Getting to RIAT from Swindon

[chbla]

Hi there,

I'm from Austria and will be at a hotel in Swindon from around 15th to 20th. I first thought I'd get a rental car, but I think
it's not really worth it.

Since I assume the preferred way is to not use the probably crowded shuttle buses starting at 7, I wondered:

1. Are there any Taxi/Cabs available before 7AM and easy to get? If so, does anyone know how much it would cost?
2. Would it make sense to get there by bike if I could rent a bike or e-bike?
3. Are ladders/steps allowed and if so where could I get one in Swindon?
4. What do you suggest or what would you do?

I've never been there so I don't really know how early you have to be there, etc.
I'm (of course) there for photography and if possible would like a good position. Not the best but a good one

Thanks a lot for any kind of help,
Christoph

PS. if someone has some space left in their cars and needs a passenger, let me know

[Luke28]

Just get the shuttle bus mate, between 7 and 8.30 you'll walk straight on and be in the base 20 minutes later...Any other method is not worth using

[B-1B]

Just get the shuttle bus mate, between 7 and 8.30 you'll walk straight on and be in the base 20 minutes later...Any other method is not worth using

Hit the nail on the head here.

[aviodromefriend]

Hi there,

I'm from Austria and will be at a hotel in Swindon from around 15th to 20th. I first thought I'd get a rental car, but I think
it's not really worth it.

Since I assume the preferred way is to not use the probably crowded shuttle buses starting at 7, I wondered:

1. Are there any Taxi/Cabs available before 7AM and easy to get? If so, does anyone know how much it would cost?
2. Would it make sense to get there by bike if I could rent a bike or e-bike?
3. Are ladders/steps allowed and if so where could I get one in Swindon?
4. What do you suggest or what would you do?

I've never been there so I don't really know how early you have to be there, etc.
I'm (of course) there for photography and if possible would like a good position. Not the best but a good one

Thanks a lot for any kind of help,
Christoph

PS. if someone has some space left in their cars and needs a passenger, let me know

1. There are cabs that are available before 7AM, which your hotel should be able to advice you on, but my experience is that when they hear you want to go to Fairford they turn it down very easily. I don't think you can get one for less than 35 Pounds. That is one-way-trip. How to get one for the return trip? No idea. In the traffic plan there isn't thought about that option.
2. You'll have to cross some normally very busy roads, and follow a lot of overcrowded roads. If you want to increase that traffic problem, you have just thought up the perfect solution. Remember: a bike ride was the way how some anti-RIAT protesters wanted to disrupt the show a few years back.
3. Not allowed within 10 meters of the crowdline.
4. Shuttle busses.They won't be very crowded as they will just drive off when capacity is reached (and this is checked during the boarding process).

[glendale]

I live in Swindon and im also a cab driver by trade..the company I work for have our office located in the upstairs car park at the train station. on show days I highly recommend the shuttle bus. A tip when ordering a cab is not to say you are going to the airshow but say you are going to kempsford village as most of the entry gates are here. the company I work for is cross street cars.we are open 24/7 and the fare will be no more than £20 each way from every hotel or bb in Swindon. you can contact us on 01793 23 23 23.last year I met some great people through this forum and I will always be happy to give any help about hotels and any local food outlets etc

[Brevet Cable]

The attendance figures for RIAT are probably about half what they used to be ( no doubt someone will correct me on this )
As such , the days of the jam-packed crowdlines dozens of rows deep are a thing of the past -- if you go beyond 'crowdline-centre' towards the ends of the crowdline , the further you go the emptier it becomes.

Given that the shuttle bus costs all of £2 return ( according to the RIAT website ) and can be paid for in advance when you purchase your RIAT tickets , I'd say that was a good bargain.
As for the 07:00 first-departure of the buses , there's really not much point in getting there earlier as the gates don't open until 07:30 , so all you'll be doing before that is standing in a queue.

[vulcan57]

Shuttle bus was £6 return last year. Still cheap and convenient as the buses get a dedicated route to the airfield and so avoid the worst of the traffic.

[Brevet Cable]

Just double-checked on their website :

Catch the Shuttle Bus from Swindon Bus Station for only £2 return per day, in addition to the cost of your Air Tattoo admission ticket. This is only available online in advance.

The final line could be read two ways --
Either 1. You can only buy the bus ticket in advance ( not on the day ) , which seems unlikely ....
Or 2. the £2 is a discount package price & the on-the-day bus ticket price will be higher.
Not exactly explained very well on the RIAT website.

Swindon bus station is about , what , 10 miles from Fairford ?? If so , £6 return is still very cheap.

[chbla]

Thanks a lot guys, especially Glendon!

I'm not sure how crowded it will be, or how other photographers (with huge lenses) are doing it.. my fear is that if I take the bus I will have to fight
for a good position to take pictures from
I guess I will take the shuttle on the first day and just have a look how things are going..

[vulcan57]

You can buy a combined RIAT and shuttle bus ticket and in that case the shuttle will cost £2 alright. If you get the shuttle on the day it'll be £6. Another point that you may not know is that the shuttle buses only run on show days. Just said I'd mention that as you say you'll be there from about the 15th to 20th July.

[Hammerhead]

Just to note the shuttle buses only run on the show days, so if your looking to do the arrival or departure days they wont be available.
I assume if your staying in Swindon from the 15th to 20th you would be better off hiring a car as taxi fare to and from Fairford would be the dearer option...

[chbla]

I had to change the dates now from 16th to 20th - but yeah, have to find a way to get there on the two extra days, if I'm in the UK early enough
We will see, thanks for the input though!

[Harlequin67]

http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/visiting/visitorinformation/travel

I thought a link to the travel and shuttle bus info was useful, not just for the Original Poster, but other people might find it helpful.

[chbla]

Can anyone recommend prepaid internet or other sim cards? I'm staying 2 days in London plus the airshow days in Swindon.
Would be nice to have cheap internet access there

[play it cool]

The shuttle works quite well - what seems like a long queue soon moves along. Two years ago however we had a long and uncomfortable ride back as it got stuck in all the other traffic and the heating was on in the bus. I accept it was a one off but am now back to driving again. If I was based in Swindon over the weekend I'd be happy to use it though.

[aviodromefriend]

The shuttle works quite well - what seems like a long queue soon moves along. Two years ago however we had a long and uncomfortable ride back as it got stuck in all the other traffic and the heating was on in the bus. I accept it was a one off but am now back to driving again. If I was based in Swindon over the weekend I'd be happy to use it though.

From that year on, I had the same experience. Also I noticed the route to and from the airfield was completely different compared to earlier years (didn't pass the County Ground football stadium, for example). Also noticable: that was the year when Stagecoach took over the shuttles from Thamesdown. Is that a coïncidence or some real reason why it was run less perfect?

[chbla]

I'm staying a bit outside Swindon (Angel Hotel, High St) so I need to get to the Bus Station first.
I saw that I can take the bus only on Friday (http://www.swindonbus.info/tts/055.htm) if I want to arrive at 7am.

Would you recommend a cab? How much would that usually cost? (@Glendale)

[devoefc]

Is anyone travelling to the base on Monday 20th July for departures from swindon? We are staying in swindon town centre and was looking to see if anyone would like to cab share

[chbla]

Well.. I have to admit the shuttle bus organization is horrible.

Took the first bus on Friday at 7, the driver had no clue whatsoever where he needs to go.
Drove into the wrong direction, stopped, had to call someone, waiting waiting waiting..
It took over 1 hour to get there.

On Saturday I didn't manage to get the first one, the one I took had the same problems, 15 mins
of wasted time because we went into the wrong direction and had to go back.

On Sunday I found someone driving there.

While the airshow in general is organized pretty good, the shuttle buses are a nightmare, I cannot recommend this at all.

[aviodromefriend]

Well.. I have to admit the shuttle bus organization is horrible.

Took the first bus on Friday at 7, the driver had no clue whatsoever where he needs to go.
Drove into the wrong direction, stopped, had to call someone, waiting waiting waiting..
It took over 1 hour to get there.

We must have been in the same bus then

As you could have seen through the windows of the bus, someone in something called an "Emergency Response Vehicle" did manage to get hold of a number of cones that escaped from being used at RAF Fairford to close off the road that the shuttles were planned to use. As the driver explained to the people in the bus when he stopped at that busstop, he wanted to try to let the next busses not run into the same situation, so the no-clue or wrong direction is quite a bit different then horrible organisation, more a move to get on track as good as possible. It was not his fault that the other option to get to Faiford was to get through the jam of the blue route, and after that cleared into the carparks having to cope with red. The wait near the entrance was more about the event staff that didn't seem to know how to handle incoming traffic.

[chbla]

Well, of course I'm a bit upset and maybe seeing it to negative - but if it is well organized then this cannot happen in my eyes
And especially the waiting time near the entrance was really avoidable - staff looked like they see a bus for the first time, if that's not bad organization then I have no idea this
would look like..

[vulcan57]

We got one of the first buses on Friday as well, one with a women driver. She informed us on the way out that she had to divert to a different route out of Swindon due to a major fire. When we got to the base we were driving around there for almost 15 minutes because different people kept directing us in different directions, and not the drivers fault. Yes took more than hour that day. They also went a different route, not through kempsford, on the Friday. No problems on sat and sun though.

[chbla]

Thanks for the information! Of course a fire cannot be foreseen.
I think we came by that house on the way back.

[SWATCO]

The situation must have changed on Sunday as I thought it was effortless- got straight onto one bus at 8am, on base by 8.35ish; no problems. Same with the return journey, straight onto a bus, got the very first seat on the bus like on the way there and was back at Swindon bus station in just over half an hour.