Towcester Racecourse
Towcester Racecourse
4
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Northamptonshire's new night out, experience the thrill of Greyhound Racing at the UK's newest track in state of the art surroundings every Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoons. Our restaurant guests enjoy superb food using fresh local ingredients in a beautiful location served by a team passionate about delivering exceptional service with unrivaled views of the racing action. With exclusive suites for private events, beautifully presented restaurants and a conference location perfectly situated in unique surroundings, Towcester Racecourse is the perfect choice for your event and is set in beautiful parkland overlooking the rolling Northamptonshire countryside, is truly one of the most picturesque racing venues in the country.
Suggested duration
2-3 hours
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Restaurants
42 within 3 miles
Attractions
27 within 6 miles
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
389 reviews
Excellent
206
Very good
114
Average
31
Poor
15
Terrible
23
Yvonne D
Northampton, UK35 contributions
Aug 2021
We visited the racecourse for the 1st time to an event run by a separate company so no reflection on the racecourse itself. We went to a ballon festival which was disappointing as too windy for them to go up. There was food stalls very expensive £10 for gush and chips. But the worst part was we only had 3/4miles to come took over an hour to get there. The traffic was shocking bumper -bumper in every direction. There was no traffic Marshall helping sort out the traffic 10,000 people in cars trying to get through one gate. If you had a VIP ticket you went straight through, had your own food wagons and seating. Only a limited number of tickets so gone before hearing about the event. I found this shocking that the majority was like cattle whilst a very few had it easy. The company running this fiasco admitted getting it wrong but thought the traffic management was good. If ever there was another event unless it all one price with proper traffic management out in the road then we wouldn’t concider going again.
Written November 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sarny
Bexleyheath, UK381 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
My husband and I visited for a hot air balloon festival - I'm not sure if local traffic is always so bad on event days but all roads were jammed - the satnav said we were 5 minutes away but due to traffic we took 2+ hours for that 5 minutes. Then even when we arrived the parking was a long process. We missed the start of the entertainment programme despite leaving plenty of time. I did enjoy the festival (not the couple of over priced food outlets) but overall the hassle with traffic and then parking means I wouldn't go to this venue again.
Written September 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Hannah G
3 contributions
Oct 2021 • Friends
Hired a box here for my mums 50th at a night at the Greyhounds. We were allowed in early to decorate the box which was lovely. John, the lead butler, was attentive from the minute we arrived telling us everything we needed to know and really allowing us to decorate the box how we liked. When all the guests arrived we had an abundance of staff who were on hand to take drinks orders and serve our food, harry especially was fantastic and really added some character to our evening. Overall, would really recommend for a fun, and special occasion.
Written October 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Hello Hannah, thank you for your comments! I have passed on your feedback to management. We hope to welcome you again soon!
Written October 22, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
SteveMessy
Buckingham, UK54 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
Visited today for the Towcester hot air balloon festival and sorry to say it was abysmal.
From the hour long queue to travel the last half a mile into the car park mainly due to the parking marshals not having a clue, the lack of actual hot air balloons !, the firework display in day light to the acrobatic air display and parachute display in the dark ( yes, in the dark!)
Over priced and uncooked food and the Haribo stand trying to sell around £5.00 worth of pick & mix for nearly £40.00.
We left at 9:00pm having had enough and judging by the queue to get out we weren’t the only ones.
Never again 😡
From the hour long queue to travel the last half a mile into the car park mainly due to the parking marshals not having a clue, the lack of actual hot air balloons !, the firework display in day light to the acrobatic air display and parachute display in the dark ( yes, in the dark!)
Over priced and uncooked food and the Haribo stand trying to sell around £5.00 worth of pick & mix for nearly £40.00.
We left at 9:00pm having had enough and judging by the queue to get out we weren’t the only ones.
Never again 😡
Written August 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Anita M
13 contributions
Aug 2021 • Friends
Balloon Festival traffic management was awful. There seemed to be a lack of it and what there was, was either rude or talking to each other! Knowing full well they were sold out and expecting 10,000 people. Many people were sent in a direction to park and then had to walk about a mile only, to be told it was VIP entrance only and that we would have to walk another mile up a hill to get in!! Thankfully common sense shone through and we were all let in ! (Having been dealt with a very rude parking attendant who didn’t understand why we were all coming this way, we explained we hadn’t been told any different!)
The actual balloons were just 7 in total!! Thankfully other events were going on parachutes and planes and fireworks but being at a balloon festival (with only 7 balloons) and then being told they couldn’t fly because of wind (what wind, everything else was able to fly and jump out of planes!!)
The best bit of the show and it was totally amazing and made up for the £66.00 paid for a family of 5, was the fireworks with music at the end. It’s a shame because I think a lot of people would have missed it because they would have left because of worry of traffic getting out. Overall not a good experience of balloons, traffic awful, stalls and food extremely expensive, to long between events, and not a great deal for your money. Won’t be returning!!
The actual balloons were just 7 in total!! Thankfully other events were going on parachutes and planes and fireworks but being at a balloon festival (with only 7 balloons) and then being told they couldn’t fly because of wind (what wind, everything else was able to fly and jump out of planes!!)
The best bit of the show and it was totally amazing and made up for the £66.00 paid for a family of 5, was the fireworks with music at the end. It’s a shame because I think a lot of people would have missed it because they would have left because of worry of traffic getting out. Overall not a good experience of balloons, traffic awful, stalls and food extremely expensive, to long between events, and not a great deal for your money. Won’t be returning!!
Written August 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
derek g
1 contribution
May 2021 • Couples
I feel I must write to follow up on a truly shambolic early evening we spent in the Empress restaurant.
The lack of training was apparent from the start with a lack of knowledge of wines available, to the nature of the items on the menu .. is there no pre- service briefing?
After being served my glass of wine , my wife waited 15 minutes for her cranberry juice as someone had to go downstairs for it .
Whilst ordering our food, I specifically enquired whether the duck breast would be served pink as is generally the trade standard.. “oh yes ! Of course “ came the reply.
On requesting some bread rolls , they appeared quickly.. but were stale ! Who knows how many days old they were ..
It took another 15 minutes for fresh ones to arrive.. why wasn’t there freshly baked bread ready for service? There was only 20 or so dining ? Meanwhile at least twice the young waiter kept wanting to take my starter plate away and twice I told him I needed some bread to go with it .
When the main courses arrived, I could tell straight away my duck was over cooked , no effort had gone into scoring the duck breast and making the skin crispy. If your going to put such items on the menu , you should employ suitably qualified chefs to execute the job properly. After cutting into the duck it was clearly overcooked and had been kept in a food warmer.
My wife’s salmon again , overcooked and because of this, dry , even with the sauce poured over it , which my wife had requested to be served separately in any case .
If all this wasn’t enough, the lady working in the tote betting , clearly wasn’t up to the job .. I’d placed bets with her for first two races and she’d placed them all on the first race .. so my winning forecast in 2nd race wasn’t paid out .. then AGAIN she cost me money in 3rd race not reversing my forecast! Yes .. of course you will always say check your tickets, but that’s normally with confusion over the trap numbers, not the correct race !
In addition to this the lady working the tote was sitting at a table , not wearing a face mask , why was she allowed to do this ? Her supervisor was in attendance, why didn’t he ask her to put her mask on ?
All in all , this was a disastrous experience at your venue. We’d traveled an hour to get to you , had heard Towcester greyhound track was a premier place , presumably this must just be for its racing though, on last nights experience?
We have all been waiting to go out and getting back to some sort of normality, but clearly you have re opened too soon , there was no evidence of training or leadership in either the dining room, kitchen or indeed on the tote .
Sent from my iPhone
The lack of training was apparent from the start with a lack of knowledge of wines available, to the nature of the items on the menu .. is there no pre- service briefing?
After being served my glass of wine , my wife waited 15 minutes for her cranberry juice as someone had to go downstairs for it .
Whilst ordering our food, I specifically enquired whether the duck breast would be served pink as is generally the trade standard.. “oh yes ! Of course “ came the reply.
On requesting some bread rolls , they appeared quickly.. but were stale ! Who knows how many days old they were ..
It took another 15 minutes for fresh ones to arrive.. why wasn’t there freshly baked bread ready for service? There was only 20 or so dining ? Meanwhile at least twice the young waiter kept wanting to take my starter plate away and twice I told him I needed some bread to go with it .
When the main courses arrived, I could tell straight away my duck was over cooked , no effort had gone into scoring the duck breast and making the skin crispy. If your going to put such items on the menu , you should employ suitably qualified chefs to execute the job properly. After cutting into the duck it was clearly overcooked and had been kept in a food warmer.
My wife’s salmon again , overcooked and because of this, dry , even with the sauce poured over it , which my wife had requested to be served separately in any case .
If all this wasn’t enough, the lady working in the tote betting , clearly wasn’t up to the job .. I’d placed bets with her for first two races and she’d placed them all on the first race .. so my winning forecast in 2nd race wasn’t paid out .. then AGAIN she cost me money in 3rd race not reversing my forecast! Yes .. of course you will always say check your tickets, but that’s normally with confusion over the trap numbers, not the correct race !
In addition to this the lady working the tote was sitting at a table , not wearing a face mask , why was she allowed to do this ? Her supervisor was in attendance, why didn’t he ask her to put her mask on ?
All in all , this was a disastrous experience at your venue. We’d traveled an hour to get to you , had heard Towcester greyhound track was a premier place , presumably this must just be for its racing though, on last nights experience?
We have all been waiting to go out and getting back to some sort of normality, but clearly you have re opened too soon , there was no evidence of training or leadership in either the dining room, kitchen or indeed on the tote .
Sent from my iPhone
Written June 6, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Andrewf86uk
Buckingham, UK37 contributions
Jun 2021 • Friends
We went for the Greyhound Derby Final which is one of the biggest events of the year, the organisation was appalling.
There were 2 bars situated outside with 6 people serving across them both. we queued for over 40 minutes to get served.
We went to Bar 4000 which offered table service and this was chaos as well. There was a queue for the bar which snaked around tables. We were advise to send in a queue by security then when we got to the bar we’re told they were no longer serving there and to queue elsewhere.
We managed to get a table and order a round of drinks, they arrived and hour and a half later. There was a marquee connected to the bar where we sat given the event and the fact it was table service there was no where in there to watch the racing despite this being advertised on their website.
Also as the night set it they didn’t even light up the marquee and people were having to use the touches on their phones to see the race card.
In terms of the track and the racing that’s was great and there was a good show at the end of the evening.
There were 2 bars situated outside with 6 people serving across them both. we queued for over 40 minutes to get served.
We went to Bar 4000 which offered table service and this was chaos as well. There was a queue for the bar which snaked around tables. We were advise to send in a queue by security then when we got to the bar we’re told they were no longer serving there and to queue elsewhere.
We managed to get a table and order a round of drinks, they arrived and hour and a half later. There was a marquee connected to the bar where we sat given the event and the fact it was table service there was no where in there to watch the racing despite this being advertised on their website.
Also as the night set it they didn’t even light up the marquee and people were having to use the touches on their phones to see the race card.
In terms of the track and the racing that’s was great and there was a good show at the end of the evening.
Written July 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Pieman1749
Walkern, UK85 contributions
Aug 2021 • Friends
Awful and badly managed Balloon festival. Traffic management was awful and the 27 minute journey took over 3 hours.
Queues to get in, 150 metre queues for food, no balloons (even though not too windy for one and skydivers). No live music, hardly any alternative entertainment. Highlight was air display whilst queueing.
Won’t be returning, waste of £45 and an evening. Could have been so much better.
Queues to get in, 150 metre queues for food, no balloons (even though not too windy for one and skydivers). No live music, hardly any alternative entertainment. Highlight was air display whilst queueing.
Won’t be returning, waste of £45 and an evening. Could have been so much better.
Written August 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Shaun NEW
1 contribution
Jul 2021 • Friends
Had to wait 50 minutes to get a drink. 3rd time I’ve been to the derby at Towcester and the first 2 times was a wonderful experience but this time it was a shambles. Not enough bars leaving people angry and not being able to have a bet or watch the racing as stuck in queues to get a drink. Will not return unless changes are made. The poor bar staff were excellent and deserve praise working under a lot of pressure. I just hope Towcester have learnt from this and next year will be a lot better.
Written July 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Julie A
Rugby, England, United Kingdom62 contributions
Aug 2021
We had a lovely family visit, with a decent Sunday lunch. However the organisation beforehand was pretty shambolic, and lack of signage for car parking, entrance to the Hospitality Suites made the start of the visit pretty hopeless. Things improved with watching the racing, the food and the betting though.
Written August 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
tinahughes1974
Northamptonshire, UK2 contributions
Coming to see paloma faith on Saturday, are we able to bring picnic/drinks?
Helen D
9 contributions
Please see the FAQ section on the web page , the promoter will be issuing further correspondence this week
coming on saturday for the derby, how much is drinks like beer, double vodka and coke etc: many thanks
Stephen W
Milton Keynes, UK436 contributions
£5 a pint
AlanLawrence2013
London, England, United Kingdom5 contributions
Can I bring my grandchildren aged 4 and 6, to Saturday evening greyhound racing
Helen D
9 contributions
Yes children are very welcome so long as they are supervised and you are aware that we have betting and alcohol on site
chrissy1202
Milton Keynes, UK7 contributions
Hi just booked Paloma faith gold circle can we take a picnic chairs and alcohol in for this event thank you
Barbawil
Daventry, UK36 contributions
I would check the organisation first but I would say yes you can, take an umbrella too.
Noel T Oconnor
Ireland5 contributions
Is there any accommodation near the dog track greyhounds
christine1959
milton keynes52 contributions
hi there is the saracens head hotel in the center of towcester which is very nice appox 1/4 mile walk
Towcester Racecourse - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Towcester Racecourse
- Towcester Racecourse is open:
- Sun - Sat 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
- Hotels near Towcester Racecourse:
- (0.31 mi) Mouse House, Towcester, Northamptonshire.
- (0.30 mi) Owls Hoot, Towcester, Northamptonshire.
- (0.32 mi) Weasels Way, Towcester, Northamptonshire.
- (0.31 mi) Pheasants Roost, Towcester, Northamptonshire.
- (0.34 mi) Toad Hall, Towcester, Northamptonshire.
- Restaurants near Towcester Racecourse:
- (0.06 mi) NNtwelve
- (0.22 mi) The Folly
- (0.67 mi) Olive Tree Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant
- (0.91 mi) Truva Lounge Cocktail Bar
- (1.06 mi) Saracen's Head Hotel Restaurant