Parking at the Wasps Nest.

[Snowdrop]

Does anyone know where it is advisable to park at the Wasps nest without being stung?

[Iain]

Coventry Welsh RFC is a good shout. No booking first come first served but there's a lot of space and you'll be fine if you give it plenty of time. £5 and only a few minutes walk from the Ricoh.

[ellis9]

I was charged £10 last season when I parked there. They obviously saw the green, red and white and conned me.

[Roly]

I was charged £10 last season when I parked there. They obviously saw the green, red and white and conned me.

Those car-parking attendants can smell gullibility a mile off.

[chris111]

Just booked my rail tickets. Leicester to Coventry Arena (change at Nuneaton) is a 39 minute journey on Saturday AM - slightly longer on the way back (62 mins). Total cost* for me + two under-16s (with a Family and Friends Railcard) is £12.25 for off-peak day return.

Can't imagine why anyone would consider try to drive/park to the Ricoh. Even if you don't live in Leicester or near a rail station, why not park at Nuneaton (13 mins by rail to Coventry Arena).

Still, I do admit that using public transport pushes up the overall spend for the day due to the increased alcohol consumption ?!

*cost for 1 adult without any concessions/rail cards is £11.70

[ellis9]

Just booked my rail tickets. Leicester to Coventry Arena (change at Nuneaton) is a 39 minute journey on Saturday AM - slightly longer on the way back (62 mins). Total cost* for me + two under-16s (with a Family and Friends Railcard) is £12.25 for off-peak day return.

Can't imagine why anyone would consider try to drive/park to the Ricoh. Even if you don't live in Leicester or near a rail station, why not park at Nuneaton (13 mins by rail to Coventry Arena).

Still, I do admit that using public transport pushes up the overall spend for the day due to the increased alcohol consumption ?!

*cost for 1 adult without any concessions/rail cards is £11.70

Firstly, I wouldn't park at the Ricoh, I'd park near it.
Secondly, I drive because it means I can get to wherever I am going to, whenever I want and not have to rely on a train or bus turning up on time and sometimes having to get to the destination earlier than I need to.

You could tell me the train is free and I'd still drive!

[chris111]

Just booked my rail tickets. Leicester to Coventry Arena (change at Nuneaton) is a 39 minute journey on Saturday AM - slightly longer on the way back (62 mins). Total cost* for me + two under-16s (with a Family and Friends Railcard) is £12.25 for off-peak day return.

Can't imagine why anyone would consider try to drive/park to the Ricoh. Even if you don't live in Leicester or near a rail station, why not park at Nuneaton (13 mins by rail to Coventry Arena).

Still, I do admit that using public transport pushes up the overall spend for the day due to the increased alcohol consumption ?!

*cost for 1 adult without any concessions/rail cards is £11.70

Firstly, I wouldn't park at the Ricoh, I'd park near it.
Secondly, I drive because it means I can get to wherever I am going to, whenever I want and not have to rely on a train or bus turning up on time and sometimes having to get to the destination earlier than I need to.

You could tell me the train is free and I'd still drive!

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I suppose if experience of driving in the UK was similar to that of the ubiquitous car commercial filmed in back country Iceland I might consider your way of doing things. However, my occasional venturing onto motorways (and the Leicester outer perimeter road) rarely lives up to that congestion-free fantasy, so I'll stick with public transport wherever possible. You should try it, just once....go on, live a little! You might even it's not quite as dysfunctional as habitual car drivers believe it to be.

Anyway, I've done my green duty by pointing out a viable option for those people who tend not to think of it.....and will enjoy sinking a pint or three in celebration/commiseration on the day.

[Iain]

Beware though, the trains are VERY limited at Ricoh Arena station on matchday.

[ellis9]

I do use trains, very, very occasionally but only to go into Birmingham City Centre but I find a car journey much more comfortable and much more convenient than public transport. I don't need to change in Nuneaton or anywhere else either. Straight from point A to B

As you say though, each to their own! Enjoy your day and your beers!

[MikeR]

I thought that they just run 1 Coach trains from Nuneaton to Coventry Arena - you could have a long wait getting back .

[Noggs]

You can park in the shopping center car park next to the ground and whilst there is a time limit it is free for as long as you want providing you have a minimum £50 spend in one or more of the shops. The system is that if you get a ticket in the post you simply send them a copy of your receipt(s).

The is a large TESCO on the site so when I used the system I bought sandwiches and drinks for lunch; a couple of items we needed and topped up on wine and spirit (it's hot hard to spend £50!). We had previously rung TESCO to make sure it was true and asked at the till to get further confirmation.

In practice we never received a 'ticket' and we saw lots of Insects fans parking there going straight to the ground. They may of course have gone shopping after the game.

Hope this helps.

[chris111]

I thought that they just run 1 Coach trains from Nuneaton to Coventry Arena - you could have a long wait getting back .

Ricoh website says they are now running extra trains on match days (and with extra carriage). I used the train for our last visit and it was OK, although just as with driving probably best to avoid the immediate post-game rush. Will report back on how the journey is this time...!

[Seal]

To the bloke getting the trains: warning, it is absolutely awful getting to Coventry Arena on the trains, particularly post game. Even the train an hour and a half before the game was stuffed to the gills, with people getting in with the driver!

The Tigers game at the Ricoh in January ended up with a bit of an incident as the platform was overcrowded, some locals who had been doing their shopping got very irate and forced their way on to the platform past the staff.

We ended up getting a cab back to Cov station.

[chris111]

To the bloke getting the trains: warning, it is absolutely awful getting to Coventry Arena on the trains, particularly post game. Even the train an hour and a half before the game was stuffed to the gills, with people getting in with the driver!

The Tigers game at the Ricoh in January ended up with a bit of an incident as the platform was overcrowded, some locals who had been doing their shopping got very irate and forced their way on to the platform past the staff.

We ended up getting a cab back to Cov station.

OK - I missed that (can't remember exactly when I got to the station but as far as I recall it was not much more than 90 mins....catching up with Wasps friends). Station was busy....but manageable. Then again, I spend a lot of time on rush hour trains, so maybe it goes over my head! I think the increase in train capacity has come since that game, so hopefully things are better now

[Seal]

OK - I missed that (can't remember exactly when I got to the station but as far as I recall it was not much more than 90 mins....catching up with Wasps friends). Station was busy....but manageable. Then again, I spend a lot of time on rush hour trains, so maybe it goes over my head! I think the increase in train capacity has come since that game, so hopefully things are better now

Glad to hear they've increased capacity. The whole line needs increasing in capacity to properly solve the problem though, one train an hour going end to end is a joke.

The main issue was after the game, if you didn't get on the platform in under 10 minutes after full time you'd have an hour wait for the next one.