By
Car - From the North
join the M4 or take the A34 from Oxford. From all directions
turn off the M4 at junction 11, and head along the A33 towards
Reading. In the summer of 1999 the new A33 relief was, at
last, completed - which means in a matter of minutes (well
less than the hour it took last season) you'll find yourself
driving straight towards the stadium. The A33 runs right
past the ground so you can't go wrong. If you're coming
from the M4 direction just keep in the left hand lane and
when you hit the ground take the first left up the hill
if you're parking at the ground. (see below)
By
Train - Get the train to Reading Main station. Loads of
trains run through the station so you shouldn't have a problem
getting one. Then catch the number 77 bus from the station
to the ground.
By
Bus - After catching the train or finding yourself in the
town centre for some reason your best bet is to catch the
number 77 "Football Special" bus from outside the main railway
station. If you walk out of the main entrance you'll see
buses leaving from just along opposite the road entrance
to the Three Guineas Station pub. Number 77 buses run every
15 minutes from a couple of hours before the kick-off and
take roughly 15 minutes to get to the ground. The bus price
is �2 for a return ticket. Alternatively there's the number
79 bus following the same route leaving from Reading Station,
Stop SQ. The idea is that the number 77 is for away fans,
the number 79 for home fans.
By
Taxi - If you're running a bit late for a bus then Taxis
leave from immediately outside the main entrance of the
station (opposite the Three Guineas pub) and will cost about
six or seven quid for get you to the ground. Whatever, you'll
need to make sure you're on your way out of the town centre
at least half an hour before kick-off or you'll miss the
start for certain!
Parking
The options that the club will give you involve using one
of two car parks - the main one at the ground and the Speedway
track car-park next door. In total these car parks give
roughly two thousand spaces. If you arrive late you'll find
they're already full. The club car park now costs five quid
The speedway car park is a quid cheaper at four pounds.
Most
of the home fans will park in the surrounding area and walk
anything up to half an hour to avoid getting stuck in the
traffic. Fine if you know the spots but slightly trickier
for away fans. Recently the club have struck a deal with
Compaq to use their car park which is available off the
A33 on the way to the ground from the M4. It's a short walk
to the ground and the price is a rip off - the same as the
price of the Madejski Stadium car park itself. Still, it's
good if you're desperate. The Compaq car park is not open
for midweek matches however. This car park is signed posted
"Madejski Stadium Park and Walk".
Perhaps
the best solution is to park somewhere in town (plenty of
multi-storey car parks in the town centre) and get the number
77/79 bus from the station (see above). You can park at
the station or Gerrards Street car park in the town centre
is also near the bus stop. The problem here is that town
centre car parks are about a pound an hour, so can be costly.
It's also possible to park on the other side of the M4 (ie.
not town side) if you don't mind a half hour walk. You'll
find plenty of parking if you turn of the M4 at junction
11 and head towards Basingstoke on the A33. Immediately
turn off at the first roundabout sign-posted to either Grazely
or Three Mile Cross and find a space. The walk is quite
a trek back over the motorway, but it definately beats the
traffic - especially if it's a big game. There's also some
pubs out this direction.
