on January 23, 2026, 10:46 am, in reply to "Was thinking that, as it’s easy to get back to the tunnel from there…."
We park at Q-Park at John Lewis and get the 929 shuttle bus (2 minute walk from the car park) - they start running 3 hours before kick off and drops you off/picks you up 5 minutes walk from the ground by the Tai Pan Chinese restaurant (see arrows on diagram below - green in, red out)
The parking can be expensive at weekends (usually around £20) but it's cheaper in midweek (£10 this Monday) and the shuttle bus costs £2 per person and goes direct to the ground. It has it's own traffic lane for parts of the journey, and it's usually fine going there (unless you get it VERY late) but you might have a short wait for a bus if you take your time getting back to the pick-up point after the match, but on the one occassion we left early (Newcastle!) we were out of there really quickly.
Traffic tends to be slower on the way back with all the matchday traffic, but you're generally back at the car park within 15/20 minutes once your bus starts moving. Traffic to the tunnel from there can sometimes be a bit sticky, but that's more city centre traffic than matchday traffic.
That's the option that's worked best for us so far anyway.
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…however I think all the bookable parking at Sainsbury’s is already booked, and I’m guessing there’s a three hour stay limit if you’ve not booked parking. Are there other match day car parks round there? Previous Message
Wife can take the son to do some shopping round Sainsburys, followed by a coffee in Costa or McDonalds, fairly straight walk down towards the ground and can sneak the weekly shop in...bonus !
If theyre still a bit early, they could also pop in the Heritage Centre, give your son a couple of quid and they can maybe buy some badges/stickers etc Previous Message
Has anyone visited here before a match? If so, would it be suitable for getting something to eat with a 5 year old, before the match on monday evening? I can't quite make out from their facebook page what a match day is like in there, and I've not been in myself.
I've got an unusual match day on monday. My daughter has been invited to be the mascot, which is amazing. I'm to arrive at 5:30pm at the stadium with her and do all the mascot type stuff, but you also get two more tickets for the match, which my wife and 5 year old son will use. They're aiming to get there around 7pm, so just trying to make a plan for them between 5:30pm and 7pm. I don't think it would be all that much fun hanging round the concourse for a couple of hours, and a bit chilly to be sat in the seats for that long.
He's only 5, and my wife isn't a match go-er at all so trying to make a plan that makes it as smooth as possible for them. Obviously any other suggestions welcome!
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