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Im doing a 2 day cycle trip in the Cotswolds this weekend. The plan was for me and a mate to travel down by train from London Paddington and meeting our other fried travelling up from Bristol in Gloucester on Saturday morning. We then had a 2 day loop planned where we would get out train back to London on Sunday afternoon.
However, due to Great Western Railway being bunch a backward thinking idiots I now need to drive us both from London. Apparently you have a book a bike space for the train, even at the weekends. Ok, no problem I thought, make sense as at least we know we won't get turned away at the ticket barrier. The problem is that according to GWR customer services, they now only have 1 bike space available on the trains out of London. That's not "there's only 1 space left", it's "these trains only have 1 space available for booking". Apparently their advice oi there are two of you travelling is to "go on separate trains"!
So, I actually suspect this is not actually true but I can't be bothered with the risk, hassle and extra expense that going by train will entail.
Therefore, can anyone recommend somewhere safe and reliable to park my car as close to Gloucester train station as possible? Does the station have a decent car park? I'll be arriving Saturday morning and leaving Sunday afternoon. I don't mind paying, it'll still be preferable to giving my cash to GWR.
Original car park at the station is large and has CCTV, run by Apcoa about £9/day either cash or more reliably by card or phone. New 200+ car park just opened, not sure if they've put cctv into it yet though. There should be plenty of space at the weekend as it's not rugby season. Hope that helps
Tots agree GWR are something else
The big railway car park is good, have left my car there during the day regularly. You can't book more than 24hrs parking, but if you get the Apcoa Connect app, then you can book the current day when you arrive, then the following day after midnight. It's around £5.50 for 24hrs.
Cheers, had a look online at the NCP there which has prices of £4 for 24 hours. Says it's open 24/7 but doesn't say what happens if you stay longer than 24 hours. Just want something I can park in then pay whatever it costs when I return.
Yeah, GWR make it so difficult to even find the info and when you do it still doesn't make sense. I'm sure I could just rock up the the station and it would all be fine but it's an hour for me to cycle to Paddington so have decided to bin it and drive which will actually be quicker and cheaper anyway
The NCP is over the road from the train station - you need this APCOA location https://www.apcoaconnect.com/locationDetail/?id=208
From the webite, you can buy 2 days worth of parking, the app only lets you buy 24hrs at a time
Cheers for the help so far but my Bristol buddy has now requested that the starting point is Cheltenham if we're driving as it's easier for him. I knew switching transport would throw a spanner in the works.
Same question but for Cheltenham regarding parking?
Your ride is starting at the train station?
Or can you park a bit away from it?
We can probably start a bit away but the guy coming from Bristol is coming by train so it makes an obvious starting point
Bump in case the Friday crowd can offer any Cheltenham insight
There's a fair bit of on street parking in the proximity of Cheltenham Spa station (Queens Road, Christchurch Road, Libertus Road and other side streets off them). There'll be plenty of other cars parked up so it might need a few minutes driving round to find a space, but I'd bet you'll be able to find somewhere within half a mile of the station easily enough. I'd have no qualms about leaving a car around that area.
Out of interest, where are you going in the 'Wolds? Can give you some pub ideas etc if you like.
I have a shop with car park you can use at GL51 0TD, It's about a 10 min ride from the station. Or there is a trading estate opposite the station you could park up in?
Cheers both. Route is approximately cheltenham, bishops cleeve, stanway, stow on the wolf, button on the water and an overnight in Cirencester. Day two is off to Kemble, cherington, Stonehouse and back to Cheltenham.
Have had no hand in route planning so no idea what it's like.
Atif, what's the shop and car park situation? No offense and it's very generous but ideally I was hoping for some secure parking
Ended up parking on a residential street just near the station (one of the ones off Queens road). Cheers for the advice
Bloody hell, only just seen this, could have given you some eating tips for Cirencester. And maybe even met you for a pint.
And I can't wait to visit Stow on the Wolf and Button on the Water 🙂
Ah, maybe another time. Ended up eating at the Italian place next door to pizza express and sampling a couple of local pubs. Were pretty knackered so it was a quiet night all round
Haha, auto correct and posting in a hurry don't go well together!
Well, I'd have suggested the Italian place next to Pizza Express, we were there last night ourselves!
It was pretty good and I feel I earnt my tiramisu. It's was recommended but the guy running the hostel