesday with enough booze for a day/night then on Thursday take an empty rucksack each to put in all the booze we need to buy in Shepton Mallet and head back to gate A. It does take up about 2-4 hours from start to finish and if I remember right the bus is about 5 quid. I'd take that over having to buy all the booze at the festival bars though. I know it wouldn't be everyone's choice but worked out quite well for us.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Twisted Melon

[Perks]

Ah I see, was just curious as to how long it took you. Fair play. I am hoping some pals of mine who are driving will bring our booze, so lucky there, as really couldn't afford to buy on site for 5 days.

[Becks12]

So do you leave the site after you've pitched up and go on a booze run to Shepton? How long does it take?

There was a bus from Gate A last year that went straight to Tesco. Think it was £2 each way. A round trip took a couple of hours maybe, alot of that was waiting for the bus back.