Campsite Poll

[gfa]

I fell into a bit of a wormhole last night on the GlastoEarth website, specifically the camping section found here and this led me to wonder where everyone's favourite spot was to camp. I had a quick search of the site but couldn't find any particularly recent polls on the topic so decided to make my own.

2022 is my first year going to the festival and so I am certainly looking for recommendations and would be interested to see if theres anywhere to particularly avoid/focus on heading to. I am getting the coach at 8 from London on Wednesday for reference so some of the more central ones might be out of the question potentially. From my wormhole last night, Oxylers stood out as a firm favourite given its close to the action, far enough from Arcadia that sleep should be okay and to be honest the idea of sitting on a camping chair at the tent watching the other stage in the afternoon sold it to me alone. Zone 1/2 on my map are definitely the key places we would be looking at I think, basically as close to the late night action as possible.

I split the 2019 map into 5 sections which hopefully make some sort of sense, wasn't entirely sure on where to draw the boundaries.

Zone 1 (Central Campsites) - Pennard Hill, Park Home and Oxylers

Zone 2 (South West Corner) - Dairy, Paines, South Park 1+2, Back House, Baileys and Rig's Field

Zone 3 (North West Corner) - Bushy, Rivermead, Pylon and Darble

Zone 4 (John Peel Campsites) - Lime Kiln, Hitchin Hill, Spring, Lower Mead and Wicket Family Camping

Zone 5 (Pyramid Field) - Kidney Mead, Big Ground, Row Mead, Hawkwell, Michael's Mead and Cockmill Meadow Family Camping

I also chucked on the non general-admission options for the bottom of the poll.

[Gnomicide]

I've voted my favourite (5 - Bottom Webbs Ash) but I actually camp in 2 (Paines) because I'm outvoted by the group.

This may be no help to you but there you go 😄

[gfa]

23 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

I've voted my favourite (5 - Bottom Webbs Ash) but I actually camp in 2 (Paines) because I'm outvoted by the group.

This may be no help to you but there you go 😄

If anything this makes me more curious. Howcome you like Bottom Webbs Ash so much and why do they outvote you in favour of Paines?

[Punksnotdead]

45 minutes ago, gfa said:

I fell into a bit of a wormhole last night on the GlastoEarth website, specifically the camping section found here and this led me to wonder where everyone's favourite spot was to camp. I had a quick search of the site but couldn't find any particularly recent polls on the topic so decided to make my own.

2022 is my first year going to the festival and so I am certainly looking for recommendations and would be interested to see if theres anywhere to particularly avoid/focus on heading to. I am getting the coach at 8 from London on Wednesday for reference so some of the more central ones might be out of the question potentially. From my wormhole last night, Oxylers stood out as a firm favourite given its close to the action, far enough from Arcadia that sleep should be okay and to be honest the idea of sitting on a camping chair at the tent watching the other stage in the afternoon sold it to me alone. Zone 1/2 on my map are definitely the key places we would be looking at I think, basically as close to the late night action as possible.

I split the 2019 map into 5 sections which hopefully make some sort of sense, wasn't entirely sure on where to draw the boundaries.

Zone 1 (Central Campsites) - Pennard Hill, Park Home and Oxylers

Zone 2 (South West Corner) - Dairy, Paines, South Park 1+2, Back House, Baileys and Rig's Field

Zone 3 (North West Corner) - Bushy, Rivermead, Pylon and Darble

Zone 4 (John Peel Campsites) - Lime Kiln, Hitchin Hill, Spring, Lower Mead and Wicket Family Camping

Zone 5 (Pyramid Field) - Kidney Mead, Big Ground, Row Mead, Hawkwell, Michael's Mead and Cockmill Meadow Family Camping

I also chucked on the non general-admission options for the bottom of the poll.

If you want to get some sleep at night, Oxylers is definitely not your best option! Also the worst toilets on site. If you can cope with little sleep & shitty bogs however, it is a great location for getting everywhere on site.

[vintagelaureate]

I camp in Park Home, it's where my mate has always camped so we just followed suit. Even when it flooded it didn't put him off! We have a very specific section of Park Home we head to too! 😂

It's great for getting about the site, but it's definitely noisy and a fair trek home from the South East corner. I can sleep through pretty much anything though, so even the final beats of Arcadia/Pangea at night don't keep me awake. You can hear the Other Stage too from there.

 We've always had good festival neighbours there too! Does tend to fill up though - I've either been in or had someone in to pitch the tent Wednesday morning, but if you wander a little you should find some space (dependent on size!). 

[WestCountryGirl]

First two visits I was in south west corner - south-west corner of Paines and then in one of the South Parks. Thought these were fine, until in 2017 we were in Michael's Mead as a friend had access to the facilities in Spring ground. Had a great overlook of the site, was quiet and close to JP and super accessible for the Pyramid. I'm sold and will be heading in that direction next time (although there is the chance we may actually camp in Spring Ground this time, which is also fine by me).

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, gfa said:

If anything this makes me more curious. Howcome you like Bottom Webbs Ash so much and why do they outvote you in favour of Paines?

I think Bottom Webb's Ash is a great location, on the corner of the road to Pyramid, Other and JP stages. Close to Lulu's Cafe and tremendous longdrops at the entrance to The Woods.

Our group is large, getting us all in there would be a problem but in general, the rest of them prefer Paines' closer proximity to The Park, Arcadia/Pangea and (at a push) The SE corner.

Paines is fine, relatively quiet at night, not too far from Ped Gate D and I happily go along with that option to camp with friends.

Bottom Webbs Ash:

Paines (as seen from the Glastonbury sign):

I've also camped in Hawkswell (great view but too hilly):

and Darble (very quiet but too far from everything):

Edited January 3, 2022 by Gnomicide

[nikkic]

Camped in Paines for 5/7 festivals. We love Arcadia and The Park and tend to come in through gate D, so it's been our first choice most of the time. 

Only the past two have been different. In 2017 camped in Worthy View (loved it there and would camp there again) and in 2019 we got last minute hospitality tickets through a friend, the campsite was in Silver Hayes, essentially exactly where it says Silver Hayes on the map.

[Lycra]

8 hours ago, gfa said:

I fell into a bit of a wormhole last night on the GlastoEarth website, specifically the camping section found here and this led me to wonder where everyone's favourite spot was to camp. I had a quick search of the site but couldn't find any particularly recent polls on the topic so decided to make my own.

2022 is my first year going to the festival and so I am certainly looking for recommendations and would be interested to see if theres anywhere to particularly avoid/focus on heading to. I am getting the coach at 8 from London on Wednesday for reference so some of the more central ones might be out of the question potentially. From my wormhole last night, Oxylers stood out as a firm favourite given its close to the action, far enough from Arcadia that sleep should be okay and to be honest the idea of sitting on a camping chair at the tent watching the other stage in the afternoon sold it to me alone. Zone 1/2 on my map are definitely the key places we would be looking at I think, basically as close to the late night action as possible.

I split the 2019 map into 5 sections which hopefully make some sort of sense, wasn't entirely sure on where to draw the boundaries.

Zone 1 (Central Campsites) - Pennard Hill, Park Home and Oxylers

Zone 2 (South West Corner) - Dairy, Paines, South Park 1+2, Back House, Baileys and Rig's Field

Zone 3 (North West Corner) - Bushy, Rivermead, Pylon and Darble

Zone 4 (John Peel Campsites) - Lime Kiln, Hitchin Hill, Spring, Lower Mead and Wicket Family Camping

Zone 5 (Pyramid Field) - Kidney Mead, Big Ground, Row Mead, Hawkwell, Michael's Mead and Cockmill Meadow Family Camping

I also chucked on the non general-admission options for the bottom of the poll.

Leaving London at 8 on the Wednesday may rule you out of Oxylers as it fills pretty quickly. Whilst it's central for the Other Stage, Park, Arcadia, JP etc, as said elsewhere it's noisy. It's also gets quite rammed and being dead flat suffers badly if (when!) it rains, particularly near the roadways. Such is the vast scale of Glasto no single campsite is central for all stages: just some are better than others for certain stages/areas.

Be prepared for lots of walking. South Park ( your Zone 2) to the Pyramid is probably 20min walk for instance.

So where do we camp? Well after years of trial (& error) and also observing, we prefer zone 4. But I'm not going to tell you exactly where as I don't want all you buggers rushing to it? swamping the place and nicking our pitch......  😛

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

@gfa Most people seem to prefer to camp more centrally or closer to a particular area but I don't mind a longer walk once I've finished in the morning. Some of my favourite random moments and encounters have been on the walk back to the camp. I appreciate this isn't for everyone, as it can be a long way, subject to area, but my point is, location of your camp isn't always everything. As much as I love to plan, on a few occasions, I've let the camping Gods decide my spot upon arrival, and each time, it's worked out great. Of course, there are areas that you may wish to avoid, for some of the reasons noted above, but I've yet to have a bad camp, in a dozen Glastonbury's. 

I'm very jealous of you, though. Planning all this for the first time through new eyes. It's very exciting! Well, that, and you actually having a ticket. 

[spg]

Pre 2000, big ground. But sincethen (resale permitting this year) e20 is the winner for me

[MrHew]

Back in the 90s it was Oxlyers, which was as far west as you could camp then, then moved on to Pennards Hill for a few years. Then on to where Arcadia is now. When that moved in we moved further west.

These days it's family camping in zone 2.

[dondo]

As for the last 6 Glastonburys I've been to I've volunteered. So am up in Tom's Field at the top of the site by the farmhouse. When I went on a normal ticket it was in 2003 and 4 and we were in Pennards as that was recommended on here as a good mix of lively and location. If I went as an ordinary punter now being older I'd probably want somewhere a wee bit quieter.

[gfa]

10 hours ago, Punksnotdead said:

If you want to get some sleep at night, Oxylers is definitely not your best option! Also the worst toilets on site. If you can cope with little sleep & shitty bogs however, it is a great location for getting everywhere on site.

What causes the noise at Oxylers - late night stages or is it just the amount of people walking through on the way back from SE Corner? re the toilets while not ideal i'm used to Reading so i'm sure they will seem like luxury in comparison

2 hours ago, Lycra said:

Leaving London at 8 on the Wednesday may rule you out of Oxylers as it fills pretty quickly. Whilst it's central for the Other Stage, Park, Arcadia, JP etc, as said elsewhere it's noisy. It's also gets quite rammed and being dead flat suffers badly if (when!) it rains, particularly near the roadways. Such is the vast scale of Glasto no single campsite is central for all stages: just some are better than others for certain stages/areas.

Be prepared for lots of walking. South Park ( your Zone 2) to the Pyramid is probably 20min walk for instance.

So where do we camp? Well after years of trial (& error) and also observing, we prefer zone 4. But I'm not going to tell you exactly where as I don't want all you buggers rushing to it? swamping the place and nicking our pitch......  😛

I read about the rain, definitely would not bother with it if the weather looks bad. Zone 4 at first I thought seemed just so far but looking back at it again its very near Other, Pyramid and John Peel. A lot closer to the coach station too most importantly haha

2 hours ago, nikkic said:

Camped in Paines for 5/7 festivals. We love Arcadia and The Park and tend to come in through gate D, so it's been our first choice most of the time. 

Only the past two have been different. In 2017 camped in Worthy View (loved it there and would camp there again) and in 2019 we got last minute hospitality tickets through a friend, the campsite was in Silver Hayes, essentially exactly where it says Silver Hayes on the map.

How is the sound from Arcadia in Paines? Looks like a good spot but just worried about the sound (mostly for others in the group, reckon i'd be good till 3am most nights).

2 hours ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

@gfa Most people seem to prefer to camp more centrally or closer to a particular area but I don't mind a longer walk once I've finished in the morning. Some of my favourite random moments and encounters have been on the walk back to the camp. I appreciate this isn't for everyone, as it can be a long way, subject to area, but my point is, location of your camp isn't always everything. As much as I love to plan, on a few occasions, I've let the camping Gods decide my spot upon arrival, and each time, it's worked out great. Of course, there are areas that you may wish to avoid, for some of the reasons noted above, but I've yet to have a bad camp, in a dozen Glastonbury's. 

I'm very jealous of you, though. Planning all this for the first time through new eyes. It's very exciting! Well, that, and you actually having a ticket. 

Its not over yet, hopefully everyone on here has good luck in the resale 🙂 Thanks for the tip, i reckon anywhere in Zone 1/2 would work for us, probably leaning towards my zone 2 based on arrival time.

Has anyone had experience with Dairy Ground?

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

2 minutes ago, gfa said:

Has anyone had experience with Dairy Ground?

Yes, I have. It was actually my biggest camping error. In 2009, we camped on a sloping part in Dairy, next to a hedge, that we thought would be perfect. The thunderstorm made the site pretty muddy and had pretty much dried up by Saturday but we couldn't understand why our camping area was getting worse every day (by Sunday we were just surrounded by six inches of thick mud). Then we realized our tents were directly in the path of the excess water flow from a tap about 100 yards up the slope. A valuable, if muddy lesson learned.

[Ayrshire Chris]

Voted for our favourite zone 4, such as Hichin and Lime Kiln , near JP and Pyramid, always had nice neighbours, great views over site though a distance from SE if that’s your thing.  But  now go to Worthy View as age catching up on us!  Still hanker over our favourite spot. 

[Punksnotdead]

35 minutes ago, gfa said:

What causes the noise at Oxylers - late night stages or is it just the amount of people walking through on the way back from SE Corner? re the toilets while not ideal i'm used to Reading so i'm sure they will seem like luxury in comparison

 

Tends to be a much younger crowd camping there who are less interested in getting a good night's sleep. Also the walkway at the back of the Other stage is mad busy all night long. And as has been said, it gets absolutely rammed in there, tents packed together, pissed punters tripping over your guy ropes, etc!

I used to camp there, but now choose Rivermead or Pylon - much quieter at night & less of a trek to & from the coach park with heavy bags. Also much better toilets!

Only downside is you have to walk through Silver Hayes to get anywhere - I hate Silver Hayes!

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Yes, I have. It was actually my biggest camping error. In 2009, we camped on a sloping part in Dairy, next to a hedge, that we thought would be perfect. The thunderstorm made the site pretty muddy and had pretty much dried up by Saturday but we couldn't understand why our camping area was getting worse every day (by Sunday we were just surrounded by six inches of thick mud). Then we realized our tents were directly in the path of the excess water flow from a tap about 100 yards up the slope. A valuable, if muddy lesson learned.

Guess we'll be have to be careful with that aspect. With all the water issues/changes done do you think even still happens?

54 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

Tends to be a much younger crowd camping there who are less interested in getting a good night's sleep. Also the walkway at the back of the Other stage is mad busy all night long. And as has been said, it gets absolutely rammed in there, tents packed together, pissed punters tripping over your guy ropes, etc!

I used to camp there, but now choose Rivermead or Pylon - much quieter at night & less of a trek to & from the coach park with heavy bags. Also much better toilets!

Only downside is you have to walk through Silver Hayes to get anywhere - I hate Silver Hayes!

Yeah i thought the walkway near Other would be busy guess that makes sense. Not too worried about the people there as we are 20/21 year olds, as long as theres not dj tents going till late in the night its all good.

[vintagelaureate]

On another note, how good is it to a have a thread like this back! 

@gfa just to give you an idea of how busy places get, this is a video I took of Pennard Hill and the surrounding area from the Pier.

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by vintagelaureate

[mufcok]

Nice to see threads like this emerging.

It's been Oxylers every year since I first went (2011) for me but this time (all being well... ) I'll be in the Campervan fields; albeit with the short straw in a tent outside a Campervan.

Looking forward to seeing how different the experience is.

[gfa]

9 minutes ago, mufcok said:

Nice to see threads like this emerging.

It's been Oxylers every year since I first went (2011) for me but this time (all being well... ) I'll be in the Campervan fields; albeit with the short straw in a tent outside a Campervan.

Looking forward to seeing how different the experience is.

What time did you get there usually / when would you say Oxylers gets full roughly?

2 hours ago, vintagelaureate said:

On another note, how good is it to a have a thread like this back! 

@gfa just to give you an idea of how busy places get, this is a video I took of Pennard Hill and the surrounding area from the Pier.

 

Thanks for this, looks pretty similar to most other festivals i've done. Not really bothered about it being super close in as long as the neighbours are nice and i'm not near a DJ tent honestly

[dotdash79]

When we went in 2019 for the first time we stayed in kidney mead(5)but that was was almost full at around 11am. 
 

this time we are planning on staying around paines ground.

[found home in 2009]

Pretty much always camp on Hitchin Hill as that's where my friends want to camp. Personally I hate sleeping on a hill and constantly sliding down my airbed/finding my airbed sliding down the tent. The hill up to it is a bit of a bugger when your lumping your stuff from the car, but it doesn't bother me when I'm just walking back to campsite at end of a regular festival day. It's kind of an ok area that I wouldn't really encourage or discourage anyone from camping at. One pro was I did like going for a poo in the toilets next to the John Peel tent in the morning which wasn't too far a walk from our camping spot. They were always very clean and quiet at that time and it felt quite nice being in touch with nature as you're surrounded by trees.

My favourite camping spot was one year we camped where we could watch the Pyramid stage from our tent. Having a long journey to get to Glastonbury it maybe wasn't worth the hassle of being there early enough to get such a good spot. But if I lived nearby I'd totally make the effort to get a similar spot again.

Personally if I was choosing a camp spot I'd either want to be near my favourite stages so going to see a band in the morning was less of a trek or near an area that has lots of good food - personally think West Holts and Avalon Cafe are best stages for having good food near them. Used to think the food was good near the Park, but that area seems to have declined in terms of food stalls IMHO.

Sure everyone will have their own priorities though.

[gfa]

49 minutes ago, found home in 2009 said:

Pretty much always camp on Hitchin Hill as that's where my friends want to camp. Personally I hate sleeping on a hill and constantly sliding down my airbed/finding my airbed sliding down the tent. The hill up to it is a bit of a bugger when your lumping your stuff from the car, but it doesn't bother me when I'm just walking back to campsite at end of a regular festival day. It's kind of an ok area that I wouldn't really encourage or discourage anyone from camping at. One pro was I did like going for a poo in the toilets next to the John Peel tent in the morning which wasn't too far a walk from our camping spot. They were always very clean and quiet at that time and it felt quite nice being in touch with nature as you're surrounded by trees.

My favourite camping spot was one year we camped where we could watch the Pyramid stage from our tent. Having a long journey to get to Glastonbury it maybe wasn't worth the hassle of being there early enough to get such a good spot. But if I lived nearby I'd totally make the effort to get a similar spot again.

Personally if I was choosing a camp spot I'd either want to be near my favourite stages so going to see a band in the morning was less of a trek or near an area that has lots of good food - personally think West Holts and Avalon Cafe are best stages for having good food near them. Used to think the food was good near the Park, but that area seems to have declined in terms of food stalls IMHO.

Sure everyone will have their own priorities though.

On the note of the tree covered toilets, i’m right thinking theres no shaded campsites? Or even sections of a campsite

[Crazyfool01]

3 minutes ago, gfa said:

On the note of the tree covered toilets, i’m right thinking theres no shaded campsites? Or even sections of a campsite

you might get partial shade from trees / hedges but id think that would be rare as most paths run alongside the hedges ... maybe at the outer camping areas .... best thing for a cool tent is one of these or similar 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-2-seconds-easy-fresh-black-2-person/_/R-p-308355?mc=8553541&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=SurfacesForGoogle&utm_content=8553541-2758192&&iv_=__iv_p_1_g_63075088556_c_316418436682_w_pla-329717981662_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r_x_pla_y_15177021_f_online_o_8553541-2758192_z_GB_i_en_j_329717981662_s__e__h_1007149_ii__vi__&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiZ-9ppWW9QIVi813Ch384Ab1EAQYAiABEgLWx_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds