Monday morning coach

[defrio29]

So my return coach to Bristol is at 10:30, I need to get on a train from the Bristol Temple Meads at 12:30, do you guys know how long it will take for the 10:30 coach to reach Bristol? Can I make it on time? Will there be any absurd traffic? Or, is it possible if I hop on the earlier coach? (There's gonna be 5 people in my group)

[incident]

It depends a bit on what bus/coach you're getting to Bristol, but those times would be pretty tight even without factoring in the extra Glastonbury traffic delays. On a totally empty road, the coach would take about an hour to get to Bristol, and then you may need to allow extra time to get to Temple Meads depending on which bus/coach service you're using:

- The Festival Shuttle (service GF3) goes direct to Temple Meads
- National Express go to the main Bus Station which is about 30 minutes walk or bus away from TM.
- Seetickets Coaches I'm not sure about but I don't think it's either of the above.

On the Monday after Glastonbury, you're 99% certain to miss your train with those times. Probably by at least an hour and maybe a lot more, it won't even be close. My suggestion would be to catch the Festival Shuttle direct to Temple Meads for £15 a head. Leave the site around 8am and you'll most likely be OK, any later than that will be a risk - traffic really increases dramatically around 8-9 so while it might be a 90 minute journey leaving at 8am, that could easily double for people leaving an hour later.

[gaxsa]

I would agree that the timeframe is extremely tight, I would think it would more sensible to get a  bus to castle cary and get a train drect to temple meads.

[clarkete]

How serious are the consequences if you miss the train?

@incident sounds like a good idea to me, allow 4 1/2 hours to get there is a much better margin and it's still only a one hop journey so even significant delays would be ok.

Can't the rest of the group cut you loose and have a nice lie in?    

[Starchild771]

Are you going on a Seetickets coach? We got on an earlier one last year as not many people managed to get up in time and the coach was half empty. It's normally chaos Monday morning so there's a good chance they will let you on an earlier coach (although no guarantees)

[JoeyT]

What is it like being on one of the coaches on a Monday following the festival?

In my imagination it's the definition of hell itself.

52 agitated, smelly & hungover people within a combined space.

[Mezhyp1]

2 hours ago, JoeyT said:

What is it like being on one of the coaches on a Monday following the festival?

In my imagination it's the definition of hell itself.

52 agitated, smelly & hungover people within a combined space.

Try that for 10 or so hours back to Glasgow, and you've pretty much got hell on earth 

[richy24]

2 hours ago, JoeyT said:

What is it like being on one of the coaches on a Monday following the festival?

In my imagination it's the definition of hell itself.

52 agitated, smelly & hungover people within a combined space.

Very quiet to be honest! Im usually asleep so dont know much more than that!

 

Apart from 2013 when it took 7 hours to get back to London and fella behind me (who obviously hadn't been to bed yet) decided to recount his entire Glastonbury experience to the stranger next to him and anyone within earshot for the whole journey. Fair to say my Glastonbury spirit had run dry by this point.

Edited May 12, 2016 by richy24

[Fishman]

I'm fairly sure there are lots of See Coaches to Bristol, if that's what you're on. They do not check ticket times (and even tickets very often) so you can just turn up a couple of hours earlier and jump on. Also, far less site traffic leaving at 8:30 than 10:30, so no stressing.

Otherwise, as @incident says, Temple Meads Shuttle Bus for the extra cash.

[richy24]

If the Bristol coaches are anything like the London coaches you should be fine getting there a couple of hours early. Lets just say they are not exactly strict when it comes to checking ticket times. Some people will be late, some will be early - it all seems to even itself over the course of the morning!

Edited May 12, 2016 by richy24

[White Bear]

1 hour ago, Mezhyp1 said:

Try that for 10 or so hours back to Glasgow, and you've pretty much got hell on earth 

Imagine hell, but the air conditioning being broken. That was us on the way back to Glasgow last year.
The only source of ventilation was from the bastarding bus driver living like a king up front with is window down. 

[Mezhyp1]

7 minutes ago, White Bear said:

Imagine hell, but the air conditioning being broken. That was us on the way back to Glasgow last year.
The only source of ventilation was from the bastarding bus driver living like a king up front with is window down. 

Fuck sake, I don't want to experience that. I slept the majority of the way home last year. Was that national express? 

[Starchild771]

The past three times we've never had our times checked and just got on the earliest coach available - they just want to clear everyone as fast as possible.

As for the journey back - one trip was a bit stuffy due to a full coach and lack of air-conditioning (but nobody really cared as everyone was so exhausted), and the other trip was really pleasant due the bus being really empty.

[stixmcvix]

Anyone know what time the first See Coach out of the day is (back to London)?

[defrio29]

Thanks everyone, for the festival shuttle can I pay as I get on the shuttle in monday morning or do I have to buy tickets first?

[thenavyone]

I have 2 seats on the 8:30am bus back to Bristol with see that I won't be using

[VisionOfLove]

If people are just getting on any old coach wouldn't it be the case that one could turn up at the correct time only to find the coach is full despite them being on time for the correct coach they've paid for? I got national express last year home to Manchester and they was checking tickets pretty strictly for the 12pm coach. Although I did hear them saying to someone if there are spaces they might be let on..

[Beerqueen]

Wish I knew what coach I've been allocated - don't even know what time I'm going yet, let alone what time I'm coming back!