Anyone heading to Burghley next weekend?

[Stenners]

I have never been to Burghley - usually just Badminton but we are thinking of oging this year. Its a 4 hour drive for me - would you recommend going for XC day?

 

[canteron]

I prefer dressage day - then you can enjoy all the good things of Burghley and walk round the course and imagine how nuts you have to be to actually jump those things.

I also love watching the dressage while listening to the commentary.

XC day is fun - but you have to have sharp elbows / patience to get a good spot by the jumps … easier to watch on tv having already walked the course!

 

[caileag]

I'm going for the first time on the Friday and Saturday. I was reading that if you are driving you need to allow for an hour to cover the last 10 miles. I'm thinking of getting a train to Stamford and walking from there. Has anyone done this, is it straight forward?

 

[Tiddlypom]

If you're going just for one day, go for a dressage day to walk the course and see some dressage, plus a wander round the trade stalls if that's your thing.

Then watch the XC from the comfort of your sofa on Burghley TV . The footage is much more real when you've walked the course beforehand IRL.

If you must go on XC day, arrive in time for the gates to open, which if you've a 4 hour drive means a very early start!

 

[Stenners]

If you're going just for one day, go for a dressage day to walk the course and see some dressage, plus a wander round the trade stalls if that's your thing.

Then watch the XC from the comfort of your sofa on Burghley TV . The footage is much more real when you've walked the course beforehand IRL.

If you must go on XC day, arrive in time for the gates to open, which if you've a 4 hour drive means a very early start!

We are travelling up the night before and staying 1 hour from Burghley!

 

[airliner]

Happy to say that I will be there too! My best horse friend is flying over from America and meeting me there. This will be the first time for both of us to go to a 5* other than Kentucky. We are sooo excited!

 

[Tiddlypom]

We are travelling up the night before and staying 1 hour from Burghley!

That sounds easier! Do aim to get there for gate opening time though, or you could be stuck in endless queues waiting to get in.

 

[Bobthecob15]

No! The shopping was absolutely mobbed last year on XC day, if you do make sure you get there at 8am so you can get in and park close to the shops etc! I've really gone off XC day the last 2yrs, Badminton was super busy the last 2 and I really disliked it...so wouldn't rush to Burghley. Friends are going again this year to Burghley...not XC day as they really didn't enjoy the experience last time! Just too busy walking around nowadays, such a shame. Also not enough toilets and huge queues at food places etc.

Much better to go on a dressage or sj day and watch the action on Burghley Tv x

 

[TPO]

I went for the first time last year. Milliepops and I booked a hotel approx 15mins from Burghley but still left at the crack of dawn to get parked.

I can't remember what days we did. Possibly Friday for dressage and Saturday for XC. Ester was our amazing tour guide! Highly recommend!!

I found it more "country set" than horsey crowd. It was definitely a different vibe to Badminton or Blair.

XC day was a bit manic. It was packed the whole way around the course and the stands were heaving.

It was definitely worth doing. I'm glad that I've been but won't be rushing back. Definitely echo all the advice to get there even earlier than you think you'd need to be. It's windy wee country roads and a long, slow drive in.

 

[honetpot]

I am taking my £500 caravan, and staying over. I went every year for about twenty five years, and it all got a bit meh, I hate XC day, Last year I borrowed a caravan and loved being there Wed, Thurs, Fri, gave a way my Saturday and Sunday ticket. My idea of heaven is stocking up in the food walk, and then sitting in the stands either eating, or dozing while listening to the dressage chatter.

 

[airliner]

I'm going for the first time on the Friday and Saturday. I was reading that if you are driving you need to allow for an hour to cover the last 10 miles. I'm thinking of getting a train to Stamford and walking from there. Has anyone done this, is it straight forward?

I'm curious too because my friend and I are going to lodge in Peterborough for the weekend and take the train to Stamford then walk from there. Fingers crossed!

 

[Tiddlypom]

It's an easy 1.5 mile walk from Stamford Rail Station to Burghley House itself, so travelling in by rail is a good call.

 

[Fjord]

I'm going, I'm stewarding again so will be there all 4 days. Saturday is heaving, it's not worth going round the shops unless you go really early. I plan on shopping Thursday and Friday, stewarding Saturday and then have tickets for show jumping on Sunday. The food is good, but busy and expensive, so if you want to save money, take a packed lunch.

I look forward to Burghley, it's a chance to meet up with friends and shop loads!

 

[Hobo2]

I'm curious too because my friend and I are going to lodge in Peterborough for the weekend and take the train to Stamford then walk from there. Fingers crossed!

We stay about 20 mins away and leave at 7:30am on the Sat morning which means we get straight in. It was odd going to Kentucky 5* for the first time this year and just driving straight in and out no traffic queues . Plenty of police just leaning on their cars . We had a great time so hope you do here as well.

 

[IrishMilo]

I'm fairly sure I got there about 12pm last year and pretty much drove straight in on SJ day. Going XC this time! Can't wait.

 

[Honey08]

I don’t think I’m going to bother this year, but generally speaking Burghley is my favourite event. I find it much easier to queue into than Badminton.

I love Thursday dressage day, I love getting there really early just as everything is opening and the first horses are warming up in front of the house in the misty sun. I usually walk the course after the dressage finishes. You often see riders walking it, sometimes they’re being interviewed for tv - those “top rider analysis” bits they show on bbc.

I love Xc day too. We usually aim to get there for 8.30. Have a coffee and a snack, a wander around the shops before the crowds (although I usually shop on the dressage day when I’m without my husband or dogs) then we wander up to the Trout Hatchery about 10am and get a front row spot (and another coffee) and chill for an hour. Once we’ve watched a couple there we walk the course from there, usually backwards, finishing off at Discovery Valley, where you can usually watch the last ten in the sun. If you watch two horses at each fence you can usually get to the front for the second horse. We take a few snacks and drinks round in a rucksack (we have a glass of bubbles at the Cottesmore leap every year because my husband proposed there!) and a picnic before we leave (I’m never impressed with the food on sale, although my husband has to buy hot donuts at some point).

Although this year entries are low, so you might not get to see someone at every fence. But I’m sure you’ll have fun.

 

[nikkimariet]

Going Thursday and Saturday. Can’t wait! Hope the weather is kind!

 

[hairycob]

I'm going Friday if the weather is ok. Went 1 year on the Saturday when it had poured all week and never again!
I'll wander round the trade stands & imagine the yard & facilities I would build if I won squillions on the lottery, do any competitions and fantasise at the riding holiday stands. I'll have an early or late lunch watching a few dressage tests and walk the xc course. Lunch will be a hot meat pie from Nova Scotia & I'll have a brownie to keep me going until I get home (absolute unalterable traditions).

 

[sunnyone]

I started going in1971, when Princess Anne won. As I then lived within 15 miles for the next 18 years and got a staff pass from a friend who lived on the estate I went to Burghley very regularly.
Now I watch on TV rather than go on XC day. I think I prefer SJ on Sunday.
Yes I miss seeing lots of friends and the crowd atmosphere.
What I don't miss is the queues of traffic to get in and out of the grounds which can make the M25 on a Friday night look like a free moving doddle. Time of journey estimates just go out of the window, the closer to Burghley you are. If you must go take some supplies with you for coming home too, you could well need them.

 

[vetsbestfriend]

I shall be going all 4 days as I am only 20 mins drive away and am marshalling on XC day for a couple of hours. Just before I leave the house each day, I cook some veggie sausage rolls which I then wrap in foil and a tea towel and munch them still warm walking from the car park. I take my own pack up too as don't like the queues (or prices!) at the food places and don't want to miss the action waiting there either. I will grab one cup of tea at some point during the day. Toilet wise I always use the ones near the warm up arena, because they are clean and I don't like using portaloo's I do half the shops on Thursday and half Friday, then if any specific I want to buy I will get Sunday. I keep away from the shops on the Saturday as way too busy. Burghley never loses the appeal for me, I have been going since the 1980's. I love watching the displays too in the main arena over the lunchbreaks.

 

[sportsmansB]

Heading over from NI for the 4th time this year. We stay in Stamford and walk in and out, which is amazing - the atmosphere in the town is great, no queues and no designated drivers!
Would never contemplate the shops on Sat, we have a nosy usually friday late morning and then buy Sunday morning when it is bearable.
We'll watch dressage on Fri and then walk the course once its over.
XC day we go in for 9, and get brekkie and then a good spot at whatever fence we want to start at (usually Trout Hatchery but other starting points are available...) and get the first jug of Pimms as the bar opens..
Wouldn't try and walk the course on the Sat tbh its a bit crazy if you haven't been before.
There are big screens dotted about which are great if there are a few riders you want to watch more closely in quick succession.

 

[Morganfan]

Travelling from Australia, leave Thursday night, spend a few days with relatives then train on Wednesday morning to Stamford. Staying at the Garden House, so hopefully walking distance. Have tickets for all 4 days so I can make the most of it.
Anyone else staying at Garden House? Would like to meet up as my friend who was coming broke her leg earlier this year and decided the walking would be too much so going alone. thanks for the heads up about prices, packed lunch it will be.
Really looking forward to it, was all booked just before COVID so been waiting a while.

 

[hollyandivy123]

So get there first thing on the Saturday.....take oat cakes, nuts and my own drinks and cutlery. Pick up breakfast and smoked salmon for lunch......mooch round shopping and then round the course rule of thumb 1 or 2 horses a fence....

 

[bubsqueaks]

We're going Tuesday - Sunday camping in the Golf Club - cannot wait - so excited love the whole event but yes do avoid the shops on Saturday!

 

[setterlover]

We're going Tuesday - Sunday camping in the Golf Club - cannot wait - so excited love the whole event but yes do avoid the shops on Saturday!

We are also taking our caravan up and on the golf course Tuesday to Monday am
We love Burghley the food market is the best always get stuff for our picnic lunches everyday. Trawl the shops on Thursday and Friday often bargains to be had on Sunday afternoon.We have tickets for the show jumping on Sunday always exciting.
Our setter will have a go at the dog agility which he loves ( he is nearly 2 do full of fun and bounce he has a ball)
Look our for a red setter on the camping/ caravan park and say hello he is often the only one!
Really looking forward to it.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Would like to meet up as my friend who was coming broke her leg earlier this year and decided the walking would be too much so going alone.

You can hire all wheel drive mobility scooters at the event, but they do get booked up fast. They are up to 'walking' round the whole XC course, you see a lot of them about.

I think that if you look up 'disabled' on the main Burghley website you'll find a link to them.

 

[bubsqueaks]

We are also taking our caravan up and on the golf course Tuesday to Monday am
We love Burghley the food market is the best always get stuff for our picnic lunches everyday. Trawl the shops on Thursday and Friday often bargains to be had on Sunday afternoon.We have tickets for the show jumping on Sunday always exciting.
Our setter will have a go at the dog agility which he loves ( he is nearly 2 do full of fun and bounce he has a ball)
Look our for a red setter on the camping/ caravan park and say hello he is often the only one!
Really looking forward to it.

How exciting - we've not camped before at Burghley so will be a experience - just choosing the pitch was a challenge!!
Yes we plan to raid the food market too!
I will keep a look out for you

 

[minesadouble]

We went last year for XC day on the spur of the moment, last time I attended was 30 years earlier!
I can't for the life of me think what time we arrived but we drove straight in, we definitely wouldn't have been early as we went on a whim.
I wish I could remember as I'd love to do the same again.

 

[airliner]

Does anyone have any advice for this out-of-towner/tourist regarding the UK rail strikes? Looks like there is one planned for Sept 1 and 2

 

[teapot]

Does anyone have any advice for this out-of-towner/tourist regarding the UK rail strikes? Looks like there is one planned for Sept 1 and 2

Where are you travelling from (to get to Stamford)? can then check for you (know train timetables well)