Travel
Get info on how to travel to the festival and tips on the easiest, most affordable options
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DAY RETURN COACH: Travel on Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday. Your carbon-neutral coach will arrive at the festival gates before the music starts and return to your pick-up location after the headliners. You won’t need to worry about leaving early to catch the last train, booking expensive hotels or being the designated driver! NEW FOR 2025: 20 brand new day-return pick-up locations. View the timetable here
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Reading train station is a 15-20 minute walk from the festival site. There are many routes from throughout the country to the station, including from London Paddington.
The last trains leaving Reading train station are often incredibly busy and do not run late on Friday and Saturday night. Please leave extra time if you’re planning on using these services.
To check train times and service providers, please visit the National Rail website.
Please visit the Network Rail website here to check for planned engineering work prior to travelling.
When going home by train, make sure you leave at least an hour to get to your train from the festival site exit gate.
TRAVELLING BY TRAIN? MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A VALID TICKET WITH YOU
Things to remember when travelling to and from the festival by train…
Great Western Railway (GWR) conduct a full scale revenue protection exercise for the entirety of the event.
This means that they are looking for people without valid tickets
If you can’t produce a valid ticket you are likely to face significant extra costs and the possibility of criminal prosecution
TO AVOID SPOLING YOUR WEEKEND:
- Make sure you have a valid ticket with you
- Make sure you have enough charge in your phone so that you can show your ticket when asked.
- If you are aged 16 or over you must purchase an adult ticket
- If you apply a railcard discount when you buy your ticket you must posses that railcard and present it when asked
- You must have a ticket for the entirety of your journey
- If using CPay (your bank card within the Transport for London scheme) then make sure you tap in at the station you joined the train (any station between London Paddington and Reading)
- Oyster cards are not valid at Reading Station
GWR LOOK FOR ALTERED RAILCARDS AND TICKETS:
- Do not copy and share your ticket or railcard with others
- GWR can see when they are/have been used by someone else”
To help you on your way to or from Reading Festival, Reading Buses are running a shuttle bus service which picks up and drops-off at:
Festival Side:
Service 97/98 – Thames Side Promenade, Reading ///broke.pepper.cats
Reading Town:
Service 98 – Reading Station North, stop ND ///dust.ranges.photo
Service 97 – Sainsburys Friar Street, Reading ///invite.object.shelf
Prices and the Reading Buses App:
Buy your bus tickets on the app to speed up your journey.
For those wanting an easy and hassle-free way of travelling to the festival from town, simply download the Reading Buses app. You can get both a single trip or weekend ticket and check the timetable for both routes. No need to worry about carrying any money, just activate, scan and go!
Single ticket – £1.50
Festival shuttles are just £1.50 each journey to make things nice and simple. Make it easy on yourself and buy in advance on the app.
Weekend bus ticket – £6.50
Exclusively available on the Reading Buses app. Unlimited travel on routes 97 and 98 all weekend!
No cash will be accepted. Customers can pay with their card either on one of the handhelds from a member of Reading buses staff selling tickets, or by tapping on-bus ticket machine.
Please see Reading Buses’ Festival website for further information: https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/festival
TIMETABLES
Check back soon for 2025 timetables
FREE BOATS SERVICE
Shuttle boats will run from Green Gate to Green Car Park and from Green Car Park to Green Gate at the times below:
WED 20th: 13:00 – 22:00
THURS 21st: 08:00 – Midnight
FRI 22nd: 08:00 – 01:00 (Saturday)
SAT 23rd: 08:00 – 01:00 (Sunday)
SUN 24th: 08:00 – 02:00 (Monday)
MON 25th: 08:00 – 14:00
There is a FREE boat service that will take you from Kings Meadow (Green Car Park) to Green Gate where you get onto the festival site. More details here. It’s operated by Thames Rivercruise.
Please don’t use other boats as they may be unsafe, unlicensed, dangerous and charge you ££££!
SWIMMING AND BRIDGE JUMPING – Our advice is don’t. Just don’t. Here’s why…
• rubbish in the river (broken glass, metal, shopping trollies (lots of shopping trollies) etc.
• strong currents – too strong for you to fight against.
• cold water – it always is in the Thames, even in summer – hypothermia and drowning can follow
• boats! Do you want to get pulled under or hit by a boat propeller ?
• locks or weirs – it would be plain daft to swim here wouldn’t it!!.
• depth of water? – dive or jump into shallow water and you can get paralysed from your spinal injuries
• never, ever, push someone in. Something terrible could happen to them which you’ll regret for the rest of your life.
Green Car Park: Thames Lido – An urban retreat located in Reading – right next to green car park. You can book a 2 hour guest swimming slot, and cool off in a beautifully restored Edwardian lido in complete safety -no boats, no rats, no waterborne diseases, no submerged objects to hurt you – perfect!!
Taxis will be available from Reading train station. The main festival taxi pick up/drop off point will be on Tessa Road, near Red Gate and will cost approx. £5-6. Busy traffic/slow journeys will increase the price.
Taxis are not allowed access to drop off at the White Campsite (Mapledurham). If you want to get to the White Campsite without parking there you should access the site at Red or Green Gate and walk through the campsites to the bridge.
Queues for taxis leaving site are often quite long, particularly on Sunday night/Monday morning, so consider pre-booking a private hire to collect you from the designated pick up area at the far end of Tessa Road.
We strongly recommend people don’t drive to Rockstar Energy presents Reading Festival but take public transport. The train station is very close to the festival site and shuttle buses run back and forth for £1.50 single.
If you do drive, please follow the AA signage and directions on your car pass and not your Sat Nav. Please be aware, some of our car parks are located on grass fields which may not be suitable for certain car suspensions. To gain more information, please see ‘contact us’.
Parking
We have two public car parks which open as per the times of the campsites. Follow the colour-coded AA signs to park.
Weekend Car Parks
White & Green Weekend Car Park passes are valid from Wednesday – Monday for Early Entry Pass + Weekend Ticket holders and from Thursday – Monday for Weekend Ticket Holders.
You must display an actual car park pass in your car – printed booking confirmations will not be accepted as a car park pass.
Day Car Parks
Car Parks are open from 8am for Day Ticket holders with a ticket for that day. Day Car Park Passes are available on the gate, subject to availability.
Day Car Park Passes often sell out in advance in which case there would be no passes available to buy on the gate and you would be directed to a public car park in Reading town which may cost more.
You must display an actual Car Park Pass in your car – printed booking confirmations will not be accepted as a car park pass – if you do not receive an actual pass from your ticket agent, you must contact them before leaving for the festival, otherwise you will be charged for a replacement pass on the gate.
White Car Park
The White Car Park is situated in Mapledurham, next to the White campsite.
Any weekend vehicles coming north or west of Reading should go to the White Car Park.
All public campervans and caravans should follow signs for White Car Park. Please note: There is no access to the festival for Day Ticket holders from the White Car Park, nor for those who need to visit the Guest or Access Check-In points.
There is also strictly no drop-offs or pick-ups allowed at any time.
Directions to White Car Park
FROM M4 EASTBOUND – Junction 11 or 12
FROM M3 – Junction 6
FROM M40 COMING FROM THE WEST – Junction 9
Green Car Park
Green Car Park is situated in Kings Meadow.
Any weekend vehicles coming from the East or South of Reading should go to the Green car park which is situated close to Napier Road, Reading.
All day ticket holders will go to Green car park No access for drop-offs or pick up
Broad Street Mall Carpark, Reading.
Please see here at a later date.
Q Park, Chatham Place, Reading
Please see here at a later date.
Drop off/pick up point
There are numerous drop off/pick up points for the festival:
- Private hire taxis drop off/pick up on Cremyll Road, off Tessa Road
- Hackney carriages/black cabs drop off/pick up on Tessa Road
- Minibuses drop off/pick up point is at Kings Meadow car park
- Parents/friends drop off/pick up is at Hills Meadow car park
- From 6:00am -2:00pm on Monday 26th August, Hackney carriages/black cabs will also pick up from Thames Side Promenade (the road next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel)
- Do not attempt to drop off or pick up anywhere near Richfield Avenue or the White or Green Car Parks.
Once you’ve arrived, follow the signs to the festival entrance.
Leaving the site
Our peak exit times are between 8:00am and 1:00pm on Bank Holiday Monday, 26th August. Please plan ahead and organise leaving arrangements before you arrive at the festival.
Please ensure you have a good exit planned, with a sober and well-rested driver by the time you are ready to leave.
Important parking information for Day ticket holders & guest/disabled access ticket holders – there is no access from the White Car Park to the Green Day Gate for Day Ticket holders or the guest/disabled access check in because both of these are situated on the other side of the river.
You will not be able to access the festival site from the White Car Park unless you have a standard Weekend ticket (+ Early Entry Pass for access on Wednesday).
If you have a Day Ticket, you must either purchase a Green Day Car Park Pass for the corresponding day to your ticket or, once these are sold out, either travel to the festival using public transport or utilise one of the public car parks in Reading town detailed below. You can only enter the festival site via the Green Day Gate.
If you have a Guest (Day or Weekend) or disabled access ticket, you will be provided with the relevant parking information for your ticket type closer to the festival, please do not purchase a White Car Park Pass or attempt to access the site via the White Car Park/Pedestrian entrance as you will be turned away.
Railair operate a direct Reading to London Heathrow bus service which uses Reading Train Station as a drop-off and pick-up point. This service is best when pre-booked, which can be done at the Railair website.
Please note this bus service does not stop at any other locations other than Reading and the London Heathrow terminals.
If you plan to book a coach for you and your friends from a private operator to drop you off / pick you up at Reading Festival please go ahead and book your coach. Depending on the capacity of your coach, you may need to purchase/book a slot for your pick up/drop off near the festival site at a later date, see below for more info.
Not all vehicles require a booking. Descriptions of vehicles:
- (A) ) A Minibus: is a vehicle which holds up to 16 passengers (+ driver).
- (B) A Coach: is a vehicle which holds from 17 passengers (+ driver) up to 49 passengers or more (+ driver)
If (A) applies, you do not need to purchase any extra tickets. Your driver can pick you up and drop you off at Kings Meadow, RG1 8DF between 8:00am 20/08/2025 and 25/08/2025 17:00pm.
If (B) applies, you will need to book/purchase a pick up and drop off slot, please see here for more info on how to do that in due course.
If you wish to speak to somebody sooner, please do email coaches@readingfestival.com. This email box will be monitored from Feb 2025.