Olympia - advice needed regarding transport!

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redmone

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Hi everyone,

Well last year I took mini RM to HOYS, and drove there, which was fine.

This year, she would like to go to Olympia, and I'm AWFUL at travel when it involves London!!! (ps we live in Manchester)

Can anyone give me some advice as to what is the best way to get there and back, and whether it would be sensible to stop overnight? I wouldn't mind doing that.

Also, what day would be best to go?

She'd love to see the Shetland Grand national and the Puissance, but isn't that fussed as long as we get there!

I do prefer driving as my mode of transport, and don't fancy the train, tube, bus options my London dwelling boss described to me!!!

Any advice gratefully received!!!

Thanks

:D
 
Manchester is a bloomin long way from London ! Olympia is not difficult to find, but parking your car will be expensive if you want to do it overnight, unless you find a hotel that has it's own car park. You really ought to think about the train and staying overnight. As for what to watch, personally I like the dressage. I also like the 6 bar jumping.

Shetlands are on pretty much every performance I think.
 
I went for the dressage last year. Quite often go, it's always quite christmassy, though the shopping is increasingly chavvy :eek:

Puissance is an evening performance, which means that you're likely to miss the last train unless staying over. The parking isn't too expensive at Earls Court / Olympia (I looked into it last year), but needs booking well in advance, esp for popular nights. Also consider congestion zone etc. It's not that far to drive from Manchester imho :)

Shets are on all performances :)

eta - I agree about tubes - they're always hellish, esp the Olympia connection which is always insanely busy.
 
Me and my friend are going by train and tubes, its really not that bad, pretty easy to find the next one :) Find it easier as then we can just enjoy the show and not worry about leaving early etc etc to get there and back. We've never been by car BUT when we get off the tube at olympia, the traffic looks awful so i really wouldn't want to travel by car, and we're a lot closer to london than you are! Wether to stay over night, i dont know, as i said, we live near nottingham so a lot closer and can get there and back comfortably by train the same day. I'd check wether the puissance night isn't sold out. Also, the puissance night is the night performance so knowing how far away you are, i'd probably stay over night. Best days, hmmmm, performance wise, the puissance but the six bar challenge is just as exciting! And the christmas cracker. But shopping wise, the last day is the best as they reduce prices even more to get rid of things.
Have fun though! I'm already so so so excited! My first year of seeing the puissance live! :D
ETA. unless you have a very big olympia budget, i would take your own food. The food there is nice but expensive and the ques are big so you wont fit any shoppig in :D
 
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BigRed said:
Manchester is a bloomin long way from London ! Olympia is not difficult to find, but parking your car will be expensive if you want to do it overnight, unless you find a hotel that has it's own car park. You really ought to think about the train and staying overnight. As for what to watch, personally I like the dressage. I also like the 6 bar jumping.

Shetlands are on pretty much every performance I think.
Click to expand...

I know!!!

I'm thinking of getting the train, but naively thought I could just get a train almost straight to Olympia (or perhaps a taxi/bus from the train station) - my boss has led me to believe it'd be a train, then the tube then either a bus or a long (ish) walk!

Is this true?

Is it as good as HOYS? Some people have told me it's better, some say it's not as good. Maybe it's just a matter of opinion.

Do they have a shopping village?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks x
 
redmone said:
I know!!!

I'm thinking of getting the train, but naively thought I could just get a train almost straight to Olympia (or perhaps a taxi/bus from the train station) - my boss has led me to believe it'd be a train, then the tube then either a bus or a long (ish) walk!

Is this true? train, tube, tube, last tube is always a long wait and v busy :cool:

Is it as good as HOYS? Some people have told me it's better, some say it's not as good. Maybe it's just a matter of opinion. matter of opinion - the performances are v festive and I bet miniRM will love it. I always did :p I'd rather go to olympia, but I'm not a big fan of HOYS!

Do they have a shopping village? Yea, lots of shopping.

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks x
Click to expand...
...
 
JFTD said:
I went for the dressage last year. Quite often go, it's always quite christmassy, though the shopping is increasingly chavvy :eek:

Puissance is an evening performance, which means that you're likely to miss the last train unless staying over. The parking isn't too expensive at Earls Court / Olympia (I looked into it last year), but needs booking well in advance, esp for popular nights. Also consider congestion zone etc. It's not that far to drive from Manchester imho :)

Shets are on all performances :)

eta - I agree about tubes - they're always hellish, esp the Olympia connection which is always insanely busy.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm you've given me something to think about there!

Sounds like a pants place to travel to!!!!

Am I right in that the tickets seem to be almost for half days? ie day ticket and evening ticket, for all the days?? Seems a lot of cash for that!

Good news on the shetlands!! :D
 
PingPongPony said:
Me and my friend are going by train and tubes, its really not that bad, pretty easy to find the next one :) Find it easier as then we can just enjoy the show and not worry about leaving early etc etc to get there and back. We've never been by car BUT when we get off the tube at olympia, the traffic looks awful so i really wouldn't want to travel by car, and we're a lot closer to london than you are! Wether to stay over night, i dont know, as i said, we live near nottingham so a lot closer and can get there and back comfortably by train the same day. I'd check wether the puissance night isn't sold out. Also, the puissance night is the night performance so knowing how far away you are, i'd probably stay over night. Best days, hmmmm, performance wise, the puissance but the six bar challenge is just as exciting! And the christmas cracker. But shopping wise, the last day is the best as they reduce prices even more to get rid of things.
Have fun though! I'm already so so so excited! My first year of seeing the puissance live! :D
ETA. unless you have a very big olympia budget, i would take your own food. The food there is nice but expensive and the ques are big so you wont fit any shoppig in :D
Click to expand...

Well it sounds like there's plenty to see, but it's a nightmare to get to.

Hmmmmm lots to think about :cool:

Thanks!
 
redmone said:
Sounds like a pants place to travel to!!!! It is, it's in London :cool:

Am I right in that the tickets seem to be almost for half days? ie day ticket and evening ticket, for all the days?? Seems a lot of cash for that!
Click to expand...

You wouldn't want to go for a full day - a number of the performances repeat themselves - Shets / display rides etc, and there's plenty of time to cover the whole shopping village in a half day ticket as well as the performances :)
 
JFTD said:
You wouldn't want to go for a full day - a number of the performances repeat themselves - Shets / display rides etc, and there's plenty of time to cover the whole shopping village in a half day ticket as well as the performances :)
Click to expand...

How does the Saturday evening schedule look? Think mini RM would like ?

"The H&M Mini Stakes

•The Kennel Club Novice Dog Agility Stakes Final
•Jean François Pignon
•Osborne Refrigerators Shetland Pony Grand National
Interval
The H&M IvyStakes

•The Christmas Finale supported by The Hilton London Olympia
Performance ends approx 10.35pm "
 
redmone said:
How does the Saturday evening schedule look? Think mini RM would like ?

"The H&M Mini Stakes

•The Kennel Club Novice Dog Agility Stakes Final
•Jean François Pignon
•Osborne Refrigerators Shetland Pony Grand National
Interval
The H&M IvyStakes

•The Christmas Finale supported by The Hilton London Olympia
Performance ends approx 10.35pm "
Click to expand...

Sounds perfect :D
 
We visited Olympia last year for the first time. Against my better judgement decided to drive there. Although parking (pre-booked) wasn't too bad considering, I was a gibbering wreck by the time I got back to the M40 homewards. This year we are going by train - the station is right opposite theentrance.
 
I adore Olympia - it's so Christmasy and fantastic :)

Personally I'd be inclined to book well ahead and get cheap train tickets (go on sale 12 weeks before date of travel) to go from Manchester to London and then back again the next day. Then find a cheap Travel Lodge or similar that you can get to easily from Olympia as you just need somewhere to sleep rather than anything posh.

IMHO the best transport option is anywhere on the Overground as those trains are much less busier than the tube. There is a Travel Lodge right by Clapham Junction that would work well, and that's only 13 mins on the train from Olympia so easy to get back late when you're tired :)

Just looked and there are rooms there for £19 some nights during Olympia - bargain :)
 
If you are going for an evening performance and need to catch the train keep a close eye on the time as its often tight for getting out in time (everyone leaves at once) for the last train from the olympia spur. I drive and book a parking spot early but i know the way so its easier for me but a gps should get you there. The other option of the coach trip works out fairly cheap considering the tickets and overnight stay is included plus you don't have the worry of trains traffic problems as its all down to someone else and you can relax!
 
Parking around Olympia is a nightmare, especially during the show. If you take the train from Manchester, you'll need to get the Piccadilly line from Euston to Earl's Court, change to district line service to Olympia (1 stop). Will probably take 1/2 hour max.

Would echo previous poster that if you stay over, make sure the hotel has parking.

All that said, it is well worth it. Olympia always gets me in the christmas spirit!! Have fun.
 
We went on train from preston - it was 1 change to London then on a little one to kensington Olympia. Was really easy :-) look online on trainline.com it will even tell u what platform to go on! We got gold tickets so had lots of champagne! We got picked up and the drive back wasn't too awful but we have said wed stop the night if we did it again x
 
We always go for the Sunday evening performance. You can park free on the streets as it's permit parking mon to sat. We have always managed to park I'n the same street every time but we are coming from west Sussex so no where near as bad as you.
There is a travel lodge or premier inn I believe not too far away, but you will probably have to pay to park, as it's London!
 
We travelled from Crewe (J16 M6 Cheshire) and drove to Hemel Hempstead (J8 M1) which took 3hrs so from Manchester would take 3hrs 40mins then got a £10 all day travel ticket wich allows you to go on tubes & buses in london all day at no extra cost.
Parking at the station was free and a train in to London from Hemel station was approx 1hr.

Travel lodge (book early for a great deal cost £19!!!

If not Hemel then anywhere from Milton Keynes down and get a train in to London, so much easier than trying to drive and there is a station right outside Olympia.

If you feeling flush you could also try a flight from Manchester to London and again then trains/tubes.
 
I went last year for the first time, I wouldn't personally of driven or taken train but luckily another friend got a few people interested and we hired a minibus. The driver dropped us off and picked us up from the door so almost stress free!!

When we left (we went to evening performance) the tubes were absolutely packed out and I'd of felt very uncomfortable being on one, especially with a child.

We went to the dressage to music, it was amazing and well worth it in my opinion as we got to also see some jumping, shetland ponies and various other things too.

Didn't think the shopping was amazing TBH as prefer your horse live for that personally but still managed to spend too much money as you do.

Planning on going again this year with the same plan re travel but think we're going on the weds this time.

It was an expensive day, what with tickets, travel, food, shopping and a very long day too as left at 9am and got home at 2am!!! Definately enjoyed it though but then I've also enjoyed HOYS, however I think Olympia has more of a buzz to it, there's just an excited atmosphere there xx
 
I drove from Yorks when we went to the Puissance, we left about 11am and had lunch on the way and made a day of it, we stayed at the Brook Green hotel which was a ten min walk from Olympia and left the car at the hotel. It was the year before last when we had all that snow and I was worried about driving but it wasnt a problem.

I would drive and park up again it was so easy, cost me £40 in fuel and £90 for a double room inc breakfast, plus the hotel overlooked a little park selling xmas trees was very xmassy and was like home alone, non horsey OH loved it and we would be going this year if they hadnt changed it to the Thursday grr.
 
Thanks everyone! You've given me LOADS to think about.

I'm quite liking the coach idea, and starting to wonder about pricing up and organising a trip from our yard!

Got to say, I REALLY don't fancy the trains and tubes side of things. If we didn't do the coach thing, I'd probably drive and park at a hotel like someone above did.

But the parking on street on a Sunday is tempting too!!!!

We'll see, I don't want to leave it last minute and get rubbish tickets!

Thanks again for all the advice!!! Maybe we'll see some of you there! :D
 
If it helps, I did Sunday evening last year but with two smallies have decided to do Sunday afternoon this year - that ticket allows you to watch stuff in the morning too. And we'll be able to park on the street nearby, and won't be back home at midnight like we were last time! Worth a look?
 
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