Transport to Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham Spa train station is just 40 minute train journey from Birmingham New Street and Bristol Temple Meads. 

Upon arrival at Cheltenham Spa station, we have Stagecoach shuttle buses transporting racegoers to the Racecourse, via Cheltenham town centre. It can take approx 10 - 15 minutes.

Cheltenham Spa Station to Cheltenham Racecourse:

• 10 minute drive 
• 40 minute walk 

The racecourse is just a 5-minute drive from Cheltenham Town Centre, on Evesham Road. Alternatively, just off J11 on the M5. During our racing season, AA signs will mark all major approach routes. If you are using satellite navigation, please key in the postcode: GL50 4SH. Alternatively, you can use the AA Route Planner and select GL50 4SH as the destination.

For on the day local travel information, please visit www.trafficengland.com, should you require up to date information on the strategic road network in Gloucestershire including:

• A40 west of J11 of the M5,
• M5
• A417/A419
• and the A46 east of J9 M5

Cheltenham Racecourse offers plenty of on-site car parking, available for all our conference and events, as well as at our 16 racedays.

Car parking is FREE, apart from the following racedays:

• The November Meeting Friday and Saturday
• The Festival in March

Traffic to the site can build up at peak times, and therefore we would advise you to arrive early. Traffic exiting the course can also build up, so please do be aware of this when making travel arrangements. When leaving the car park you will be required to exit via a specified route. To minimise exit delays within the racecourse certain gates will be restricted to allow only left or right turns. 

The parking scheme is colour coded to your parking zone will match our label (if you have not purchased a label in advance, please follow the Public or Green signs.)

Occasionally the route you are directed to will not be the shortest route, in terms of distance. Please follow the yellow, temporary signs put in place for the race meeting, ignoring both sat nav directions and brown signs once you pick up the yellow directional signs. These routes will allow you to approach the racecourse, enter and park in the correct zone in the fastest time possible.

Please help us to help you have the smoothest and quickest access into the course by following the correct signs and not routes you have previously used. 

View details of the location of different car parks - your car parking label will match to a number on the map linked. 

For those of you that have received your colour coded car parking pass:

• Disabled Council Badge Holders – Disabled Parking Symbol
• Annual Members, RCA Trainers car park stickers, RCA Owners car park stickers, RCA Press car park stickers,
• ROA members, RCA members and those with four-day members disabled parking – Red
• Horseboxes and Minibuses, please follow the Red route
• PJA members, Owners and Trainers hanging labels – Blue
• N Bays which have been sold by Cheltenham, please follow the Blue route
• Reserved Annual Members and bays sold in Hall of Fame Car park – Yellow 
• The Cheltenham Club members, please follow the Yellow route 

Hospitality guests should follow the colour of the car parking pass provided

If you do not have a car parking pass, then please see below:

• Bookmakers please follow Yellow 
• Hackney Taxis please follow the Grey (click here for more information)
• Public Parking, Private hire, and all Raceday staff please follow the Green signs
• Contractors and Exhibitors accreditation please follow the Green signs
• All coaches please follow Red signs

If you're dropping off a coach of racegoers, please make sure you've viewed the coach parking map. 

Follow the Coach symbol signs and these will direct you to the closest coach park from your direction of travel.

Please follow the coach symbol no matter what colour pass the passengers may have purchased. 

We are pleased to welcome arrivals on racedays by helicopter. We operate the busiest temporary airfield in the UK, receiving 400 flights over The Festival week alone. 

The heliport is a temporary, licensed, surface-level heliport located just outside the northeast corner of Cheltenham Racecourse. Racegoers can arrive in style directly into our helifield and can catch our shuttle service down to the Racecourse main site. Raceday tickets will need to be shown before alighting.

All visiting aircraft must pre-book landings with our partners, find out more here. They will provide full pilot briefings on confirmation of booking.

On racedays, Aerodrome Rescue and Fire Fighting Service Category H2 is provided at Cheltenham Heliport, as are two fuelling spots.  

FIND OUT MORE

Arriving by airplane? Birmingham Airport is approximately 48 miles from the racecourse. Bristol Airport is approximately 54 miles from the racecourse.

Cheltenham Racecourse encourages customers and racegoers to think of the environment when choosing how to travel to Cheltenham Racecourse.

We would be grateful if you would consider public transport, walking, cycling or car sharing when planning your journey.

We are pleased to offer a public bus service, collecting racegoers from Cheltenham Spa station and the town centre. 

The racecourse has two “fast charge” electric vehicle charging points located near the Hall of Fame entrance. These are operated under the Polar scheme, more information about the Polar Charging Network can be found here.

Access can be restricted at some race meetings so please check the availability of the charge points in advance and be aware that your vehicle will need to be moved after parking.

Stagecoach Service D and E runs every 15 minutes during the main daytime period and between every 10 mins and every hour during the early morning and evening periods.

For further information, please visit stagecoachbus.com/about.