Franky Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 Hey all, Planning to camp near Ped gate D this year and just wondered what route to take from London? Any road names or postcodes that would get me into the correct car parks, orange or pink by the looks of it. All the hints and tips you have please people. All help appreciated 🤙 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrulion Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) Tbh you can't go wrong by following the festival website says. You park up in whatever car park is being filled at that time, you don't really get a choice, and follow the big display screens to gate D. Its easy to think it's overly complex but the festival make it incredibly easy to do. https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/getting-here/by-car/ Edited January 15, 2023 by Leyrulion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexj Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Head to the west car parks so come in via Glastonbury, bearing in mind you can't drive through Pilton. After that, follow signs/stewards. Be prepared for a long walk! Or come by bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazola Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 For the west side coming from London we go 303 then turn off to go past Longleat, takes you across the north of the site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsonjack Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Which is easier for you from London, M4 heading West, or M3 heading West? There are a couple of options depending upon which.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franky Posted January 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Thanks all, it would be M4 for me probably. I could well be starting from Bicester though if I pick up a friend. looking forward to that long walk lol trolly it is for me now. Too old to carry everything now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsonjack Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Franky said: Thanks all, it would be M4 for me probably. I could well be starting from Bicester though if I pick up a friend. looking forward to that long walk lol trolly it is for me now. Too old to carry everything now lol Ok so from M4, noting that for West car parks you'll need to approach from West side of Pilton so it requires a bit of a loop, I would probably do... M4 > J18 A46 > Bath A39 > Wells A39 > Glastonbury A361 East > Pilton Edited January 16, 2023 by parsonjack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyfool01 Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 1 minute ago, parsonjack said: Ok so from M4, noting that for West car parks you'll need to approach from West side of Pilton so it requires a bit of a loop, I would probably do... M4 > J18 A36 > Bath A39 > Wells A39 > Glastonbury A361 East > Pilton Good to see you back on traffic duties 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsonjack Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 2 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said: Good to see you back on traffic duties 🙂 I've been sitting here waiting for this moment since June 😂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjfiddy Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 20 minutes ago, parsonjack said: Ok so from M4, noting that for West car parks you'll need to approach from West side of Pilton so it requires a bit of a loop, I would probably do... M4 > J18 A46 > Bath A39 > Wells A39 > Glastonbury A361 East > Pilton Bookmarking for 5 months ❤️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_303 Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Franky said: Thanks all, it would be M4 for me probably. I could well be starting from Bicester though if I pick up a friend. looking forward to that long walk lol trolly it is for me now. Too old to carry everything now lol From Bicester you could either go a34 down to m4 and drive through Bristol to get to the right side. Another option is to take the a40 at Oxford and head down the a361 from Burford to Swindon and then along the M4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padgey Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 2 hours ago, mazola said: For the west side coming from London we go 303 then turn off to go past Longleat, takes you across the north of the site Also take this route then go past the Tesco in Shepton Mallet and head down a road called The Somerset Levels, at the bottom of that turn right and drive through Pilton to West Car Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 These conversations always make me think of Bill Bryson and his observations in Notes From a Small Island about British people and all their talk about directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Pose Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 After last years experience at Gate D I’d say pick another one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clasher Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 12 minutes ago, gigpusher said: These conversations always make me think of Bill Bryson and his observations in Notes From a Small Island about British people and all their talk about directions. Mikes' How to be an Alien has some really nice passages about English driving and town planning as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZigster Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 3 hours ago, parsonjack said: Ok so from M4, noting that for West car parks you'll need to approach from West side of Pilton so it requires a bit of a loop, I would probably do... M4 > J18 A46 > Bath A39 > Wells A39 > Glastonbury A361 East > Pilton You are a road orienteering legend. I still owe you a pint for last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisH Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Jose Pose said: After last years experience at Gate D I’d say pick another one Just being reminded of Gate D brought back traumatic memories of joining the end of it at the BACK of orange car park near the A361 in the blazing heat. It was a few hours before we even caught sight of the zig zag fence queue which felt like a mirage in a desert by that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyfool01 Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 2 hours ago, Jose Pose said: After last years experience at Gate D I’d say pick another one Thing is they are often very good at rectifying problems and some might change plans based on whatever happened So Gate D might actually be fine on the day .. it’s just total pot luck … some years we’ve hit issues on the roads approaching the festival … others not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Pose Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 31 minutes ago, FrancisH said: Just being reminded of Gate D brought back traumatic memories of joining the end of it at the BACK of orange car park near the A361 in the blazing heat. It was a few hours before we even caught sight of the zig zag fence queue which felt like a mirage in a desert by that point. Yeah it was a absolute hell wasn’t it. I think we spent what must have been hours walking past the actual queue just to join the end of it, which was pretty demoralising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrulion Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Jose Pose said: Yeah it was a absolute hell wasn’t it. I think we spent what must have been hours walking past the actual queue just to join the end of it, which was pretty demoralising. 2 hours ago, FrancisH said: Just being reminded of Gate D brought back traumatic memories of joining the end of it at the BACK of orange car park near the A361 in the blazing heat. It was a few hours before we even caught sight of the zig zag fence queue which felt like a mirage in a desert by that point. It took us 2 1/2 hours in the gate D queue. We arrived at about it's maximum length at 7ish. Stood still for 30 mins and then basically nom stop walking. For arriving when we did I thought we didn't to too badly. Rather be moving than stuck behind gate A coach people getting priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Pose Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Leyrulion said: It took us 2 1/2 hours in the gate D queue. We arrived at about it's maximum length at 7ish. Stood still for 30 mins and then basically nom stop walking. For arriving when we did I thought we didn't to too badly. Rather be moving than stuck behind gate A coach people getting priority. I think it was just luck of the draw where we ended up getting parked, we arrived a similar time (meant to be much earlier but my idiot mate wasn’t close to ready when I arrived at his at the agreed time). We spent what seems like forever being directed to the end of the queue, which mostly meant walking along the queue in the wrong direction to get to the end of it. It didn’t help that there were certain points that people were pushing in if the stewards weren’t looking. There was one but where two parts of the queue met and went in opposite directions, loads of people were cutting in and saving themselves probably 30/45 minutes of extra queue. Edited January 16, 2023 by Jose Pose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisH Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 16 minutes ago, Jose Pose said: I think it was just luck of the draw where we ended up getting parked, we arrived a similar time (meant to be much earlier but my idiot mate wasn’t close to ready when I arrived at his at the agreed time). We spent what seems like forever being directed to the end of the queue, which mostly meant walking along the queue in the wrong direction to get to the end of it. It didn’t help that there were certain points that people were pushing in if the stewards weren’t looking. There was one but where two parts of the queue met and went in opposite directions, loads of people were cutting in and saving themselves probably 30/45 minutes of extra queue. Somebody on here gave some good advice about how to guarantee Orange (which is much closer to the gate) which worked a treat for us - when we approached from Glastonbury town stewards were stood in the road forcing everyone into Purple car park, we peeled our sticker off before we got to them and just pointed forward toward Pilton with a knowing nod like we knew where we were going, they waved us through before sending everyone else behind us into purple again, we immediately whacked the sticker back up and get directed into Orange. As it happens that was a massive fucking error because Purple would have been way closer to where the queue actually started 🙂 Moral of the story is listen to the stewards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdash79 Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Purple is on the other side of the site, but we did that trick to get into orange rather than pink. at that point they had blocked off access to the GATE D Queue at about 6am. We were directed into Gate A and were in the zig zags straight away. We were through the gates at 8:30 am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 Don't turn off the road for a car park until you get to the car park you want to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Pose Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 57 minutes ago, FrancisH said: Somebody on here gave some good advice about how to guarantee Orange (which is much closer to the gate) which worked a treat for us - when we approached from Glastonbury town stewards were stood in the road forcing everyone into Purple car park, we peeled our sticker off before we got to them and just pointed forward toward Pilton with a knowing nod like we knew where we were going, they waved us through before sending everyone else behind us into purple again, we immediately whacked the sticker back up and get directed into Orange. As it happens that was a massive fucking error because Purple would have been way closer to where the queue actually started 🙂 Moral of the story is listen to the stewards. Funnily enough, we somehow ended up on the wrong side of the site (my error thinking I could cut across but a lot of the roads were shut) wanting to get round to orange car parks so we could get to gate D, I had my sticker for in the window and they tried to get me to go into purple. I refused and ended up having a row with the steward who insisted Orange and Pink were both full. I said this was complete rubbish and refused to turn in, eventually he just waved me through and we did end up in Orange rather than Pink as well. I think the issue was where we ended up in Orange (it was very near the entrance) and the stewards not really knowing what was going on and where the end of the queue actually was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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