Getting to Hay
Hay-on-Wye is situated just off the A438 between Brecon and Hereford. The Festival is well signposted. The nearest railway station is Hereford, 21 miles away, and Hereford bus station is served by National Express coaches.
Railway enquiries | nationalrail.co.uk | 03457 48 49 50
Coach information | nationalexpress.com | 03717 81 81 81
Public transport information | traveline.info | 08712 00 22 33
HAY FESTIVAL BUS SERVICES
Running between Worcester, Hereford and Hay, the special Festival bus service links with trains and coaches at Hereford’s train and bus stations, and also Worcester Crowngate Bus Station. This service runs for the duration of the Festival.
Tickets for all journeys can be bought on the bus. We’re sorry that we’re unable to accept concessionary passes on this service.
Tickets: Hereford to Hay
Adults £10 single, £14 day return, £16 period return
Children (5–15 years) £6 single, £8 day return, £10 period return
Family of up to four people (max. two adults) £34 return
The bus will stop at the following stops each way on this route.
Hereford Railway Station - Country Bus Station (Stand 6) - Maylord Shopping Centre (Stand 2) - Victoria Court - Whitecross Memorial - Kings Acre - Stretton Sugwas Turn - Post Office, Swainshill - Kenchester Turn - Bridge Sollers, Crossroads - Byford, Old School - Portway, Hotel - Staunton-on-Wye - Letton, The Swan - Kinnersley Turn - Willersley, Turn - Winforton, Sun Inn - Whitney-on-Wye, Church - Rhydspence, Border - Clyro, Square - Hay-on-Wye, Hay Castle
View the Hereford to Hay Timetable and Route Map
Tickets: Worcester to Hay (via Hereford)
Adults £13 single, £20 return
Children (5–15 years) £8 single, £10 return
Family of up to four people (max. two adults) £38 return
Adult period return - £22
Child period return - £12
View the Worcester to Hay Timetable and Route Map
Visit the First Bus website here.
SCHEDULED BUS SERVICES
There is a scheduled bus service (Service T14) from Hereford and Brecon to Hay-on-Wye operating six days a week, Mondays to Saturdays. The 39A Yeomans bus service runs on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.
FESTIVAL–HAY-ON-WYE SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE
A regular shuttle bus operates between the Festival site and the town centre. Pick up and drop off points are at the Festival site entrance and the bus stop at Oxford Road car park in town. Timetables are posted at both bus stops. Day tickets for the shuttle bus are £5 per person, with no limit on the number of journeys.
This service runs throughout the Festival, from Thursday 23 May to Sunday 2 June 2024. On Thursday 23 May the service runs from 12pm to 10.45pm. On all other days it runs from 8am, with the last bus departing from the Festival site entrance at 11.15pm.
DRIVING
Hay-on-Wye is just off the A438 between Brecon and Hereford. The Festival site (HR3 5PJ) is well signposted for drivers.
Car sharing
We recommend using Hay Festival partners goCarShare, BlaBlaCar.com and Liftshare to connect drivers with spare seats and those needing help getting to Hay. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people, as well as being a big help in reducing carbon emissions and congestion – and it also saves everyone money.
Car charging
You'll find four fast electric charging points in Oxford Road car park in the centre of Hay-on-Wye (HR3 5EQ), and further charging points a five-minute drive from Hay at Baskerville Hall (Clyro HR3 5LE).
There are also 4 fast chargers at the InstaVolt site in Whitney, 8 miles from Hay.
National car charging websites will show more charging locations in the local area.
Parking
LOCAL TAXIS
Taxi share scheme is available from:
Booktown Taxis 07881 726 547
Radnor & Kington Taxis 01547 560 205 | 07831 898 361
Hay Bus Hay Taxi 01497 820 444 | 07974 106 656
Talgarth Taxis 07894 458 400
TRAIN
Railway enquiries: 03457 48 49 50
www.nationalrail.co.uk
The nearest railway station is Hereford, twenty miles away.
Hereford train station is served by regular trains as follows:
- Great Western Railway (GWR) from London Paddington, Reading (rail/air link from London Heathrow) and Oxford
- Transport for Wales (TfW) from South West Wales, Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Cwmbran and Abergavenny
- Transport for Wales (TfW) from Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Wilmslow, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow and Leominster
- Transport for Wales (TfW) from North Wales, Chester, Wrexham and Gobowen (Oswestry)
- West Midlands 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.
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
Slow Ways If you are feeling conscious of your travel footprint, why not consider walking all the way to Hay? Slow Ways is an initiative to create a national network of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages. Using existing paths, ways, trails and roads, people can use Slow Ways routes to walk or wheel between neighbouring settlements, and combine them to create longer distance trips. It’s designed to make it easier for people to imagine, plan and go on walking journeys. Find out more.
BICYCLE
Hay-on-Wye is cycle-friendly and you can hire bikes in town at Drover Cycles on Forest Road, where you will also find Drover's fully stocked bike shop and workshop open 7 days a week for repairs and servicing.
A cycle park is available on the Festival site with bike stands kindly provided by Drover Cycles.
Local bike trail information can be found through Mountain Biking Brecon Beacons and Mountain Biking Wales.
DAIRY MEADOWS
BRECON ROAD
HAY-ON-WYE