Glastonbury Town

[Popsider75]

Well, after attending the festival every year bar one since 1995 decided to do something a bit different this year. Never actually visited Glastonbury (the town)itself. 

Obviously seen The Tor at a distance but never ventured there or wandered around the town or sampled what it has to offer. Hoping to find a few nice hostelries.

For 2024 I have booked a Motorhome site in the town for the proceeding Saturday for 3 nights and hope to enjoy a much shorter journey to Worthy Farm than normal on the Tuesday when the camper van fields open.

Anyone visited before and any recommendations of places to visit/ things to see/ decent boozers?

I usually arrive late afternoon Tuesday and even then there seems to be thousands of vans already on site!  Is there any truth in the rumours you can access the site a bit earlier than advertised?  What are the queues like at official opening time?  Not overly fussed the walk to the gate has never been super long apart from when I arrived Wednesday evening.

Looking forward to doing something a bit different instead of driving from the North West on the day the gates to campers opens.

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Popsider75

[The Nal]

Yeah stayed a few times. The King Arthur and the Becketts Inn two decent little boozers. Get up to the Tor before Tuesday or itll be rammed. 

[westholtschic]

You will have a fantastic time. The best Indian in town is the Cinnamon Spice. The Tor Grill is very good for kebabs and order online with the code FLYER 10 for 10% off. Best Chinese is in Street, Golden House. My favourite pubs are The Rifleman’s and the Becketts which is half way up town. They don’t do food but you can take takeaways in.

Wells is lovely to visit, where Hot Fuzz was filmed. Excellent spoons and a place called The Loaf is very good for breakfast.

[Ayrshire Chris]

You’ll love it, we visit regularly. Street with its Clark’s village shopping centre and Wells also closeby. Climbing the Tor is a must and spotting the festival site in the distance! Pubs mentioned by others are great. The town Main Street with its quirky shops is worth a stroll up. Hopefully heading down for a short break in feb/March. The roads through the town will be really busy around festival time. 

[Popsider75]

Sounds great looking forward to it. Thanks for the recommendations. 

Up the Tor definitely on the to do list. 

Will be checking out the drinking establishments. 

[Bike_Like_A_Mum]

I did this last year with the kids, it was great/bizarre that the town is just carrying on as usual while round the corner this beast is being built. It's a brilliant atmosphere and I loved it. Doing the same this year but just an extra day to explore on the Monday.

No recommendations on boozers as I had the kids, but defo go and chill out in the chalice gardens for a while 🥰

[czuk]

You can deffo rock up to the campervan fields before midday. I reckon they open about 8ish. The worst that could happen is they turn you away, which probably won't happen

[Neil]

14 hours ago, czuk said:

You can deffo rock up to the campervan fields before midday. I reckon they open about 8ish. The worst that could happen is they turn you away, which probably won't happen

the lane from the main road to the cv gates gets filled up before the cv gates open, they won't let people turn into that lane from the main road once its full and they let you turn in once the gates are open and the queue is moving.

[Watergirl]

On 12/29/2023 at 8:24 AM, Bike_Like_A_Mum said:

I did this last year with the kids, it was great/bizarre that the town is just carrying on as usual while round the corner this beast is being built. It's a brilliant atmosphere and I loved it. Doing the same this year but just an extra day to explore on the Monday.

No recommendations on boozers as I had the kids, but defo go and chill out in the chalice gardens for a while 🥰

So true about the town just carrying on as normal. If you talk with anyone about the festival they call it "Pilton". I have often stayed a few days prior to the festival, though now that I am with Oxfam I have to get back to Bristol to catch their bus to the site... Some great quirky shops have disappeared over the years. There used to be a record/CD shop. Also a kind of pound shop where I always found useful camping items. Still some very nice bookshops though.

There is a great hostel outside Street if you are into hostelling. One of the oldest in England I believe. Beautiful area for walking.

[clarkete]

The locals used to steadfastly call it Pilton, as of course that's where it as, but also as I recall quite a bit closer to Shepton or equidistant between Wells and Glastonbury. 

Dunno if it's still the same, but used to be pretty split in Glastonbury between hippy/alternative/mystical types and conventional/tory types who disapproved - I suspect the overwhelming commercial success has dampened that aspect though 😂

[Bods670]

Hello! I live here and it’s the best (although I am biased!). Definitely check out the King Arthur and the Riflemans (aka ‘the rifes’) is also worth a stop as you wander back down the Tor. If you’re going up the tor, you can bring a reusable bottle and help yourself to spring water on Well House Lane (where the walk to the Tor begins). Also drop into the White Springs before your walk- also there! This website is regularly updated with what’s going on each week:

https://glastonbury.uk/whatson/
 

and ‘normal for Glastonbury’ is an excellent follow if you’re on Facebook too. 

hope this helps! ☺️ x

[Dark Star]

The last couple of years I've caught the bus at 8-8:30 on the Monday morning into Glastonbury town, had a cafe breakfast, and caught the bus across to Taunton. I'm not sure I'd do it after a mud year, but it's proved a nice gentle adjustment back to the outside world, and the bus has been quiet. Far preferable to the cattle pens at Castle Cary.

[Skip997]

Avoid at all costs, it's full of dodgy "crystal swingers" and lunatics.

[EavisAintDead]

Another local who lives in the town here - 

The Tor walk is an obvious one to tick off. If you're there a few days, I can recommend doing the Glastonbury way loop, maybe even split it up over the two days -

One way goes down to Gog and Magog, our ancient trees, then loops back up via the Tor. Take your binoculars and you can see the festival getting it's final touches from afar - https://www.alltrails.com/en-gb/trail/england/somerset/the-glastonbury-way-pilgrimage-part-1

The other way goes over Wearyall copse with more great views of the Tor and a newly planted Glastonbury Thorn tree and out onto the levels. If you go far enough there are fantastic bird sanctuaries in the wetlands

All three pubs mentioned, The King Arthur, Rifleman and Becketts are great pubs with good gardens in the summer. King Arthur will likely have people playing folk music in the garden around the firepit - Good local beers including craft ales and proper beer. Rifleman will have a younger crowd chatting about how long they plan on staying in the SE corner or how their plan to sneak in is coming along - Less impressive beer selection, the sort of place for a crisp lager. Becketts will probably be really quiet despite having a really nice cottage style garden - This is the best place for a local cider - they have boxes of proper cider available

Pubs not mentioned - The Crown hotel - probably the most upmarket in town, really good chips and fantastic people watching if you can get a seat out the front. George and Pilgrims - Good local beer, very old pub with a medieval vibe - garden is basically picnic benches in a carpark but usually a good vibe. Queen of cups - Best food in Glasto, if you've got the money, have a lunch/dinner here, it really is fantastic and has been recognised by Michelin (https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/somerset/glastonbury/restaurant/queen-of-cups) 

I also love all the shops in Glastonbury, great if you want to find a new outfit for the festival or a new instrument to annoy your campmates with (no one will swing a crystal at you unless you ask them to - can't say we're not all a bit mad though but life would be boring if we were all normal)

Can you tell its a slow first day back "at work"? 

[Popsider75]

Cheers for the info looking forward to a bit of a different start to the festival.

[henry bear]

The Hundred Monkeys cafe halfway up the High St is a regular venue for lunch when we're visiting, all the better when the sun's out and you can sit in the courtyard

[parsonjack]

One more pub not yet mentioned.....the "Who'd A Thought It" bottom of high street then right just along Northload St.  Decent Palmer's ales, good grub, cosy bar & nice outside space.

Knight's chippy (the best for miles...) is just yards away from the pub.

[Dark Star]

2 hours ago, parsonjack said:

One more pub not yet mentioned.....the "Who'd A Thought It" bottom of high street then right just along Northload St.  Decent Palmer's ales, good grub, cosy bar & nice outside space.

Knight's chippy (the best for miles...) is just yards away from the pub.

You're not wrong about the chipper, most excellent. 

[G1T]

On 1/3/2024 at 6:56 PM, parsonjack said:

One more pub not yet mentioned.....the "Who'd A Thought It" bottom of high street then right just along Northload St.  Decent Palmer's ales, good grub, cosy bar & nice outside space.

Also has some early festival posters that I suspect are originals.

[Ayrshire Chris]

On 1/3/2024 at 6:56 PM, parsonjack said:

One more pub not yet mentioned.....the "Who'd A Thought It" bottom of high street then right just along Northload St.  Decent Palmer's ales, good grub, cosy bar & nice outside space.

Knight's chippy (the best for miles...) is just yards away from the pub.

Nice beer garden in the who’d a thought it. And agree with you about the chippy!

[G1T]

Oh, and another vote here for the Queen of Cups. We live in town too, but despite walking past it most days, we only went there for the first time the other week. It was exceptionally good, nearly all vegetarian apart from a couple of choice meaty bits from the exellent Stephens' Butchers round the corner. It's not a budget option, but actually for how much we ordered and how good it was I didn't think the price was that unreasonable at all.

Also, if you're interested in picking up bits of old festival memorabilia, then the Oxfam shop on the market cross end of Northload Street generally has a good selection of stuff around the time of the festival. The festival donates boxes of spare stuff to that shop from time to time.

[Popsider75]

That's a good tip ref the Oxfam Shop . Like a decent mooch in charity shops.

[fightoffyour]

I thought Knight's Fish & Chips was great, curry sauce by the bucket load and they have a small garden area out back. But then I'm starved of such culinary delights outside the UK, so my standards may have dropped.

[EavisAintDead]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:39 AM, fightoffyour said:

I thought Knight's Fish & Chips was great, curry sauce by the bucket load and they have a small garden area out back. But then I'm starved of such culinary delights outside the UK, so my standards may have dropped.

They're currently in the top 5 F&C shops in the country  - https://fishfriersreview.co.uk/headline_story/here-is-the-top-5-shortlist-for-restaurant-of-the-year-2024/#:~:text=Eric's Fish and Chips in,Restaurant of the Year gong.

 

They might even win the number 1 spot

[fightoffyour]

45 minutes ago, EavisAintDead said:

They're currently in the top 5 F&C shops in the country  - https://fishfriersreview.co.uk/headline_story/here-is-the-top-5-shortlist-for-restaurant-of-the-year-2024/#:~:text=Eric's Fish and Chips in,Restaurant of the Year gong.

 

They might even win the number 1 spot

You can't be number 1 without serving battered chips! But at least my feelings were correct