Doncaster Racecourse and Exhibition Centre

Doncaster Racecourse and Exhibition Centre

Doncaster Racecourse and Exhibition Centre
4
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The official TripAdvisor page for the big friendly racecourse in the North of England. 36 racedays throughout the year. Also a multi-use sports, conference and entertainment venue. Holding international music concerts one day, and large corporate conferences the next. We're also a popular wedding venue, too. Find out more on our website.
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  • Bridie
    1 contribution
    Christmas Live- what a load of rubbish
    Went to Christmas Live for works Christmas party and was highly disappointed with the service and the food was awful. Vege option was -'mushroom' pate (cat food) on super dry cracker, next up was mashed salty vegetable terrine with salty mash potato and salty vegetables.. really? No Gravy.. didn't even get the dessert. Had to ask where our food was for every course. The guy coordinating the food service looked lost. The bar staff looked clueless. The entertainment was OK and enjoyable probably due to e company of my amazing work colleagues. No taxi service afterwards where lots of people were waiting outside for ages..having been in 2019 and had the best 3 course meal ever this really has gone down in my estimations
    Visited December 2022
    Travelled on business
    Written 11 December 2022
  • Alan D
    1 contribution
    Disabled parking/Disability rights and the Equality Act 2010
    Visited the race course with from Merseyside only to find no disabled parking. We were directed to a carpark that you needed a passport to get back to the main entrance from. Unfortunately it was to far to walk back from so we had no choice but to return home. No reply to follow up email as well.
    Visited November 2022
    Written 18 December 2022
  • Traveler11580570348
    2 contributions
    Beware prices go up
    Beware if you are organising an event as the price increases online. There is no mention of this on the website so it’s cost me an extra £76 as the organiser as I had already displayed the price for the day out. I called the racecourse and thought with me having 38 guests they would honour what they originally told me but they only offered me £2 off per person and not the £4 it had gone up by. I am very disappointed and will not be arranging another works do out to the racecourse again as I am £76 out of pocket for all my hard work organising.
    Visited July 2023
    Travelled on business
    Written 19 July 2023
  • Chris L
    Gainsborough, United Kingdom58 contributions
    Poor fare dished out at Donny
    Such a shame the people running the course are only interested in the experience that the wealthy people 'upstairs' receive ! In the Grandstand once again a lousy experience from stroppy jobsworths to useless bar staff untrained and just drowning while the bar manager snears watching them struggle as he leans back and chuckles to his self . Problems with the codes on the Grandstand Package meant queues getting out of control until they reluctantly opened another bar with experienced staff on. Every time I've been it's the same with the temp staff untrained and drowning,imagine queuing for ages to pay ludicrous prices and extra for some plastic levy they carefully hide from guests till you pay. Food in the food court was grim of course no bar open on this level. I'm sure things will improve when its a prestige meeting but what was served up yesterday was pathetic.
    Visited July 2023
    Written 28 July 2023
  • Peter G
    Liverpool, United Kingdom3 contributions
    Poor service staff
    Have been coming here for a few years now and always book the Conduits hospitality if it's available. Have to say, it's gone right down hill since I first started going. Last visit July 22nd for the evening meeting. £140 per person so not cheap. They used to do a buffet style meal so you could go up and help yourself, now you pick something off the menu, which all sounds lovely when you read it,but there's not much on the plate when it arrives, although it was quite nice. Trying to get a drink from the waiters is the hardest part. Nobody approached us to ask, we had to catch their attention and then it would take 15 mins for the drinks to arrive every time. I was quite surprised at my bar bill being so low at the end of the night after being there nearly 5 hours, but realised its because I couldn't get drink and not that I just didn't drink much. They've taken to hiring kids under 25 and probably paying them peanuts who are not interested in keeping customers happy. People got fed up and started going to the bar themselves because the service was so bad. I always leave a tip but didn't this time obviously and I won't be returning that's for sure. You need to sort your staff out so they give the service that people are paying for.
    Visited July 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 29 July 2023
  • Jackie T
    6 contributions
    Disappointed
    We went as a group and originally had booked because of the Hacienda after races event. This was changed to Vernon Kay who we quite like and drink vouchers given to compensate. We came last year and there were so many more bars open and Chic were amazing!! Unfortunately we were disappointed. Vernon came on and said he would be parting with us for 4 hours. This didn’t happen! The bars shut at 7.30 pm outside and Vernon had finished by 8pm???
    Visited August 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 24 August 2023
  • BecciY
    Gloucestershire, United Kingdom1,416 contributions
    Mixed feelings
    Well presented racecourse. Would be just about walkable from the train station (half hour) but there are shuttle buses (and taxis). The shuttle bus runs from the bus station (next to train station). I was in the marquee, this was again well presented and had great views of the course. There was plenty of outside space too. What let the experience down was the service; they weren’t knowledgeable on the offerings and at points not available or disinterested. The food was good (terrine, blade of beef and cheesecake) and afternoon tea. The white wine was excellent.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 15 September 2023
  • Martin B
    Felixstowe, United Kingdom368 contributions
    Badly organized car park
    Having visited Doncaster several times before we went on St Leger day. We were expecting a large crowd and of course it was packed. We enjoyed the racing and they always have a good selection of food outlets. However we had two major issues, firstly the price of drinks and some of the food was ridiculously expensive. I went to purchase an ice cream but refused to pay £3.50 for a Calippo or £5.50 for a 99 ice cream. The second issue was that it took us about one hour and thirty minutes to exit the car park. It was a real fiasco with cars being allowed to cut in front of others that had been waiting longer to exit, no marshals to start with although some did arrive, but too late to sort out the problems. We also couldn't understand why the exiting road was not closed off for an hour to allow traffic to exit quicker and stop the long queues that had formed on the road outside. We would definitely not return in the future because of these issues, and will go to better organized, and cheaper, racecourses.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 19 September 2023
  • jolou76
    South Yorkshire, United Kingdom5 contributions
    Over booked and under delivered facilities for this event!
    We booked tickets for bonfire night again because last year was so good! What a mistake, parking was appalling, they closed the first parking off and was directing everyone to another carpark, as we drove past the closed off carpark we could see spaces still available, and lots of cars were parked terribly taking at least 2 spaces. We queued in 20 minutes of traffic to get to the other parking but thankfully was able to park. It was quite a walk with our little girl that has mobility issues but once we got to the gates we got in quickly. Once in we went to get food as it was tea time and the kids were hungry, no chance of this because there was only 2 outdoor food vans and the queues were so long that would have taken probably well over an hour to get food. We managed to get our little girl on one fairground ride which again we queued a fair bit then had to leave to get the kids some food. Doncaster racecourse over sold and under delivered facilities for this event, it was manic and lots of people complaining. We didn’t even manage to see the fireworks. Money paid for nothing, never again!
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 5 November 2023
  • Amanda M
    Scotter, United Kingdom18 contributions
    Firework carnage !!!
    We visited firework night here for the first time and unfortunately wont be returning. The firework show itself was brilliant and the funfair was great but with over 9000 people attending it was absolute carnage. On arriving we parked up on a muddy field full of potholes which the poor stewards were trying to warn people about, then walked through to the two turnstiles where you scan your tickets, which wouldn't scan one of mine and a poor man had to put them all in manually on an iPad, which took about an extra 15 mins (luckily there was no queue behind me at the time). When we finally got through, we made our way to the funfair but i really needed the toilet and had no idea where they were. I think there needs to be signs up to direct people that haven't been before. We finally found them after nearly tripping about 3 times over the fairground electrical cables tapped to the floor. My son is registered blind and found this a real struggle. They need to be illuminated even for people that have full vision. The crowds were way to overwhelming, i really think there should be a limit on less people able to attend as when we tried to get some food, the queues were absolutely mental. We decided to try and get a seat at 6pm an hour before the fireworks were due and were really lucky to get the last few remaining seats. People must have been sitting for hours before lol. I would recommend just standing for the fireworks and turning up late as when the 15 min firework show finished the car park took 40 mins of very angry people trying to get out as everyone that came later could get out first as they let the people at the back go first. I felt so sorry for the stewards as there were some absolute idiots going the wrong way and cutting across in front of others etc all trying to get out at the same time. I really think they need to have a better roped off system for the carpark at events like this.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 5 November 2023
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4.0
1,075 reviews
Excellent
512
Very good
334
Average
112
Poor
56
Terrible
61

Frank M
Glenrothes, UK241 contributions
Jul 2023 • Solo
A great day out. Food and drink prices on a par with major courses. Best pint of Guinness for a long time
Written 29 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Amanda M
Scotter, UK18 contributions
Nov 2023 • Family
We visited firework night here for the first time and unfortunately wont be returning. The firework show itself was brilliant and the funfair was great but with over 9000 people attending it was absolute carnage.
On arriving we parked up on a muddy field full of potholes which the poor stewards were trying to warn people about, then walked through to the two turnstiles where you scan your tickets, which wouldn't scan one of mine and a poor man had to put them all in manually on an iPad, which took about an extra 15 mins (luckily there was no queue behind me at the time).
When we finally got through, we made our way to the funfair but i really needed the toilet and had no idea where they were. I think there needs to be signs up to direct people that haven't been before.
We finally found them after nearly tripping about 3 times over the fairground electrical cables tapped to the floor. My son is registered blind and found this a real struggle. They need to be illuminated even for people that have full vision.
The crowds were way to overwhelming, i really think there should be a limit on less people able to attend as when we tried to get some food, the queues were absolutely mental.
We decided to try and get a seat at 6pm an hour before the fireworks were due and were really lucky to get the last few remaining seats. People must have been sitting for hours before lol. I would recommend just standing for the fireworks and turning up late as when the 15 min firework show finished the car park took 40 mins of very angry people trying to get out as everyone that came later could get out first as they let the people at the back go first. I felt so sorry for the stewards as there were some absolute idiots going the wrong way and cutting across in front of others etc all trying to get out at the same time.
I really think they need to have a better roped off system for the carpark at events like this.
Written 6 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jolou76
South Yorkshire, UK5 contributions
Nov 2023 • Family
We booked tickets for bonfire night again because last year was so good! What a mistake, parking was appalling, they closed the first parking off and was directing everyone to another carpark, as we drove past the closed off carpark we could see spaces still available, and lots of cars were parked terribly taking at least 2 spaces. We queued in 20 minutes of traffic to get to the other parking but thankfully was able to park. It was quite a walk with our little girl that has mobility issues but once we got to the gates we got in quickly. Once in we went to get food as it was tea time and the kids were hungry, no chance of this because there was only 2 outdoor food vans and the queues were so long that would have taken probably well over an hour to get food. We managed to get our little girl on one fairground ride which again we queued a fair bit then had to leave to get the kids some food. Doncaster racecourse over sold and under delivered facilities for this event, it was manic and lots of people complaining. We didn’t even manage to see the fireworks. Money paid for nothing, never again!
Written 5 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Martin B
Felixstowe, UK368 contributions
Sep 2023 • Friends
Having visited Doncaster several times before we went on St Leger day. We were expecting a large crowd and of course it was packed. We enjoyed the racing and they always have a good selection of food outlets. However we had two major issues, firstly the price of drinks and some of the food was ridiculously expensive. I went to purchase an ice cream but refused to pay £3.50 for a Calippo or £5.50 for a 99 ice cream. The second issue was that it took us about one hour and thirty minutes to exit the car park. It was a real fiasco with cars being allowed to cut in front of others that had been waiting longer to exit, no marshals to start with although some did arrive, but too late to sort out the problems. We also couldn't understand why the exiting road was not closed off for an hour to allow traffic to exit quicker and stop the long queues that had formed on the road outside. We would definitely not return in the future because of these issues, and will go to better organized, and cheaper, racecourses.
Written 19 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Churwell7
Leeds, UK44 contributions
Sep 2023 • Family
We are a retired couple and could not buy anything to eat or drink as only had cash
ended up leaving with 3 races left to go into Doncaster for some food and a drink
Written 18 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dorothy S
3 contributions
Sep 2023 • Family
Great day out. Fantastic view of parade ring and finish line from our seats in the grandstand. It was spoilt however by a number of people chain smoking and vaping near us. (Apparently no smoking allowed in the Grandstand). Why is this not implemented? It would improve the experience for most people.
Written 16 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Companion791110
2 contributions
Sep 2023 • Solo
The food outlets at doncaster races do not display price lists so until you get to the front you don't know how much your paying especially the good food company, also the one I seen outside for burgers had a very little square next to each food offerings like burger and chips which was £12 a burger £7 please do not pay these prices which is a rip off
Thank you
David matthews
Written 16 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BecciY
Gloucestershire, UK1,416 contributions
Sep 2023 • Solo
Well presented racecourse. Would be just about walkable from the train station (half hour) but there are shuttle buses (and taxis). The shuttle bus runs from the bus station (next to train station). I was in the marquee, this was again well presented and had great views of the course. There was plenty of outside space too. What let the experience down was the service; they weren’t knowledgeable on the offerings and at points not available or disinterested. The food was good (terrine, blade of beef and cheesecake) and afternoon tea. The white wine was excellent.
Written 16 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jackie T
6 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
We went as a group and originally had booked because of the Hacienda after races event. This was changed to Vernon Kay who we quite like and drink vouchers given to compensate.
We came last year and there were so many more bars open and Chic were amazing!!

Unfortunately we were disappointed. Vernon came on and said he would be parting with us for 4 hours. This didn’t happen! The bars shut at 7.30 pm outside and Vernon had finished by 8pm???
Written 24 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Betty N
WEST YORKHIRE20 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
Meeting friends every year who we met on holiday this is where we come to meet up with our Unison 2for 1tickets
Written 8 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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DONCASTER RACECOURSE AND EXHIBITION CENTRE: Tickets, Tours & Tips (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Doncaster Racecourse and Exhibition Centre

Doncaster Racecourse and Exhibition Centre is open:
  • Mon - Fri 08:00 - 18:00