Staying in town beforehand

[MetaKate]

I've never seen the Tor and all that good stuff, so this year I'm heading down Sunday morning and I'm going to spend a few days before the festival exploring the area, seeing the sites, etc. 

1st my plan is to get a taxi to site on Wednesday morning... I previously took the train and waiting for a shuttle at castle cary has been a bit of a shit show. 

From my understanding it seems like the taxi drops me off at Bath & West showgrounds.. what can I expect? Is it difficult to get there through festival traffic on the Wednesday morning coming from the west of the site? (I know it's on the East side) 

2nd I'm trying to fine tune my plans, so any suggestions or recommendations are welcome!

[HalfAnIdiot]

Not sure what kind of suggestions you are looking for but: After a walk up the Tor pop into the Rife's (Rifleman's Arms) for a pint and a flavour of Glastonbury town.

[marathonsteve]

The view from the Tor should be good and its free.

[incident]

2 hours ago, MetaKate said:

From my understanding it seems like the taxi drops me off at Bath & West showgrounds.. what can I expect? Is it difficult to get there through festival traffic on the Wednesday morning coming from the west of the site? (I know it's on the East side)

What time are you thinking of arriving at the Festival site? If it's overnight / very early morning then the road traffic should be OK but you might run into queues for the bus at B&W. There is an official Taxi Rank at Bronze Gate - though I don't know what the access rules are - I've got a suspicion it might not operate until after the Wednesday. I assume the local Taxi companies will know the specifics for 2019 far better than I do though especially when it gets to the week of the festival so could be worth checking with them when you arrive in the town.

Personally unless you're intent on camping in a specific hugely popular field I'd be inclined to wait until the dedicated shuttle bus service between Glastonbury Town and the Festival Bus Station starts running at 7am. Lets you sleep in a bit longer and is a lot less hassle than trying to organise Taxis and/or dealing with B&W.

[MetaKate]

47 minutes ago, incident said:

What time are you thinking of arriving at the Festival site? If it's overnight / very early morning then the road traffic should be OK but you might run into queues for the bus at B&W. There is an official Taxi Rank at Bronze Gate - though I don't know what the access rules are - I've got a suspicion it might not operate until after the Wednesday. I assume the local Taxi companies will know the specifics for 2019 far better than I do though especially when it gets to the week of the festival so could be worth checking with them when you arrive in the town.

Personally unless you're intent on camping in a specific hugely popular field I'd be inclined to wait until the dedicated shuttle bus service between Glastonbury Town and the Festival Bus Station starts running at 7am. Lets you sleep in a bit longer and is a lot less hassle than trying to organise Taxis and/or dealing with B&W.

Cheers, I didnt know there was a shuttle from Glastonbury town! Do you know if it drops at gate A?

[BlackZeppelin]

We do this each time we go to the festival. We stay at Pilgrims B and B in Glastonbury town and walk up the Tor evening before. Often a few people with guitars having a sing along up there.

In 2016 there was an amazing RAF fly by which actually flies below the Tor level over the valley.

Sometimes we have got up early for a sunrise on the Tor the morning before.

Brilliant way to start your festival.

We usually eat at the George and Pilgrim for the atmoshere rather than the food to be honest.

Taxi to the site about 15 quid from memory. Easy to get there and they have a few backstreet routes to avoid traffic.

[incident]

8 minutes ago, MetaKate said:

Cheers, I didnt know there was a shuttle from Glastonbury town! Do you know if it drops at gate A?

Yeah, it just goes to the regular festival coach station - https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/getting-here/by-bus/

[MetaKate]

38 minutes ago, BlackZeppelin said:

We do this each time we go to the festival. We stay at Pilgrims B and B in Glastonbury town and walk up the Tor evening before. Often a few people with guitars having a sing along up there.

In 2016 there was an amazing RAF fly by which actually flies below the Tor level over the valley.

Sometimes we have got up early for a sunrise on the Tor the morning before.

Brilliant way to start your festival.

We usually eat at the George and Pilgrim for the atmoshere rather than the food to be honest.

Taxi to the site about 15 quid from memory. Easy to get there and they have a few backstreet routes to avoid traffic.

Awesome, I might see you up at the tor the night before!

[westholtschic]

We always stay the weekend before at a campsite right under the tour. It’s a cracking way to start the festival.

http://glastonburycottagesandcaravanning.co.uk/

As volunteers we then go on site Monday morning to help set up the staff bar.

[Spindles]

10 years back I stayed at a local campsight and went up the Tor on the Tuesday afternoon and had some drinks in the town on the evening.  Was a nice experience, great to see the site off in the distance like the world's biggest funfair waiting to open and if you get up there early the mists rising to reveal a bright morning can be a spectacular sight (and by early I mean head up there about 4:30am, if it's been damp in the days before the mists can be truly spectacular and can take hours to reveal the full picture).

Heading down on the Tuesday morning this year, not early enough for the best it but still going to head up the Tor for an hour or two in the afternoon before making our way to the carparks to get some shut eye in the overnight queue.

[Avalon_Fields]

Brings back memories, many of us used to stay in the Travelodge on the Tuesday, booking it before tickets went on sale, and venture up the Tor, best day we went up was in 2009, if you zoom into the photo you can see the festival reasonably well. If you properly want to see it you’d need binoculars!

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

@MetaKate if you have time, the George & Pilgrim Inn (15th century) and the Who'd Have Thought It Inn (super quirky) are both worth a visit 

[Harry49]

like the sound of visiting the Tor on the Tuesday. Is traffic a nigtmare around the town on the Tuesday or should access be ok?

[Charm]

1 minute ago, Harry49 said:

like the sound of visiting the Tor on the Tuesday. Is traffic a nigtmare around the town on the Tuesday or should access be ok?

I’m sure it will be fine, never noticed any traffic problems.

Charm x

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

5 minutes ago, Harry49 said:

like the sound of visiting the Tor on the Tuesday. Is traffic a nigtmare around the town on the Tuesday or should access be ok?

Absolutely fine. Great buzz around the place and from the Tor you can see a partial view of the festival site (including the Pyramid) just waiting for us Glastonauts to arrive

Edited May 15, 2019 by Supernintendo Chalmers

[Doug85]

The Tor is certainly worth seeing plus it gives you that other view of the festival (sort of a calm before the storm view). 

We arrived on site on the monday in 2017 as working and I popped in to town on the Tuesday and there were no traffic issues that day, majority of traffic started building up later in the day but for access to the campervan fields. Late Tuesday night was a weird one for me to be on site having a decent drink and my walk back to the crew camping was lit up by a lot of cars arriving in the car park in the distance. Certainly brought a smile to my face to see so many people arriving. This year I may get up and wander down to see the gates being opened. 

[Harry49]

51 minutes ago, Charm said:

I’m sure it will be fine, never noticed any traffic problems.

Charm x

 

48 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Absolutely fine. Great buzz around the place and from the Tor you can see a partial view of the festival site (including the Pyramid) just waiting for us Glastonauts to arrive

Thanks for response,  if weather ok my Tuesday is booked.

[The Nal]

Taxi can go via the back roads and drops you at gate A. We're doing it this year Wednesday morning, done it before a few times. Very handy.

I've never got the appeal of queuing all night Tuesday night. 

[deebeedoobee]

May I suggest you visit the King Arthur pub for the real Glastonbury feel.

[Splonk]

Wilkins Cider Farm is well worth a visit. Featuring, a dusty cow shed with giant apple press, potent cider direct from taps on the old oak barrels, and a genuine Banksy art work.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1931382-d7010921-Reviews-Wilkins_Cider_Farm-Wedmore_Somerset_England.html

[Display-Name]

Hi MetaKate

Would definitely recommend the shuttle bus from Glastonbury town. Very regular so you never have to wait long, good vibe, easy trip and straight to gate A. Think it was £4 or something last time out.

As for things to do in Glastonbury. Definitely a trip up the Tor and spend a few hours on the High Street. Personally I'm a big fan of Rainbow's End cafe and the Blue Note cafe. Knight's fish and chips at the bottom of the high street is also very nice.

As for other things to do in the local area I can recommend a lot having lived here my whole life.

A walk up Ebbor Gorge where you can see the Tor and the surrounding Somerset levels in all its beauty. Cheddar Gorge is a little further but also very nice. The city of Bath is well worth a visit although it is an hour away. There's also a few companies from whom you can hire canoes and take them out on the levels with beautiful views of the Tor and surrounding area.

If you have any other questions or want other recommendations please don't hesitate to ask.

[The Nal]

Walking up to the Tor and overlooking the whole area is pretty special alright. I would make that number one on the to do list.

[Kalopsia]

13 hours ago, MetaKate said:

I've never seen the Tor and all that good stuff, so this year I'm heading down Sunday morning and I'm going to spend a few days before the festival exploring the area, seeing the sites, etc. 

1st my plan is to get a taxi to site on Wednesday morning... I previously took the train and waiting for a shuttle at castle cary has been a bit of a shit show. 

From my understanding it seems like the taxi drops me off at Bath & West showgrounds.. what can I expect? Is it difficult to get there through festival traffic on the Wednesday morning coming from the west of the site? (I know it's on the East side) 

2nd I'm trying to fine tune my plans, so any suggestions or recommendations are welcome!

If you want some good food for lunch please go to this cafe! It's my personal favourite. Also just outside of town is the Bocabar I'd recommend this also! 

 

https://rainbowsendcafe.com/

[lucyginger]

Another vote for going up the Tor here! We've done it a couple of times on the Tuesday before, it is lovely. 

[Crazyfool01]

As recommended above ... Bath and Bristol are lovely cities and cheader is also great too ... see @displaynames post above .... I will second those recommendations