Travelling to the Hay Festival

Festival Bus Link Hereford to Hay

Our special festival bus service linking Hay-on-Wye and the festival site with trains and coaches at Hereford's train and bus stations operates for the duration of the Festival, running up to eleven times per day from 31 May to 10 June 2012.

The bus fares will appear in the rail retail system from 1 May. If you are booking travel through the internet you will need to buy your bus ticket at Hereford station on arrival, just ask for a 'Hay Festival bus ticket'. If you buy your tickets at a staffed station, you will be able to purchase the train and the bus ticket at the same time.

2012 Hereford to Hay special bus service timetable

Festival bus tickets:
Adults	single £6.50	return £10
Children	single £2.60	return £4.70

Scheduled Bus Service: Hereford and Brecon to Hay Return

There is also a scheduled bus service from Hereford and Brecon to Hay-on-Wye operating seven days a week. Service 39 operates on weekdays and Saturdays, while Service 39A runs on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Download and print the Service 39 timetable

Download and print the Service 39A timetable

Shuttle buses

Richard Booth’s Bookshop Bus

A regular shuttle bus service running between the Festival site and Hay town centre throughout the festival. Day tickets for the shuttle bus are £1 unless a valid official Hay Festival parking ticket is presented. Pick-up and drop-off points are at the Clock Tower, Oxford Road car park and the Festival site.

The shuttle bus is sponsored by Richard Booth’s Bookshop and by Hay & District Chamber of Commerce.

Sky Shuttle Bus Service

Avoid the queues and choose the greener way to travel – leave your car at home this year and take the Sky Shuttle Bus. Sky is running bus services on three routes this year, linking up local villages to the festival site. The buses call at stops including Llanigon, Glasbury, Llowes, Clyro, Clifford, and Brecon (see timetables below). 

Download Sky Shuttle Bus Routes 1, 2 & 3 Timetable

Sky Shuttle Bus Route 1 – Hay Around The Houses

From Festival Site, calling at Llanigon, Felindre, Three Cocks and back to Festival Site.

Download PDF of 2012 Route 1 Timetable

Sky Shuttle Bus Route 2 – Hay Over The Border

From Festival Site, calling at Glasbury, Llowes, Clyro, Cliffford and back to the Festival Site.

Download PDF of 2012 Route 2 Timetable

Sky Shuttle Bus Route 3 – Hay to Brecon to Hay

From Festival Site, calling at Glasbury, Three Cocks, Talgarth, Bronllys, Felinfach and Brecon Bus Station, and return.

This extra Sky bus service is to meet late night and early morning gaps in provision as there are two service buses, the 39A and B12, which operate a normal service between Hay and Brecon.

Download PDF of 2012 Route 3 Timetable

The shuttle bus is generously provided by Sky
Day tickets are just £2 payable as a charitable donation to Sky Rainforest Rescue

Coach

Coach enquiries:
08705 80 80 80
nationalexpress.com

Hereford bus station is served by coaches as follows:

From London Victoria, London Heathrow, Cirencester and Gloucester
From Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham and Worcester

Train

Railway enquiries: 08457 48 49 50
www.nationalrail.co.uk

The nearest railway station is Hereford, twenty miles away.

Hereford train station is served by regular through trains as follows:

1. First Great Western from London Paddington, Reading (rail/air link from London Heathrow) and Oxford
2. Arriva Trains Wales from South West Wales, Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Cwmbran and Abergavenny
3. Arriva Trains Wales from Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Wilmslow, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow and Leominster
4. Arriva Trains Wales from North Wales, Chester, Wrexham and Gobowen (Oswestry)
5. London Midland Trains from Birmingham New Street, Bromsgrove, Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Ledbury

There is a regular, direct festival shuttle bus link between Hereford rail and bus stations and Hay-on-Wye / the festival site, which connects with train arrivals and departures.

Local taxis

Taxi-share scheme is available from:

A2B Taxis	01874 754007
Julie’s	07899 846592
A1 Cabs	07910 931999

Pedicabs

Pedicabs are a sustainable, pedal-powered, zero-emission taxi service, keeping things simple and fun, honest and green. Take a ride in our Festival cycle rickshaws operating between the Festival site and the Swan Hotel. Provided by Hereford Pedicabs – 07718 320 195.

Car share

Share a journey, make friends and influence carbon emissions. Life’s a journey – share it!

If you would like to reduce your carbon footprint, help other people travel to Hay-on-Wye and save money, why not offer your empty car seats to others on goCarShare?

goCarShare is built around Facebook; you can log in quickly and look at people’s profiles before deciding whether you would like to travel with them.

A green, fun and good value way to get to Hay-on-Wye.

You can also hire a car locally from LT Baynham Self-Drive Hire, 74 Whitecross Road, Hereford HR4 0DG. tel – 01432 273 298.

Walking

The Festival site is a short five-minute walk along Brecon Road into the centre of Hay. For the more adventurous, there is a wealth of challenging, enjoyable, breathtaking and health-inducing walks to be had around Hay.

Walking routes

Download a PDF of the Ramblers Cymru linear walking route through Hay

Download a PDF of the Ramblers Cymru circular walking route around Hay

Bicycle

Hay-on-Wye is cycle-friendly and you can hire bikes in town at Drover Holidays on Oxford Road. Drover Holidays runs a secure stewarded cycle park on the festival site and also offer a cycle repair service. The cycle park will be staffed between 11am and 4pm on the weekends and bank holidays.

Local bike trail information can be found through Mountain Biking Brecon Beacons and Mountain Biking Wales.

Download Cycling Tours information