Driving from Newcastle - Tips

[soulkitchen]

Afternoon all,

This will be my first year driving down and will be setting off from Newcastle aiming to get there early on the Wednesday.

Half in our group want to set off late Tuesday night with a view to getting parked up early hours of Wednesday morning. Personally I'd prefer to set off around 4-5 am and aim to get there before lunch.

Can anyone shed some light on what you'd think would be best with regards to traffic and queues? We don't want to be stuck in loads of traffic Wednesday morning but also don't want a crappy nights sleep in the car if it could be avoided. Also would it be better to park in the blue car park if coming from the NE?

Cheers.

[bexj]

Traffic and queues will be virtually non existent after 10am on Wednesday  barring accidents shite weather etc. Still plenty of places to camp as long as you dont want Pennards. You're driving you make the rules! 

[the beadle]

15 hours ago, bexj said:

Traffic and queues will be virtually non existent after 10am on Wednesday  barring accidents shite weather etc. Still plenty of places to camp as long as you dont want Pennards. You're driving you make the rules! 

eh?

[Nuts]

Im driving from sunderland setting off around tue mid day and staying in a b and b 18 mile from the site. Its my 2nd glasto but 1st time driving. Last year got the coach. I have no idea what  to expect in terms of traffic going off last year.. but think im gonna be up and out of the b and b for 6 or 7am and head to site.  Maybe thats an option for you hotel tue night so you can get decent rest still then set off in your own time

[soulkitchen]

Cheers for the replies. All at work on the Tuesday till late so no chance of getting a b and b. I'm tempted by driving down bout 4-5am, aint too arsed where we camp and theres only 4 of us. Just hope the traffic aint too bad round mid-morning/lunch time. Past few times I've been I've arrived early afternoon by coach and it aint been too busy.

[stuwilky]

The answer to this depends where you want to camp.  If youre not arsed about being in Darble/Dairy/Pylon etc on the West of the side Id advise on turning up between 10 and 11 - you wont experience much by way of ques either on the road, or at the gate.  The more sleep you can get on the Tuesday the better IMHO as it affects your Weds inside!

[quiet guy]

Remember that you may be parked a long way away from either B or C gate and you'll need to lug all your stuff through the fields to access the site, make a note of the field number and any fixed landmarks so you can find your vehicle when you leave. 

[Flysheet]

Leaving at 4-5am you're gonna hit traffic either Leeds/Sheffield, Nottingham or Birmingham and that's with normal traffic. Factor in an accident and it's anyone's guess.

Lunchtime at best and then a long hike in.

Tuesday night seems a good call

[sheffieldlady]

I'd say if you're not bothered about camping - just set off 4/5am. The traffic around Leeds / Sheffield isn't too bad for commuting traffic, these days you'll be doing 50mph for a while. The walk from the car park to the campsite isn't as bad as people make out. I usually take a water break at some stage. We camp in Bushy and prefer a more relaxed start to the festival! If you're the one doing the long drive, you decide when you leave