Arrival Time on Wednesday - thoughts and opinions please

[johnny-yen]

Until this year, I’ve always arrived on site about 8-9pm. We’ve rarely encountered any traffic queues and getting through the gate was pretty hassle free and quiet. 
 

However this year, I able to arrive earlier. Actually anytime after midday. What is it like earlier in the afternoon? What are the roads like? What are the queues like at the gates etc. 

Please give me your thoughts on the best time to arrive to maximise my time on site on Wednesday, without queuing for ages, either on the roads or gate. 

We travel to the site from the West (M5) and usually use Gate D   

Thanks. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by johnny-yen

[MrHew]

I arrived at 5pm ish on the Wednesday in 2019 and it was an absolute breeze to walk in through gate A, no queueing at all.

That's the only experience I've got that's any way helpful I'm afraid. 

[Crazyfool01]

you'd walk straight in id imagine .... barring any significant accidents or weather related stuff . also once today is out the way the threat of strikes goes and will make entry smoother 

[stopwn1981]

I’m interested in what orange route is like 8am ish on Wednesday arriving from the west? If anyone has any experience 

[Titters]

 

3 minutes ago, stopwn1981 said:

I’m interested in what orange route is like 8am ish on Wednesday arriving from the west? If anyone has any experience 

 

I've done that a few times. Bit of a queue to get into the car parks, maybe half an hour / 45 mins - and you'll probably be in Pink car parks. 

 

You're probably at peak queueing time, though - maybe 2-3 hours based on experience in 17 - though that was particularly tricky as the Manchester attack had been the week prior, and security may have been taking longer. 

 

It was a hot day to be in that queue, too... 

 

Also remember that Gate A will have lots of coaches arriving then, so queueing could take eveno longer. 

 

 

[fogma]

Arrived about 11.30am last year - no queueing at all to get into car park. Queued for about 90 mins at Ped Gate A. By the time we were in (1.30pm ish) the queue was pretty much nothing and just walked straight in. 
 

2017 - got there about 8.30am - hardly any car queue but had to queue for about 4 hours or so in sweltering heat to get into Ped gate D. 

[johnny-yen]

Thanks for all your input.  So it seems like anytime after midday should be quite hassle free

[tigger123]

Do coach passengers get priority over car passengers at gate A? Has certainly felt that way in the past when queuing up as a car passenger! 

[Fishinginthelongdrops]

Always arrived around midday on Wednesday and never really had any issues with queues at that time. Can end up being forced into a very distant car park though.

[broken monkey]

Pretty much as said above, we were parked in Pink car park by 11am and through gate D and in Bushy by 12. The queues at gate D have been nothing after 11am the last few years. Unless you want a central camping spot, you're better delaying your arrival. We usually have a final stop at Wells Tesco, grab any last minute drinks/food before making our way via Glastonbury town.

[dannym]

What do you recommend if we want the KidzField family camping but can’t leave London Tuesday night?

We were thinking leave Wednesday 5am, arrive at 8ish, bur advice here makes me think that’s a huge car queue, then a big entry queue!

[RichardWaller]

I’d expect travelling in from the west to be a big advantage seeing as most people will be coming from the north and the east. Or in our case, both. We’re going down on the Tuesday hoping to avoid the carnage on the roads. If it were me driving I’d be tempted to bypass by a few miles and come back on meself from west or south if the site, but maybe thousands from the north or east might have that idea too..

[jow95]

2 hours ago, RichardWaller said:

I’d expect travelling in from the west to be a big advantage seeing as most people will be coming from the north and the east. Or in our case, both. We’re going down on the Tuesday hoping to avoid the carnage on the roads. If it were me driving I’d be tempted to bypass by a few miles and come back on meself from west or south if the site, but maybe thousands from the north or east might have that idea too..

East maybe, but northerners tend to go down the m5 and approach the site from the west. Quickest way in my experience unless you want to camp in Big Ground.

[DeanoL]

14 hours ago, tigger123 said:

Do coach passengers get priority over car passengers at gate A? Has certainly felt that way in the past when queuing up as a car passenger! 

Not strictly, but they have to keep the coach queue from tailing back into the coach park, so if a lot of coaches arrive at the same time they may do that for a little while to clear it.