At Badminton? Generally I find the dressage commentators are informed and informative. Often they ride and train pure dressage so they know what is happening.
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Iāve always stayed in London for Badminton (and Burghley for that matter). To avoid complexities of travel, rent a car. Itās a pretty easy trip from London to Badminton. Getting out of London is the long part. The rest is pretty much highway. We end up parking by the vicarage fields.
Anyone see the drop jump from a platform? Yeeeeps!!! Nononononoā¦ butthole puckered just looking at it!
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Ditto on the puckering. With the right horse though, WOW what a rush that must be!
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Looks like flying to Bristol (a city Iāve wanted to visit anyway) would be my best bet, then rail to a B&B?
I agree that the dressage commentary is often the highlight of Badminton for me. Hilarious and informative. Carry on Down Centerline.
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DH just asked if that jump was from the Dukes of Hazzard because heās pretty sure he saw them jump it in their car.
We both made a small donation to Dom Schramm and have our names embroidered on Boyltair Bās cooler. A fun thing to do, to support one of our favorite riders.
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From Bristol airport, taxi to city centre hotel/abnb/b&b. The city centre has much historic and cultural interest and is an easy, interesting walk around. The tourist centre has guided walks as well as self-guided maps on many themes, from maritime to music. Bristol was heavily bombed in WW2 so there is also a lot of rebuilding. On Badminton days, book a taxi (approx 15 - 20 miles) there and back.
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And it MUST be said: on XC day there can be about 250,000 people attending. The traffic is horrendous. Your best bet is to plan to drive/taxi early in the morning!
Friday and Sunday have less traffic but itās still worth being early - on Sunday thereās the trot-up and then you can shop and watch all the entertainment in the main arena before/between the two show jump sessions.
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Usually I go on Friday. I walk the course all the way round, have a look around the shopping (handy hint: write down where you saw something of interest because the shopping area is vast and confusing), drop in to see a few of the dressage tests in the main arena, grab some (expensive) food, check out the stallion parade or whatever else is happening in the main arena, then go back to finally purchase what was spotted earlier. I then spend Saturday in front of the large-screen TV watching the Livestream with knowledgeable friends, consuming hot and cold running drinks and snacks in comfort. I can not cope with large crowds.
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Unfinished bridgeā¦ rides amazing. They had one at Hawkridge years ago and was always the GOALS fence.
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Being from Canada, the few times Iāve attended in person, on Saturday I have walked around the course throughout the day, watching a few riders at each fence. The last time we finished up at the Jumbotron to watch the last few around the whole course.
The shopping village was so amazing that I checked it out Friday and Sunday. We just donāt have that volume of great equestrian merchandise in Canada.
Badminton and Burghley are a Canadian eventing fanās dream come true 
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Hawkridgeās though had an uphill landing which was hard-going when used as a schooling fence in a clinic. Great fun on the gallop up the hill though.
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Yes, there is much to be said for going on Sat, for the atmosphere, the buzz, the people watching, the smell of crushed grass, the discovery, the sense of being at something extraordinary - but Iām past standing at each fence and watching three horses over before finally reaching the string to get up close. Also, I do see an awful lot of Eventing over the seasonā¦
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Was it? I thought it was out of the woods and downhill landing? Maybe there was two?
MaybeāThere certainly was a log pile/drop fence that came out of a windy path through the woods & gave a very āpanoramicā view of the field you were entering but the other one had a flat table top --bank up on 3 sides (lower levels may have crossed it sideways so bank up, stride or 2 then bank down) and a one? stride to broken bridge/stacked logs with drop on the 4th side. Landing was certainly a drop down from the table top surface but the lay of the land then sent you directly into one of the narrow trails up the hillside. There was probably a āsweet spotā to land without jarring but if the horse took a bit of a flyer and ended up further out then it was noticeably a āhardā landing.
The Badminton one looks to be on flattish land & I doubt it sees repeated schooling so all good!
I know itās a long shot, but Iāll be cheering on Pippa Funnell in what I hope will be another shot at the Rolex Grand Slam.
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The first year I went XC was sunny and warm and the place was mobbed! 
Lots of local people open their homes for B&B just for the event, so you can find some more informal accommodations, not just year-round B&Bs and hotels. The glamping village looks like it could be fun for those who booked it.
Just went through the course preview. Love how Lucinda was just hanging out in the ditch talking to Eric Winter 
. I thought the broken bridge would be the scariest fence on course, but it didnāt actually look too bad when you see itās only a small fence to a humongous drop.
I also looked at the entries- holy moly there are so many incredible horses! Iām so excited to see them go.
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Piggy and Brookfield Inocent WD. Sad day
Is that her only one entered?
ETA Never mind. It took awhile but I found that she still has Vanir Kamira entered.
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