Getting There & Around – British Grand Prix
Advice on the best ways to get to Silverstone for the British Formula 1 Grand Prix. The next race is on July 6-8, 2018.
Silverstone is located approximately 130km (80 miles) North East of London in the direction of Birmingham. It’s a rural circuit that doesn’t benefit from great access. That’s probably why so many fans camp near the circuit each year, saving the daily hassle of negotiating the heavy traffic on the small country lanes to and from the circuit. It’s not all bad though, unless it rains! Depending on where you decide to stay, here are the best ways to get to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
AIRPORTS NEAR SILVERSTONE
If you are flying into the UK, there is a good choice of airports which are relatively close to Silverstone, including London’s five main airports: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), London City (LCY), Stansted (STN) and Luton (LTN). The closest of the five airports to Silverstone is Luton, but it’s still approximately 50 miles (80km) away. Birmingham Airport (BHX) is a similar distance from the circuit. Luton in particularly has a good selection of discount carrier flights from different European destinations. By the same token, Silverstone is also only a train ride away from London, and there are also dedicated coach services running from the capital to the circuit on Grand Prix weekend, so it’s worth considering staying in London and making the most of the city by night.
- From Europe: there’s no shortage of flights from Europe to the UK with both flag carriers and discount airlines. Check Ryanair & EasyJet for the best deals from as little as €100 return.
- From the USA: most direct flights from the USA arrive at London Heathrow airport (LHR), though a handful fly into Gatwick (LGW). The flight time is from 8-11 hours. Expect to pay at least $800-1200 USD return.
- From Australia: expect a travel time of at least 24 hours to fly from Australia to the UK, with at least one stop along the way. Qantas now transits in Dubai whilst other carriers transit in large Asian hubs such as Singapore or Hong Kong. Flights from Australia to the UK are expensive at this time of year ($2000-2500 AUD return)
OTHER WAYS TO GET TO THE UK
Eurostar: Western European visitors can also make use of the quick and affordable Eurostar train service from Paris and Lyon. The direct service via the Channel Tunnel takes just 2.5 hours from Paris Gare du Nord to Kings Cross St Pancras in central London. Return tickets on Grand Prix weekend from €89.
Ferry: Putting your car on the ferry and driving to Silverstone is also an option, particularly if you are camping near the track. Dover is also well-connected with London train stations, and Silverstone can be reached within a few hours of docking. A return ticket on the Calais-Dover ferry for two passengers with a car costs from €160 with P&O Ferries.
How to get to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix
TRAINS TO SILVERSTONE
If you opt to stay in London, it’s a good idea to stay close to Euston Station, which has fast connections to Milton Keynes and Northampton – the closest large stations to the circuit. Trains to Northampton are normally direct and take around one hour; return tickets from £15 if booked in advance. Trains to Milton Keynes Central can take as little as 30 minutes and cost about the same when booked in advance. Trains to Banbury are also worth considering; you will get a little closer to the circuit, but trains take longer (90 minutes from Euston). To check times, fares and book your tickets, visit National Rail.
Stagecoach runs regular buses on British Grand Prix weekend from the train stations in Northampton and Milton Keynes to Silverstone. Single day return tickets cost £16-20, 3-day tickets are £32-35. Megabus runs a service from Banbury train station.
Taxis are also readily available to take you from the train station to the circuit – you shouldn’t pay more than £35 GBP for a one-way trip between from Silverstone and Banbury, Northampton or Milton Keynes train stations. Stick to licenced vehicles and steer clear of private minicabs if possible.
BUSES TO SILVERSTONE
Zeelo run direct coaches to Silverstone from 4 major locations across the UK. With no stops or changes on route, it’s the quickest and most convenient way to get to Silverstone for race day. Zeelo coaches are executive standard, with WiFi, Leather seats, aircon and toilets all on board. The services aim to get into Silverstone at 10am, and return at 4.30pm. Here are the 2017 prices: London to Silverstone – £32 return / Bristol to Silverstone – £35 return / Leeds to Silverstone – £33 return / Birmingham to Silverstone – £28.
Megabus also runs a popular service transporting F1 fans to Silverstone from fifty locations all over the UK on race weekend. All buses are scheduled to arrive at Silverstone no later than 10am each day and depart the circuit around 4.30pm. From more popular locations, the buses run each day of the event (from further afield, only on the weekend or race day).
DRIVING TO SILVERSTONE
Silverstone sits between the M1 and the M40 motorways, both of which head out of London and connect with Oxford and Birmingham (M40 – near junction 10) and Milton Keynes and Northampton (M1 – junction 15a). Access to the track is from the Dadford Road which runs north from Buckingham and south from the A43 and Silverstone village. The journey should take 90 minutes from London, 60 minutes from Birmingham, 45 minutes from Oxford and 30 minutes from Northampton. Traffic on Grand Prix weekend can add to these journey times significantly, however.
Trackside Parking: The organizers have improved trackside parking with new layouts and better drainage after heavy rains in 2011 caused havoc. For fans sitting in the grandstands on the western side of the circuit such as Luffield or Abbey, the official trackside carpark is your best bet. If you are in one of the grandstands on the eastern side of the circuit, such as Copse or Becketts, then the closest parking is at Whittlebury Park. Try to arrive early (particularly on the weekend) to avoid the inevitable queues down the winding country lanes. Parking tickets cost £65 for 3 days (£15 for Friday / £25 for Saturday / £50 for Sunday) and can be purchased together with your tickets. All parking tickets MUST be pre-booked (e.g. when buying your race tickets). You won’t get into the circuit if you haven’t already bought a a parking ticket, and could pay a fine. (Motorbike parking is provided free of charge.) Buy Silverstone parking tickets from Gootickets.
Park and Ride: If you want to avoid the traffic jams coming into and out of the circuit (particularly on race day) and save yourself some money on the high cost of trackside parking, then Park & Ride is worth considering. The two locations are not determined yet for 2017, but will be next to the M1 and M40 (previous locations were Hedges Airfield and Sixfields Stadium respectively). Three-day park and ride tickets cost £25, less than half the price of trackside parking (and without the traffic!) Single-day tickets are £15. Regular free shuttle buses take fans to the circuit and back each day.
What is your advice on the best way to get to Silverstone? Leave a comment below!
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Tags: british grand prix parking, getting there british f1 grand prix, how to get to silverstone, megabus to silverstone, silverstone park and ride, silverstone parking, trains to silverstone
Andrew – this is very helpful. We are planning on attending the Moto GP race in August staying in Northampton and this gives us some options.
Glad to help Bill. I’m hoping to launch a new website soon that covers similar advice for MotoGP and other series! Enjoy Silverstone
Andrew: couple of queries-
1. I will be attending on Sunday. Are there queues at the park and ride?
2. How long does the park and ride bus take both ways?
3. Are you allowed to take cameras/lenses into the circuit?
Many thanks in advance.
Hi Colin, I’m sorry, I don’t have specific answers to your first two questions. But I would think there is likely to be queues for the park and ride on race day. You shouldn’t have any problems taking your camera and lenses into the circuit, but don’t take too big a lens; anything under 300m should be ok
If I am travelling from Northamptonshire by car it says the journey is 30 minutes but leave significantly more, How much more should I realistically allow? How bad is the congestion?
It will be worst on Sunday, so I suggest leaving at least 90 minutes for the trip there and home. Go earlier and stay later seems to work the best!
Hi how long will it take on the Saturday to get from the six fields park and ride? Also are their any toilet facilities at the park and ride area
Thanks
Sorry Jane, I don’t have the answers to your questions, but hopefully someone else will!
Do u know how much the shuttle bus is from Milton Keynes to Silverstone
Hi Jacqueline, single day tickets cost £13 one way or £21 return for adults (£10 one way or £16 return for children). Three-day tickets cost £36 for adults and £27 for children. Click here to download the timetable.
Is there one entrance/gate or others that get you into the circuit?
Will be walking from a school car park and wanted to get to beckkets, is there a gate close to or just a main walk in entrance on Saturday
We are staying at Henley-in-Arden and our partners are attending the race on Sunday. I have been tasked with dropping them off and picking them up after the race!!! Any ideas on the best place to drop them? I don’t know the area at all. Thanks
Hi Heather, I don’t recommend driving your partners to the circuit and picking them up on race day. The traffic near the circuit is really congested and you will probably be stuck in traffic in each direction for an hour or two. Better idea would be to book them on a Megabus from Birmingham. You can drop them off and pick them up from there.
Is there any bus service from Stratford upon Avon?
Sorry James, I don’t know of any bus from Stratford upon Avon to Silverstone
We are staying in Northampton – there is the option of the N1 bus service from the bus station – is this the same a the ‘shuttle’ service??? – as the times do look a bit limited on Saturday on the timetable
Yes Mike, it’s the same. The timetable can be downloaded here.
Where are you supposed to park motorcycles? I went to the practice today and parked in one of the carparks, but I told them it was free of charge – they didn’t have a clue, and it worries me that it may not be correct when I go tomorrow and Sunday.
Hi Steve, not sure if there is a dedicated parking area for motorcycles. But you definitely don’t need to pay for parking.
Hi we are going to F1 tomorrow from Surrey what time would you recommend us leaving home???
The short answer is as early as possible! The first race starts just after 8am if you want to get up really early. The traffic is bad on race day, so the earlier you get there the better. And don’t be in a hurry to leave the circuit after the race either. Enjoy!
I can take a train from Milton Keynes to the track, correct?
No Greg, you need to take a shuttle bus from Milton Keynes train station to the track: this is run by Stagecoach, as the article says.
thanks, I should have had a morning coffee before i read :)
No worries, it happens to the best of us:)
for the stagecoach buses, is that a special bus they run for the race weekend or do you just buy a regular ticket? Can’t find any info on their site. Regular bus looks like it takes an hour or so on the weekend.
These are special buses for Grand Prix weekend. Timetables normally get announced around 2-4 weeks before the race. Best to check the main Silverstone site for more info.
Hello Andrew, we are coming in from Montreal and it’s our first British Grand Prix. We are trying to figure if it is easier to stay in London and take the train & bus or stay as close as we can to tack to avoid as much travel as possible. Our experience in Belgium with the bus was a nightmare. No special lanes so we were in traffic with everyone else. Is this the same here or do the busses have special lanes? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
If you have found an option can you let me know! I am flying in from Ottawa and getting to the track has me anxious.
I’m possibly attending the British GP this summer and have a couple of questions.
Firstly how early would I need to arrive at the circuit by car on the Sunday to avoid most of the traffic? I know “the earlier the better” is the general advice on when to arrive, but how early is early?
At the other end of the day, when will most people likely have left the circuit, so making it a good time to leave without major queuing.
Hi Ivan, I’d be aiming to get to the circuit before 8am, but you’ll still probably encounter plenty of traffic at this hour. The worst traffic leaving the circuit is probably between 4-7pm, so I’d be aiming to leave after this.
Thanks for the info.
I have a motorhome that I was hoping to stay in for the 3 days for the Grand Prix. I have got tickets on the M1 park and ride. Is is possible to stay in the M1 junction overnight??
Hi all,
Are the shuttle buses from Sixfields free of charge even when I don’t use Park and ride? Would be staying in Northampton and therefore wouldn’t need the parking ticket and wouldn’t buy that if I could still use the shuttle buses.
Does anyone know?
I would like to know this too – can anyone help? I live in Northampton and need to get there and back but as I’m not allowed to leave the car overnight I would rather get a taxi to park and ride
Hi Andrew I want suprise my father and buy ticket for Friday for him..I am not sure about few things so I would really appreciate your help.. so far I find that megabus is the best option but I’m wonder are they collecting people from birmingham airport too? If not where is the bus stop and how to get there from airport? Are the buses arrive on time to silverstone- (arriving time on timetable 9am) is that enough time to see first practice? And last thing what time all shows and events will finish on Friday?
Hi Martyna, details of Megabus services to Silverstone for 2018 can be found here. You will need to contact them to find out where the buses depart from in Birmingham, but probably from the centre. You’ll need to get from the airport to the centre I think. You can find the 2018 British GRand Prix schedule here. First F1 practice session begins at 10am on Friday and on-track action finishes at 19:00.
Finding the whole process of getting back from Silverstone very difficult! I am local in Northampton so can easily get bus there. However, all buses finish at approx 7pm even though entertainment is on until 10pm?! Seems crazy to me. So it appears the only other option is a £40 taxi.. a local business is missing a trick here! Late evening shuttles would be so ideal.
is it possible to be dropped off at silverstone is that allowed. i won tickets to 2018 silverstone f1 gp and have only receved them a week befor the event and now i cant book parking. plus i dont want to pay a ridicouls ammount for parking or a taxi or a slow bus.
Hi does anyone know if there’s a park and ride service from Milton Keynes to the track on Sunday 8th July 2018? Can’t seem to find any info
Thanks
Mike
Is there a taxi rank at the circuit so that we can get a taxi back to Milton Keynes after the Grand Prix? Or if we prebooked one, where would we ask it to pick us up? Struggling to imagine how we would find a prebooked taxi in the crowds.
Hi Jenny, check the 2018 Silverstone circuit map. You’ll find a taxi pick up/drop off point near Gate 5, behind the Family Zone.