Travelling by Rail

The nearest train station is Castle Cary, which is on the main line from London to Plymouth (served by First Great-Western). Other services are run by Wessex Trains to destinations including Bristol. Extra train services are laid on during the Festival period to cope with the increased demand.

Train tickets are available for purchase from trainline. Remember to book before the day of travel otherwise you could be in for a shock. Fares on the day of departure could be in excess of £100 return. When booking there will be a choice of day, time and destination. Customers must retain their reservation & tickets to board the shuttle bus from the station to the Festival site at no extra charge.

PLEASE NOTE: Glastonbury Festival is operating the coach shuttle service from Bristol Temple Meads railway station. It runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 1000-1900 for £14 single and a return service on Sunday 12 noon to 2100 and Monday 0600 to 1900, again for £14 single.

The Festival lays on FREE coaches from Castle Cary station for all train passengers with valid Festival tickets. The buses try to meet every train from Wednesday morning until Monday evening, but do get caught in traffic like everything else, and of course suffer from queues to board the buses at the busiest times. They drop you off at the Festival Bus Station - much nearer the site than it was until 2000, near Red Gate.

To check out train times from anywhere in the country, and to book your tickets online (which earns this website a commission - which helps fund the site) use the excellent QJump website.

There's varying reports about how good the bus service is - some have said awful, while others have said it worked very well. The factor seems to be how many other people are arriving/leaving at the same time, causing queues - and how patient you are. Castle Cary station is quite small, and has trouble coping with the numbers for the Festival - be prepared to be patient.

WARNING: it's quite possible that there will be a heavy police presence (complete with sniffer dogs) at Castle Cary station, their aim being to search Festival go-ers arriving by train for drugs. This can cause considerable delay and inconvenience.

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