Belfast to Glastonbury

[Hutchmaster]

Hey all!

I was wondering if there were any fellow Belfast folk on the forum who attends Glastonbury? This will be my first time heading the farm via Belfast so any advice would be appreciated! I'm guessing best bet is fly to Bristol and make my way from there somehow? How do you manage flying over with camping kit etc.? Is it easier/worth raiding Bristol City Centre for the bulkier stuff to save on luggage fees at the airport on the way there at least? I'm accustomed to getting the coach so it was a lot easier in that regard! 

[drkevinb]

Hi John. I always fly BA Belfast City Airport to Heathrow, meet a London-based mate and hire a car at Heathrow, driving through Tuesday night to be in the queue for gates opening Weds morning. We do a food/cider shop in a 24hr Tesco in Basingstoke on the way past. Works well. I never have a problem carrying everything by rucksack and staying under the airline 23kg luggage limit (including chair, bed, tent, clothes etc etc). It’s all down to realistic packing for a week. It’s a pain having to stop to buy any camping gear – just live within your 23kg and you can pick up camping essentials onsite! The food/beer is the issue and the hire car makes a shop doable, but t’would be expensive if you’re travelling alone to Bristol. If you’re not planning to bring your own food & beverages, just fly to Bristol (presumably Belfast Intl with Easyjet?) and train/coach directly to the farm. Have a good one!

[gherkin8r]

I've been from blefast 2 or 3 times of the 6 festivals I've attended and will be doing so again this year. Fly to Bristol and then get the national express coach or a taxi down in the past. Taxi this year due to availability of coaches around flight times. We are flying from and back to Dublin as the Belfast flights were a small fortune when I looked. 

We normally order camping gear to collect at the festival from cosy camper and return to them or donate them to the charities collecting unwanted camping gear when the option is there. 

 

Link for cosy camper below

https://www.cosycamper.co.uk/?post_type=festival&p=23

I have booked the national express coach to the airport on Monday then to escape. 

[gherkin8r]

I'd imagine that a taxi to the festival wouldn't be an option for arriving on Wednesday. We are Thursday arrivals these days as we wil be leaving our 5 and 6 year olds with grand parents.

[Hutchmaster]

Thanks for the advice guys, didn't even know about Cosy Camper! You're not wrong, the Belfast to Bristol flights are beyond ridiculous at the minute?

Edited February 20, 2019 by Johnkhutch

[NI6789]

I'm going to Glastonbury for my first time this year ? I'll be coming from Belfast too but no idea how or when yet. We have booked a scout tent in in worthy view so we don't need to worry about tents.

How long before a flight would you recommend leaving to account for traffic also leaving the festival? Thanks! 

[gherkin8r]

8 hours ago, Johnkhutch said:

Thanks for the advice guys, didn't even know about Cosy Camper! You're not wrong, the Belfast to Bristol flights are beyond ridiculous at the minute?

I was going to wait and see if they put on further flights but didn't want to risk the Dublin ones going up in price. My best mate works all over the North and South and does a lot of driving and said he would drop us off and pick us up so was a no brainer. Think the early flight to Bristol and then the late afternoon flight back to Belfast was working out £250 each or something mad. 

 

58 minutes ago, NI6789 said:

I'm going to Glastonbury for my first time this year ? I'll be coming from Belfast too but no idea how or when yet. We have booked a scout tent in in worthy view so we don't need to worry about tents.

How long before a flight would you recommend leaving to account for traffic also leaving the festival? Thanks! 

If its your first time I'd get over as early as possible and get in and pitched first thing on Wednesday if you can. Will give you plenty of time to explore the site and get your bearings etc. We used to fly over the Tuesday and then drive down as the car parks open at 9pm on the tuesday night. Depending on conditions and other factors you could spend all day travelling on Wednesday and not get on site until Wednesday night. What time you need to leave at and how far ahead of your flight will depend on what time the flight is at and how you are planning on getting to the airport. There are national express coaches that go direct from the festival to the airport if you use glastonbury festival as your departure point on the below link. 

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

[Peter_Quaife]

11 hours ago, Johnkhutch said:

Thanks for the advice guys, didn't even know about Cosy Camper! You're not wrong, the Belfast to Bristol flights are beyond ridiculous at the minute?

Very dear got! We're (if successful in the resale) now thinking of flying from George Best to Southampton and trying to move our campervan pickup to Southampton. All absolutely up in the air though until the end of April! You must be buzzing atm

[donthaveacoolname]

I've travelled with a gang (who i meet on here) from Belarus one year and we took the ferry to Liverpool and drove down from there..... you could also look at a sail and rail..... i use that from Dublin and i works well (but is quite long)  rather than flying with all my kit