Workshop locations

A map showing the main locations for the workshop, public lecture and dinner can be found below. Click here to see the legend or clicking on the coloured icons will give you more information. Christ Church the workshop venue is marked in green.


View Realising the Astronomy of the Future in a larger map

If you are planning your own route, post codes are useful when searching for locations on, for example, Google Maps.

Getting to Oxford

Air

Oxford is located near London and so is served by all greater London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted) and by Birmingham Airport, although Heathrow is by far the most convenient.

From Heathrow or Gatwick, we recommend using the fast and frequent coach service The AirLine, which will take you Queen's Lane on the High Street, St Aldates (alighting only) or Gloucester Green Bus Station. These are all within walking distance of Christ Church and are all marked on the map above. When you board the bus please tell the driver at which stop you would like to get off. St Aldates is the nearest to the main entrance of Christ Church. Please refer to The AirLine website for ticket prices. Note that a return is valid for a return up to midnight the next day so may be suitable for those of you travelling on 6th and retuning on 7th June. Otherwise please take a period return.

At Heathrow, the coach starts from the central bus station (serving terminals 1 and 3; mostly non-BA flights with some exceptions) before calling at the new terminal 5 (mostly BA flights). It does not stop at terminal 4; from there, you will need to make an inter-terminal transfer to T5 to catch the coach. Allow 20-30 minutes for this.

Pre-booking is possible on these coaches, but is rarely necessary. You can pay in cash directly to the driver, but don't attempt this with very large denominations (i.e., don't expect the driver to accept a £ 50 note or above). Euros and US dollars are apparently also accepted, doubtless at a ruinous exchange rate. Alternatively, at Heathrow central station or T5, you can buy your ticket at the National Express ticket offices with a credit/debit card, but this is slower than paying in cash to the driver.

If you absolutely require a taxi to/from Heathrow, do not take a "walk-up" black cab - this will be prohibitively expensive. The LOC can recommend pre-booked Oxford-based taxi companies, though note that this will cost in the region of £ 80 one-way. Pre-booked taxis from Gatwick will be well in excess of £ 100.

From Gatwick and Birmingham International, you can also travel by train to Oxford. There is an hourly direct service from Birmingham International. See National Rail for timetables.

For coaches from other airports and destinations, see National Express. Transport from Stansted or Luton is neither as fast nor as convenient as from Heathrow/Gatwick, and it is probably a good plan to pre-book coach tickets to these airports.

Train

There are regular services to/from Oxford from/to London Paddington Station which take about an hour. There are also regular links to other parts of the country via Didcot, Reading and Birmingham (including a direct train from Oxford to Birmingham international airport). A good starting point for route and schedule information is National Rail.The Oxford train station is marked on the map above and is close to Christ Church and the city centre. A taxi to just about anywhere in Oxford itself should cost you less than £10.

Coach

Two reliable services operate from London: the Oxford Espress and Oxford Tube. Both leave/arrive from London Victoria Station and arrive/leave at the Oxford Bus Station (Gloucester Green) in the centre of Oxford, with several additional stops in both London and Oxford. In particular, the stop in Oxford on the High Street at Queen's Lane or St Aldate's is convenient for Christ Church. Travel time depends on trafic condition and rush hours in London should be avoided. Coach services are also available to/from other parts of the country. See National Express.

Car

It is strongly recommended that you do not drive to Oxford. Parking is extremely difficult, and expensive, in the city centre, and only a very small number of spaces are available at the conference venue (and which will not be available to conference delegates except in cases of special need). If you park illegally in the city, you are very likely to receive a penalty ticket! Oxford does have many park and ride facilities (park the car in an out-of-town car park and take a bus to the centre) which you can read about here. No car is required to get around Oxford itself.