Getting Around

All of our venues are within walking distance of each other, around the Exeter Quayside.

The Welcome Desk is located at Emmanuel Hall, Emmanuel Road EX4 1EJ. You should register there when you arrive at the festival in order to be able to get a wristband that will allow you access to the events. You can also pick up your programme, buy any merch you want and get more information about the festival there. The Welcome Desk will be open from 3pm on the Friday, and during the day on Saturday and Sunday.

1. Accessibility of Venues
2. Arriving by train
3. Arriving by car or coach
4. Arriving by plane

Accessibility of Venues

We want to be as open about accessibility for IVFDF 2023 as possible. Exeter in itself is a city that makes accessibility difficult; it is hilly (breath-stealing so) and many of the roads are cobbled and unevenly paved. One of the reasons our IVFDF is at the Quay and not the University is to make it easer for everyone to get around the venues. The Quayside is flat and most cobbles can be avoided. Our venues are listed below and have a quick accessibility guide to go with them.

Our venues currently include:

• The XCentre. Very accessible, no-step access to all floors, accessible facilities, water available.
• Emmanuel Hall at Theatre Alibi. Very accessible, no-step access, accessible facilities, water available.
• The Cygnet Theatre. Steep hill to reach directly from the quay, bottom floor is step-free. Top floor has stairs only, no lift. Accessible facilities.
• The Hall, on Stepcote Hill. Situated near the bottom of a steep, partially cobbled road. 2 steps to enter. Mezzanine inside reached by steps.

Arriving by train

If you are arriving by train, the main station is Exeter St. David’s station. Exeter St David’s station is a 25 minute walk from the Quay and a 20 minute walk from Emmanuel Hall. If you are planning to arrive on the 3rd February via train, please read our post regarding the train strikes.

There are train lines that run through the city, with 4 main branch stations:

• Exeter Central station for the city centre
• Exeter St. Thomas station for the west side of the city, east of the river (with an 8 minute walk to Emmanuel Hall)
• St. James for the north side of Exeter, below the University
• Polsloe Bridge for North Heavitree, the east part of the city.

Please be aware Marsh Barton train station is not open.

Arriving by car or coach

If you are arriving by car, Exeter has 3 zones of car parks that are cheaper the further from the centre they are. All-day parking costs £13.00 for zone 1, £11.00 for zone 2 and £5.00 for zone 3.
The car parks near Emmanuel Hall are the Flowerpot Lane and Okehampton car parks.

Arriving by plane

Exeter has an international airport about 5 miles east of Exeter.
To get from the airport to Exeter St. David’s train station, you can take the 4A bus from the airport, which leaves approximately every hour.
You could alternatively get a taxi to St David’s, which would take around 30 minutes.

If you’re flying in from another country, another close airport is Bristol Airport, which has more international flights than Exeter Airport. To get to Exeter from Bristol Airport, you can take the A1 bus from the terminal to Bristol Temple Meads train station and then get the train to Plymouth, which stops at Exeter St. David’s. The A1 buses run approximately every 10 minutes, and the trains run every hour.

To get around the city, you can use taxis or buses.

• The local taxi company is Apple taxis – Call 01392 666 666 or book on their website: https://www.appletaxisexeter.co.uk/
• One bus company is Stagecoach. You can find routes on their website: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/
• More information on which buses to use to get around will be coming soon.