Matchday parking at St James Park
Aim for a named Exeter car park rather than the Stadium Way postcode. For arrivals from the M5, the club gives Junction 29, Honiton Road, Heavitree Road and Western Way as the main approach towards St James Park and the eastern side of the city.
Plan a stay at Exeter City ↗Put your trip together
Your route into St James Park
Follow the signs for the away turnstiles on St James Road, rather than the home entrance on Stadium Way. Standing supporters enter the St James Road terrace; visiting seats are in Blocks K and L of the Main Stand, so check which section is printed on your ticket. From St James Park station on Well Street, follow the pedestrian route to St James Road and the away gates. From Exeter Central, head east towards Sidwell Street and Old Tiverton Road, then follow the matchday signs instead of navigating to the stadium postcode alone. If you need an away ticket on the day and sales are permitted, the club places the booth next to the away turnstiles on St James Road. Arrive with time to find the correct gate, particularly when the road is closed to vehicles.
Away Fans’ Guide ↗Parking & park-and-ride
You do not normally need to pre-book parking at Exeter City if you use a public car park, but do not plan on finding free street parking near St James Park. The club confirms there is no supporter parking at the ground, and residential restrictions plus matchday road closures make a speculative search risky. Triangle car park, accessed from Clifton Road, is a straightforward paid option near the visiting end. Exeter City Council publishes £7.20 for four hours or £8.40 for five hours, Monday to Saturday. The club and visiting guides also identify Bampfylde Street, Belmont Road and Parr Street as alternatives within walking distance. The club acknowledges that some limited street parking exists, but I could not confirm a named unrestricted section with legally valid parking for the full visit. St James Road is expressly closed to parking during specified matchday windows. Do not assume nearby Well Street, York Road or Old Tiverton Road have unrestricted spaces. If Triangle is full, head for another authorised city-centre car park rather than circling the away end. Park & Ride can cut out the city-centre drive, but its bus return and gate-closing time must work for your fixture. Sowton and Matford are closed on Sundays and public holidays. Aim to be parked about 60–90 minutes before kick-off and allow at least four hours overall for a league match. That covers arrival, walking both ways, the match and getting away; add longer for a cup tie or meal. Do not use the customers-only Waitrose parking on Gladstone Road as a football car park.
Away Fans’ Guide ↗Choose your base before your hotel
Stay in central Exeter if you want the easiest all-round football trip. Sidwell Street, Western Way and the Princesshay side of the centre keep you within walking distance of St James Park and give you food and pubs before or after the match.
Hotel to compare: Leonardo Hotel Exeter · Western Way / Sidwell Street / eastern city centre
Compare the stay areas →Driving & road restrictions
Aim for a named Exeter car park rather than the Stadium Way postcode. For arrivals from the M5, the club gives Junction 29, Honiton Road, Heavitree Road and Western Way as the main approach towards St James Park and the eastern side of the city.
The stadium is embedded in residential streets. St James Road, directly outside the away end, is subject to an official no-through-traffic and no-parking order on listed 2026/27 matchdays, between Old Tiverton Road and Well Street. Use the car park’s own entrance in your sat-nav.
Approaches, temporary orders and one-way routes can vary by fixture or roadworks. Check the live Devon traffic-order map for your precise route, particularly for midweek or rearranged games.
- Stadium address
- St James Park, Stadium Way, Exeter EX4 6PX
- M5 route
- Junction 29 via Honiton Road, Heavitree Road, Western Way, Old Tiverton Road
- Away-side restricted road
- St James Road, Old Tiverton Road to Well Street
- 2026/27 closure dates
- 5 Sep 2026; 14 Nov 2026; 26 Dec 2026; 30 Jan 2027; 6 Feb 2027; 3 Apr 2027; 24 Apr 2027; 8 May 2027, as published in notice
- Closure times
- 14 Nov 2026 11:00–15:00; other listed dates 13:30–17:30
- Signed diversion
- Old Tiverton Road, Sidwell Street, York Road and Well Street, or reverse
- Legal parking map
- Devon County Council Traffweb map shows location-specific parking orders; exact permissive street sections not independently confirmed
Parking & park-and-ride
You do not normally need to pre-book parking at Exeter City if you use a public car park, but do not plan on finding free street parking near St James Park. The club confirms there is no supporter parking at the ground, and residential restrictions plus matchday road closures make a speculative search risky.
Triangle car park, accessed from Clifton Road, is a straightforward paid option near the visiting end. Exeter City Council publishes £7.20 for four hours or £8.40 for five hours, Monday to Saturday. The club and visiting guides also identify Bampfylde Street, Belmont Road and Parr Street as alternatives within walking distance.
The club acknowledges that some limited street parking exists, but I could not confirm a named unrestricted section with legally valid parking for the full visit. St James Road is expressly closed to parking during specified matchday windows. Do not assume nearby Well Street, York Road or Old Tiverton Road have unrestricted spaces.
If Triangle is full, head for another authorised city-centre car park rather than circling the away end. Park & Ride can cut out the city-centre drive, but its bus return and gate-closing time must work for your fixture. Sowton and Matford are closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Aim to be parked about 60–90 minutes before kick-off and allow at least four hours overall for a league match. That covers arrival, walking both ways, the match and getting away; add longer for a cup tie or meal. Do not use the customers-only Waitrose parking on Gladstone Road as a football car park.
- Parking verdict
- Use authorised public parking; booking is optional for council car parks. No named free street can be recommended with legal confidence.
- Legal restrictions — St James Road
- No vehicle waiting or through traffic on specified 2026/27 matchdays, Old Tiverton Road to Well Street
- Legal restrictions — nearby residential streets
- Devon County Council restrictions vary by road and section; exact unrestricted 4-hour locations unverified
- Matchday availability — residential streets
- Club says very limited on-street parking; no realistic legal space supply independently established
- Walk — Triangle car park
- Older visiting-club guides describe around 5–10 minutes to stadium; walking time to exact away gate can vary
- Walk — other car parks
- Bampfylde Street, Belmont Road and Parr Street are named by visiting-club guide within walking distance; exact away-gate route varies
- Arrive by — public car parks
- Practical editorial advice: aim to park around 60–90 minutes before kick-off, earlier for a larger fixture
- Paid fallback
- Triangle Car Park (Clifton Road access), plus Bampfylde Street, Belmont Road and Parr Street car parks
- Triangle tariff — Monday to Saturday four hours
- 7.2
- Triangle tariff — Monday to Saturday five hours
- 8.4
- Triangle tariff — Sunday four hours
- 5.4
- Booking recommendation
- Council public car parks are normal pay-to-park options; not a pre-booked allocated matchday space
- Supermarket permission/time limit
- Waitrose Gladstone Road: third-party listing says customers only, two-hour maximum; not an authorised football stay
- Supermarket — Tesco Sidwell Street
- AccessAble states the Tesco Express has no own parking facility
- Total dwell time
- Allow around 4 hours or more including arriving early, both walks, match, stoppage and departure; cup extra time needs more
- Park & Ride parking
- Free to qualifying users, bus fare payable; last-bus locking; no overnight parking
- Sunday/holiday Park & Ride restrictions
- Sowton and Matford closed; check Honiton Road bus timetable and last return
- After the match
- Head back to your chosen car park by the signed pedestrian route; city-centre traffic queues reported by visiting supporters
- Paid parking operator guarantee
- No guaranteed reserved bay established for ordinary council pay-on-arrival car parks
Driving and staying overnight?
Plan a base for the match. Check parking arrangements with the hotel before booking.
Where to stay
Stay in central Exeter if you want the easiest all-round football trip. Sidwell Street, Western Way and the Princesshay side of the centre keep you within walking distance of St James Park and give you food and pubs before or after the match. For a fuller evening, look nearer the High Street, Cathedral Yard or Gandy Street. You will have more choice for a meal or drink, while the ground is still accessible on foot or by a short local train connection from Exeter Central. A hotel by Exeter St Davids suits long-distance rail travellers but is farther from the turnstiles. There is little need to choose a motorway hotel solely for football, unless your priority is parking or breaking a long road journey.
Away Fans’ Guide ↗For the cleanest football-trip compromise, base yourself on the eastern side of the city centre around Western Way, Sidwell Street or Princesshay: the ground is walkable and the High Street/Cathedral quarter is still close enough for food and drinks. Move deeper towards Cathedral Yard/Gandy Street if the evening after the match matters more than shaving a few minutes off the stadium walk.
For the evening
Gandy Street/Castle Quarter and the Cathedral/High Street core are the strongest compact evening areas for bars, cocktails and restaurants. The Quayside adds waterside pubs but is further from the ground.
For the train
St James Park station is right by the stadium. Exeter Central is the handiest main city-centre station for the Cathedral/Gandy Street hotel cluster, while Exeter St Davids is further west and less convenient for a walk-to-the-ground hotel base.
Hotels to compare
Leonardo Hotel ExeterWestern Way / Sidwell Street / eastern city centreAll-round choice · For the shortest ground journeyTripadvisor's proximity search lists it around 0.3 miles from Exeter City Football Club.
Bear in mind: The hotel is functional and modern rather than distinctive or boutique.
Hotel details checked 2026-09-29Check availability ↗Booking.com · Choose your dates and check the final price.More about this choice
Western Way puts it between the ground and the main city-centre food/drink area rather than forcing a choice between the two.
Booking.com live searches repeatedly returned availability and a verified guest score around 8.4/10 from more than 6,000 reviews.
Recent Tripadvisor reviews repeatedly praise room cleanliness, comfortable beds, location and helpful staff.
Air conditioning is useful because recent reviewers note that road noise is more noticeable with windows open.
Recent reviews are not uniformly strong: some mention inconsistent front-desk/service experiences and variable breakfast execution.
A late-2025 review described damp/water ingress in one room; it is not enough evidence to generalise across the hotel, but it is worth retaining as a maintenance caution.
Parking is nearby rather than hotel-owned/on-site in the traditional sense.
Hotel Indigo Exeter by IHGCathedral / High Street / city-centre nightlife coreFor the eveningDirectly in the Cathedral/High Street core, with Gandy Street's bars and restaurants nearby.
Bear in mind: Recent Tripadvisor evidence is mixed enough that this should not be presented as a no-caveat premium recommendation.
Hotel details checked 2026-09-29Check availability ↗Booking.com · Choose your dates and check the final price.More about this choice
Its own Becketts rooftop bar gives supporters an immediate post-match drink option without leaving the property.
Booking.com live searches repeatedly returned availability and a verified guest score around 8.5/10 from 2,700+ reviews.
Rooms and design receive repeated praise in recent reviews.
The stadium is still walkable at roughly 0.6 miles straight-line / around 12-18 minutes depending on route and entrance.
Noise has been reported from internal doors and some external city-centre activity.
Several 2026 reviews mention inconsistent service, breakfast delays or air-conditioning problems.
No on-site parking; central pedestrianised access can also make direct vehicle drop-off less convenient.
Usually more expensive than Leonardo in the sampled weekend market.
Check current rates and availability for your dates.
Select your match to carry its date into the hotel chooser.
Hotel prices and availability are confirmed by the provider. We may earn a commission from qualifying bookings. Affiliate disclosure.
Sources, limitations and matchday changes
Reviewed transport publication. This permanent guide uses the existing approved research; admission, opening hours, services and parking controls may change for each match.
Station mappings identify arrival options. They do not guarantee a walking route, step-free access or a train timetable. Confirm current club guidance and your actual service.
Official club guidance ↗