Cheltenham - Trip Planning

Wicked

Hi everyone,

well i'm hoping to suprise my other half with flights and tickets to cheltenham for christmas. i looked up the cheltenham website, tickets seem to be ok but i'm not sure of the difference in stands i.e.Tattersalls, BestMate tickets?

Do ye know which are the best tickets to buy?

also do you fly into liverpool, bristol or bermingham?? and where's the best places to stay?

looking forward to any advice ye can give.

Wicked

Colonel Sanders

Wicked wrote: »

Hi everyone,

well i'm hoping to suprise my other half with flights and tickets to cheltenham for christmas. i looked up the cheltenham website, tickets seem to be ok but i'm not sure of the difference in stands i.e.Tattersalls, BestMate tickets?

Do ye know which are the best tickets to buy?

also do you fly into liverpool? and where's the best places to stay?

looking forward to any advice ye can give.

Wicked

Either Tatts or Club would be the way to go. Best Mate enclosure doesn't have access to the paddock or the main bookmakers ring and apparently can be quite rough, especially on Gold Cup day. I'd advise Tatts myself as its pretty easy to sneak into club

Flying into either Birmingham or Bristol is the handiest, trains then run to Cheltenham. Ryanair fly to both and Aer Lingus fly to Birmingham as well

For accommodation either do a google search on hotels or check out this site for B&B's. The lady is called Liz Coe and is very easy to deal with. She'll sort you out with a decent place close to the race course

Wicked

hey ya, cheers for all the advice.

its great, thanks


Wicked

meriwether

I really hope you're my Girlfriend.

If you are, take the bins out tonight, Ill be late home.

Love u xx

cdb

A group of us in work went to the Cheltenham trials last January on the back of our weekly winnings - given the time of year it worked out very well price-wise - compared with the festival proper anyway.

Flew Ryanair to Bristol, car hire with Avis and stayed in the Cheltenham Chase hotel. Hassle free travel both ways and a lovely hotel - if a little far away from the action. If I remember correctly we went for the Barracouda package which included tickets drinks and bets. The racing was fantastic and the craic was mighty so I'm sure you will love the whole experience

This year we're flying AerLingus to Birmingham, hotels shouldn't be a problem for the trials but be sure to book early for the festival. Good luck.

Wicked

meriwether wrote: »

I really hope you're my Girlfriend.

If you are, take the bins out tonight, Ill be late home.

Love u xx

ha ha no

careca

Wicked

I would definetly go with Club tickets. If you buy them before 7th Dec they are £60. They go up to £65 after that and £70 after Christmas. Best place to watch the races though.

Just so you know (and your boyfriend might not thank me for this), the four days racing is one tough slog, so maybe one or two days would be enough.

I went this year for Tue and Wed (same next year) and its perfect, although some die hards would insist on being there for the Gold Cup on the Friday. Should be a good race this year, but the crowds that day are absolutely huge and uncomfortable at times.

joint 11th

The tickets seem to be £75 for cheltenham Gold cup at the minute?

Colonel Sanders

joint 11th wrote: »

The tickets seem to be £75 for cheltenham Gold cup at the minute?

Yeah they went up a few years ago and are pretty steep alright

finbarrk

joint 11th wrote: »

The tickets seem to be £75 for cheltenham Gold cup at the minute?

But you don't have to pay £75 for a ticket. A Tattersalls one will get you in the gate and it's around £40 maybe. If you have enough neck you can sneak into the Club Enclosure and if not the Tatts is ok anyway.

aw

If you just want everything organised in a package, maybe look at
Tully Travel

Might cost a bit extra but it's the ideal for anyone maybe going on their first time.
I found the best part was the racecourse transfers. No hassle with taxis or buses.
Went with them last year and stayed in the Travelodge and I'm going again this year. Different accomodation this year though.

finbarrk

The Racing Post will have adds for accomodation every Saturday in the New Year. Loads of B&B'S and houses to rent. Hotels are too expensive. Well, they used to be anyway. If you can get a B&B in the town you won't need a car or taxi.

Cantoris

If the flights into Birmingham are expensive then also consider Heathrow as there is an hourly bus service to Cheltenham from the airport which takes two and a half hours (if you avoid rush hour). You need to book bus though but can work out much cheaper than Birmingham. The latter is very convenient but the flights and train are expensive.

For accomodation, Liz Coe is good and I'd go for somewhere between the track and town so you can walk to both. I'd also agree with OP that Tues/Wed are good days to go. That's what I do and since they made the fourth day, the crowds on the first two days are down so it's easy to move around.

It's a fabulous experience.

joint 11th

There is 8 of us flying to Bristol on the Friday morning. Does anyone know how much would it be to get a taxibus straight to cheltenham?

Does anyone know any companies that would do this run?

thanks

finbarrk

£120 as far as I remember. Loads of companies here. I can't think which one we used though.

http://www.britinfo.net/taxis/TATDP28050.htm

dietgirl

I have a flight heading over thur back sat if anybody knowa anybody looking for one.