Travel information
- Bristol's Location
- Travelling from Overseas
- Travelling from within the UK
- Visa requirements
- Extending your stay
- About Bristol
Bristol's Location
Bristol is located roughly 100 miles (160km) due west of London close to the severn estuary and not far from the border with Wales. Bath is just 20km from Bristol.
Travelling from Overseas
There are several ways of getting to the workshop venue in the central Bristol if you are coming from overseas. In order of convenience these are ranked as follows:
- Fly into Bristol International Airport
- Fly into London Heathrow
- Fly into London Gatwick or Birmingham International Airport
From overseas: flying into Bristol Airport
Bristol International Airport (BRS) is located about 12 miles (20km) south of central Bristol. There are direct flights to a number of European cities and connections elsewhere through Brussels and Amsterdam: see here for a list of destinations. If you can easily find convenient flights to Bristol this is the easiest way of arriving at the conference.
From Bristol Airport you can catch the Bristol Flyer Airport Express Link Bus which runs every 10-20 minutes during the day from directly outside the Airport terminal building to central Bristol, a journey of about 25 minutes depending on traffic and you should alight at Bristol Temple Meads train station; see the Bus timetable for more details. The cost of a single is £7 and a return £11. The conference accommodation at the Mercure Holland House hotel is a 10 minute walk from Bristol Temple Meads train station (follow this route). Alternatively, a taxi can be taken from outside the Airport and will cost approximately £28.
From overseas: flying into London Heathrow
If you can find a direct flight from your destination into London Heathrow (LHR) then your overall journey can be just as quick as making a connection in Brussels, Rome or Amsterdam to get to Bristol Airport. But you need some good tips to make your journey efficient.
Unless you have a good reason to, personally we would advise against arguably the most obvious route: catching the Heathrow Express train service to London Paddington train station. Why ? It is very expensive and the shuttle service is actually sending you the wrong way. Instead we suggest the following two alternatives:
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Method 1: Heathrow to Bristol by bus.
Pros: cheap, convenient, regular service day and night. Cons: Bristol Bus station is still a 20 minute walk from the hotel.
This is the most convenient (and cheaper) of the two alternatives. From the Central Coach Station in London Heathrow servicing Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 or at pick up points at Terminals 4 and 5, take the National Express coach service directly from Heathrow to Bristol Bus and Coach Station. The coaches run about once an hour through the day and once every two hours at night and the journey time is approximation 2 hours. Tickets can either be booked in advance (often slightly cheaper in advance; you'll be given an e-ticket), or bought at Heathrow Coach station or even on the bus itself (beware though that you are not guaranteed a seat if you do not book in advance). A single costs between approximately £15 and £20. If you have an advance ticket and miss your connection, you pay a £5 surchange to re-book on a later coach.
Once you arrive at Bristol Bus and Coach station it is now a 20 minute walk or a short taxi ride (approximately £6) to the conference hotel, the Mercure Holland House hotel. -
Method 2: Heathrow to Reading by bus, Reading to Bristol by train.
Pros: Potentially the fastest way from Heathrow, leaves you close to the conference venue. Cons: Links unreliable, trains overcrowded and expensive.
From Heathrow, use the Rail Air Shuttle Bus link to Reading train station. This service comprises a Shuttle Bus service running from Heathrow's Central Coach Station to the town of Reading, about 30 miles (50km) to the west of London and will take about 45 minutes depending upon traffic. The cost of tickets on the rail air bus link to Reading varies depending on if you book in advance, but potentially you might pay £15 for a single ticket. The shuttle bus drops you off outside Reading train station where you can then catch a train directly to Bristol Temple Meads train station, a journey time of about 1 hour. Train tickets are typically more expensive than coach tickets, especially if you buy them on the day. If you want to buy train tickets in advance, or to see how much train tickets cost use thetrainline.com web site.
Once you arrive at Bristol Temple Meads train station, the conference accommodation at the Mercure Holland House hotel is a 10 minute walk from Bristol Temple Meads train station (follow this route).
From overseas: flying into other UK airports
I would only consider these if you are struggling with two options above.
London Gatwick: Potentially, you can fly into London Gatwick (LGW). London's second airport is located to the south of London and is considerably further from Bristol than Heathrow. However, you might find that flights into Gatwick are more convenient than either those to Bristol or London Heathrow. From Gatwick the most convenient direct route to Bristol is to take the direct National Express coach service which has a journey time of 3 hours (it goes via Heathrow), runs approximately every 90 minutes and costs approximately £25 for a single ticket. Alternatively, one can take the train from Gatwick to Bristol, either via London (including the underground) or via Reading. Again, beware that taking the train is probably more expensive and involves making connections.
Birmingham International: This is an untested route, although there is no reason why it shouldn't be any more difficult than flying into London. Birmingham international (BHX) is about 90 miles north of Bristol and once you land in Birmingham you can take the National Express coach service to Bristol or a train service.
Travelling from within the UK
To drive, Bristol is at the end of the M32 motorway off the M4 near the M4/M5 interchange. By train, goto Bristol Temple Meads and follow the walking instructions given above. By Bus, goto Bristol Bus and Coach station and follow instructions given in the sections above on how to walk to the conference Hotel.
Visa requirements
No visas are required for EU citizens. Some non-EU citizens may require a visa for "academic work" (in particular, Russian and Chinese citizens). You should consult the UK's visa pages
Note: Click here if you require a letter of invitation for a VISA for UK entry in advance of the 13th February (notification of acceptance of Abstracts and the opening of registration)
Extending your stay
Provision for extra nights accommodation beyond the dates covered by the conference registration can be requested once registration opens