Getting to Goodwood Racecourse and Home Again

Goodwood Racecourse sits north of Chichester in West Sussex, high on the Downs inside the South Downs National Park, at Selhurstpark Road, PO18 0PS. Arriving is the easy half: a train to Chichester and the raceday shuttle bus, or a car to one of the racecourse car parks off Selhurst Park Road and Kennel Hill Road. Leaving is the half nobody plans. Across the five days of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, popularly known as Glorious Goodwood, a five-day flat racing meeting at Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, West Sussex, the last race falls somewhere between 17:20 and 17:55. The last bus back to Chichester station leaves the racecourse an hour after that final race, and the gates stay open until 20:00. Those five days run from Tuesday 27 July to Saturday 31 July 2027. The two hours between the last bus and the last minute on site are the real decision of the day, and the racecourse publishes no departure guidance to plan it with.

Where is Goodwood Racecourse?

Goodwood Racecourse is at Selhurstpark Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0PS, up on the Downs north of the city. Vehicle access is from Selhurst Park Road and Kennel Hill Road, with separate entrances serving different enclosures, so the entrance you want depends on where you are sitting. The postcode is rural and inside the South Downs National Park, in the parish of Singleton.

One address trap is worth naming before you set a satnav. Goodwood House, the family home on the same estate, has its own postcode, PO18 0PX, and it is a different place for a different purpose. The racecourse postcode is PO18 0PS. Set that one, not the house one.

For everything about the course itself, the enclosures and what a hospitality day at the track involves, see our Goodwood Racecourse venue guide.

How do you get to Goodwood Racecourse by train?

The nearest station to Goodwood Racecourse is Chichester, south of the course, and Goodwood's own travel page names regular services from London Victoria, Brighton and Portsmouth. There is no station at the racecourse and no rail link up onto the Downs, so every rail journey finishes with a shuttle bus, a taxi or a lift.

On the pattern in force when this guide was checked on 7 September 2026, Chichester station is managed by Southern, its ticket office was staffed until 22:45 Monday to Saturday and 21:45 on Sunday, and the station had frequent services along the coast towards Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton, with a smaller number of trains towards London Victoria and a thinner service on a Sunday. Rail timetables change, so confirm your outward and return trains against the operator's own timetable close to the raceday rather than relying on a pattern published a year ahead.

Is there a shuttle bus from Chichester station?

Yes. Goodwood runs a bus between Chichester Train Station and the racecourse on every raceday. Its published wording is that buses operate from the station's North Car Park, "departing at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour, from 10.15am until 1.15pm". Return buses wait outside the Gordon Enclosure East Entrance and run back to the station at intervals through the day. Charging arrangements differ between fixtures, so check Goodwood's own getting here page before you travel.

The timetable has a hard edge that catches people out. The last outward bus leaves Chichester at 13:15, so a guest whose train reaches Chichester after that has no shuttle and needs a taxi from the station. During the festival, gates open at 11:00 and the first race is at 13:50, so a train arriving mid-morning gives you the full run of the enclosures and the parade ring before the racing starts. Goodwood attaches its own note to every published time, that all times are subject to confirmation.

Goodwood publishes no park and ride scheme separate from this station shuttle. If you read the phrase elsewhere, it is describing the Chichester station bus.

How do you get to Goodwood Racecourse by car, and where do you park?

Driving to Goodwood Racecourse means heading north out of Chichester and climbing onto the Downs, with access to the car parks from Selhurst Park Road and Kennel Hill Road. Car Park 9 is complimentary general parking. Car Park 7 is for coaches. There is also a bookable option on the track itself, the Three Furlong Picnic Car Park.

The Three Furlong Picnic Car Park is booked in advance and sits, in Goodwood's words, "right on the rails at the three-furlong point overlooking the racecourse". A booking there covers Lennox Enclosure admission for up to four adults, so the car is the base for the day rather than somewhere you walk away from.

Taxi pick-up and drop-off is split by enclosure, which matters at both ends of the day. Gordon and Lennox guests use the East Entrance off Selhurst Park Road. Richmond guests use the West Entrance off Kennel Hill Road. During the festival the Richmond Enclosure is only available to Members and their guests, so the West Entrance rank serves that group alone. Agreeing which entrance your group is using before anyone orders a car saves a long walk round the perimeter at the end of the day.

Goodwood Aerodrome is on the same estate and is suitable for rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, arranged directly with the aerodrome.

How do you get home after the last race?

Goodwood publishes almost nothing about leaving. Across its raceday, festival and travel pages there is no car park closing time, no exit advice and no last-train guidance. What it does publish is a set of times, and the times are enough to plan from. Here is the end of a festival day, laid out as a departure clock.

Those four lines carry the trade-off. Leaving on the last bus puts you at Chichester station in the early evening rather than straight after the racing, because the bus waits an hour after the final race before it goes. Staying on means about two more hours at the course and then a taxi from the East or West Entrance, or your own car. Neither is wrong. What causes the trouble is a group that has not decided which one it is doing until the last race is over.

Goodwood publishes the same gates, first race, bars and gates-close times for every day of the meeting, and only the last race moves, inside the published range, so the shape of the departure is the same whichever day you are there. No last-train time appears anywhere in this guide, deliberately, because the operator's evening timetable is the thing that changes most often. Confirm it against the operator when you plan the day.

For the day-by-day shape of the meeting and which day is which, see our Glorious Goodwood 2027 dates and day guide.

Is Goodwood Racecourse accessible to get to?

Goodwood Racecourse publishes a full accessibility offer for arrival and movement around the site. Blue Badge parking is available and should be booked with the racecourse in advance. A complimentary wheelchair accessible mobility shuttle buggy operates within the Blue Badge car parking. A Transport Terminus near the East Entrance handles taxis, buses and accessible drop-off, and hearing loops are fitted at both the East and West Entrances.

Once you are inside, lifts operate in the March and Sussex Grandstands, so which stand your seats or your hospitality sit in decides whether there is a lift. Three raised track viewing platforms serve the three enclosures, and the parade ring is reachable by ramps either side of the central bar.

Five non-electric wheelchairs are held at the racecourse and are booked in advance, free of charge. Accessible toilets are in every enclosure: bring your own Radar key, and spares are held at Racecourse Reception. Assistance dogs are welcome, with consent applied for before the raceday. A guest who cannot attend without support can also apply for a complimentary Essential Companion ticket, on production of a valid Nimbus Access Card or Goodwood Digital Access Pass carrying the plus one symbol.

The station end needs a separate check. When this guide was written on 7 September 2026, the lifts between the platforms and the footbridge at Chichester station were out of order until further notice, with step-free access still available by the level crossing. That is a live operational status rather than a permanent one, so confirm it with National Rail before travelling.

Where can you stay near Goodwood Racecourse?

Staying over near Goodwood Racecourse means either the estate itself or Chichester and the villages around it, because the course is rural and there is nothing adjacent to it. The estate publishes The Goodwood Hotel, a four-star country hotel on the same estate, about two miles from the racecourse in a straight line, along with self-catering cottages: The Pheasantry, Peach Tree, Crab Apple, the two Dairy Cottages and Windmill Cottage.

Hound Lodge is listed alongside them. The Kennels reads like lodging and is not: it is a members' clubhouse for dining and socialising.

Everything else is in Chichester, a Georgian city with its cathedral, museum and gallery in the middle. The city-centre hotels, bed and breakfasts, apartments and pubs with rooms sit around them. The tourism body for the area also lists rural properties, campsites and glamping across the surrounding countryside and coast. One warning about listings: two Travelodge properties carry the Chichester name, Chichester Central and Chichester Emsworth, and the second is well outside the city. Check the postcode, not the label.

Apart from the estate's own properties, wherever you stay you make the same journey twice, so pick somewhere the shuttle or a short taxi ride reaches.

For the meeting itself, see the Qatar Goodwood Festival hospitality guide. The next running is five racedays of the Qatar Goodwood Festival at Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, West Sussex, from Tuesday 27 July to Saturday 31 July 2027, with gates at 11:00 and the first race at 13:50, and Goodwood notes that all times are subject to confirmation. The Glorious Goodwood 2027 raceday page carries that raceday in full.

Last updated: 7 September 2026