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Best area to camp in?


JaiCrispy37
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Hey everyone!

This is my first venture down to Glastonbury at the grand age of 40, to say I'm a little bit excited is an understatement! I know this has probably been asked 1000 times before but can anyone of you experienced people enlighten me as to the best area to camp?

I'm coming down by coach on the Thursday and I'm aware that a lot of the more popular spots will be gone. I've narrowed it down to a few places (below) but I'm after any recommendations. I'd like a more chilled out area to camp in, somewhere I could get a little bit of sleep at least ( I am 40 after all! ) I 'm not to fussed about the walking distances to areas around the festival.

So my shortlist would be

Pylon Ground, Darble, Bushy Ground or Baileys.

Any advise would be great!

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I have camped in Darble several times and if you are happy to have a bit of a walk back to camp it will be fine for you.

Normally plenty of space left by Thursday and it is the first camping area you come to when you enter from the coach drop off so you don'rt need to lug those heavy cans very far. If you are travelling on your own it is also where Camp Solo normally bases itself.  Pylon is the next field in and will also be fine, can't comment on the other two.

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3 minutes ago, tjamest said:

I have camped in Darble several times and if you are happy to have a bit of a walk back to camp it will be fine for you.

Normally plenty of space left by Thursday and it is the first camping area you come to when you enter from the coach drop off so you don'rt need to lug those heavy cans very far. If you are travelling on your own it is also where Camp Solo normally bases itself.  Pylon is the next field in and will also be fine, can't comment on the other two.

Thanks, carrying everything was also a concern! I don't want to risk losing my Jack Daniels in transit!

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Once you step off the coach Darble and Pylon become very attractive propositions. They are the first two sites you come to and should have plenty of space, although Pylon is getting more popular. I have camped in Pylon when coming by coach and have found it to be perfectly fine. It is located well for the JP, Silver Hayes, Pyramid and Other. If you finish you day/night/morning in the SE Corner then it is a bit of schlep back, but I've quite enjoyed my early morning strolls through a quiet Glastonbury to get back to Pylon.

It's a nice friendly field and if you want a good night's kip you can get one.

Baileys and South Park look good too, but it is reasonable slog from the coach station to both.

Welcome to the Glastonbury Festival Family  you will love it!

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3 hours ago, JaiCrispy37 said:

Thanks everyone, I think Pylon is my first choice now. The thought of marching a long distance with all my kit is soul destroying!

it is soul destroying , hard sweaty work, lugging your shit in (at least you are not coming from the car park and have to face the hill of death) if it's hot you feel like giving up and going home. don;t succumb to that feeling keep going.  it make sit so much better when you get your tent up and crack open a warm beer,...... there is no feeling like it

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You need to weigh-up (ha!) how far you want to walk in (and out) with your gear against how far away from late night shenanigans you can cope with being. Pretty much all of the western suburbs will have space. If you can get as far as Backhouse (next to Baileys) you'll have space, fresh grass (even in muddy years) and quiet. It only gets opened on Thursday and is hidden by hedges.

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On 1/16/2019 at 11:52 AM, JaiCrispy37 said:

Thanks everyone, I think Pylon is my first choice now. The thought of marching a long distance with all my kit is soul destroying!

Man up lol. Arriving by coach means you won't have the long haul from the car parks which can add up to 3/4mile or more just to get to the gate. You will probably have less gear too than those travelling by car. So you could consider walking  a bit further to other fields. This may be a necessary wise decision if the forecast is ?⛈ as the flatter fields have their own specific problems .....standing water and mud !?

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Best area to camp in doesn't really exist ... every area has its pros and cons ... but I guess the main things to look at would locate yourself near where you will be spending most of your time ... the site is massive so you should be doing a shit load of walking anyway ... my one major tip would be to make friends with your neighbours and maybe offer them a cider you will be next door for 5 days with just a very thin layer of tent between you . Especially if its me :) 

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Crazyfool1 has got it dead right, particularly the make friends with your neighbours.  You can keep an eye on their tent and they do the same for you.  As for where to camp, I always favoured Big Ground as it was on the right side for the Acoustic, where I spent most of my time.  If you are more a John Peel goer head for somewhere on the west.  Think mainly about the last place you are likely to end up at night for the trudge home.  Wherever you camp make a note of the location relative to fixed objects like lights, pylons and toilets.  No point thinking "It's next to that big blue tent" because when you return you'll find hundreds of other big blue tents all around.

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1 hour ago, Bags73 said:

Hitchen Hill or Lime Kiln always stay dry and don't seem to fill up that quickly.   They're also less noisy than Penards.  

It's a bit of a walk to get there but you're very near John Peel and Pyramid.  

Shush  ?

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On 1/15/2019 at 1:31 PM, JaiCrispy37 said:

Thanks, carrying everything was also a concern! I don't want to risk losing my Jack Daniels in transit!

Have a great 1st Glastonbury!

FYI - make sure you have decanted your JD into a plastic bottle as glass is not allowed onsite and if your bags get randomly checked when going in, your JD will be confiscated...! 

 

 

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As you're coming by coach I'd recommend Darble - I camped there in 2017 and came by coach and will be repeating this in June. You might be up for trudging miles to a campsite on Thursday when you're fresh and full of adrenaline but Darble has the great advantage of a really short distance to lug your stuff on Monday morning.

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1 hour ago, Losing my hair said:

As you're coming by coach I'd recommend Darble - I camped there in 2017 and came by coach and will be repeating this in June. You might be up for trudging miles to a campsite on Thursday when you're fresh and full of adrenaline but Darble has the great advantage of a really short distance to lug your stuff on Monday morning.

This. Particularly if you're coming on your own - so having to lug all your own stuff. I had to camp in Dairy Ground last time, and that was too bloody far as it was!

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  • 2 weeks later...

It’s really all down to what you want .  Every site has its pros and cons. As the years pass we now prefer lime kiln and Hitchens hill.  Hell of a walk from the car park but a relatively peaceful area, close to pyramid, decent food outlets and we have always found our fellow campers to be really decent sorts. Also the long drops in the woods next  to jp  are well looked after. The views from the tent of the Tor in the morning are exhilarating 

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On 1/24/2019 at 11:05 AM, Bags73 said:

Hitchen Hill or Lime Kiln always stay dry and don't seem to fill up that quickly.   They're also less noisy than Penards.  

It's a bit of a walk to get there but you're very near John Peel and Pyramid.  

And you don’t need an alarm clock, there’s the bloke in the tractor shouting milky milky selling juice milk etc rather early in the morning 

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