On an Arsenal match day, around sixty thousand people converge on a stadium squeezed between railway lines and Victorian terraces, and the streets of Holloway change completely. Roads close hours before kick-off, the Holloway Road fills with supporters in red, and the stations at Holloway Road, Arsenal and Finsbury Park run on crowd control. Minibus hire Holloway customers book is often about getting a group through that, to the Emirates and back, along with concerts at the stadium, nights out, school trips and runs from the Holloway Road.
Holloway sits in the north of Islington, between Highbury, Tufnell Park, Archway and Finsbury Park, with the Holloway Road, the A1, running through it. From our base in SE1, it's about thirty to forty minutes outside the rush hour, up through Islington.
Minibus hire Holloway for Arsenal match days
Supporters' clubs travelling from outside London, corporate hospitality guests, junior football clubs on a day out and away supporters all book us for Emirates match days. The stadium also hosts Arsenal Women's biggest games and, in some summers, big concerts.
The stadium is surrounded by a match-day road closure zone, and the streets inside it close to traffic for several hours around kick-off. A minibus can't drive up to the turnstiles. We'll check the closures for that fixture and drop at a point outside the zone, usually ten to fifteen minutes' walk from the ground, then set a meeting point outside the zone for the return. For hospitality guests, tell us the entrance on your tickets and we'll choose the nearest drop. Away fans travelling by minibus follow the arrangements the club publishes for each fixture, and we'll check those before the day.
Walking distance and the return
The return is the part to plan. When the final whistle goes, tens of thousands of people leave at once, the closures stay in place for a while, and the walk to the minibus takes longer than the walk in. The group should agree to meet at the minibus at a set time rather than wait for each other at the stadium. In winter, an evening game can mean a long, cold wait if the group splits up, so a fixed meeting time matters even more.
Some groups prefer to stay for a drink nearby and let the crowds clear before setting off. If that's your plan, tell us and we'll set a later pickup. Minibus hire Holloway groups book for an evening kick-off usually means a pickup after half past ten.
Concerts and stadium tours
When the Emirates hosts concerts, the road closures are similar and the crowds leave at the same moment. We'll drop and collect outside the closure zone, at a point agreed in advance. Stadium tours and the Arsenal museum run on non-match days, and school groups, junior clubs and families book us for those. On a tour day, the drop is much easier and the driver can usually stop close to the stadium.
Nights out and the Holloway Road
The Holloway Road has pubs, bars and restaurants, along with the Nag's Head market and shopping area, and the Odeon cinema near the Nag's Head. London Metropolitan University's Tower Building and campus sit on the Holloway Road, and student societies and sports clubs book us for fixtures and trips.
For a birthday night or a leaving do, the driver collects from homes or a meeting point and drops everyone back at the end, with the stops in a sensible order across Holloway, Tufnell Park and Archway. Archway, at the top of the Holloway Road, has its own pubs and a junction that has been rebuilt around a public square.
School trips and Caledonian Park
Holloway's primary and secondary schools book us for museum visits, swimming, sports fixtures and residential trips. Caledonian Park, with its restored Victorian clock tower from the old cattle market, opens the tower for tours and suits a local history trip. The Sobell Leisure Centre, near Finsbury Park, has a pool and an ice rink used by schools and clubs. The new homes on the former Holloway Prison site have brought more families to the area.
The Holloway Road and match-day traffic
The Holloway Road is the main route north out of Islington, and it's busy most of the day, with bus lanes and limited stopping. On match days, it's very slow from about two hours before kick-off, and roads across Holloway, Highbury and Finsbury Park are affected. If your booking in the area falls on a match day, even if it's nothing to do with football, tell us the date and we'll plan around the closures.
Luton is about forty-five minutes to an hour from Holloway outside the rush hour, and Stansted about fifty minutes. Heathrow is about an hour.
For minibus hire in Holloway, call 020 7183 0567.