Travel to Oxford

Flying to Oxford

Flights to London Oxford (Kidlington) Airport are limited to private and business flights.

Oxford is about 70km (44 miles) northwest of London's Heathrow Airport. A huge range of airlines operate direct flights to London from around the globe. Among the airlines offering connections from other cities within the UK are British Airways, easyJet, Flybe and Ryanair. Airlines running direct flights from the USA include American Airlines, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Delta, Norwegian, United, US Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Flight times

To Heathrow Airport: from Edinburgh - 1 hour 30 minutes; New York - 7 hours; Los Angeles - 10 hours 30 minutes; Toronto - 7 hours; Sydney - 23 hours (including stopover).

Travel by road

Traffic drives on the left and the minimum driving age is 17 years old. Speed limits are 113kph (70mph) on motorways, 97kph (60mph) on single-lane main roads and 48kph (30mph) in built-up areas.

Overseas driving licences and International Driving Permits are valid for up to one year. Insurance is mandatory.

Breakdown service, traffic updates and general motoring information are available from the AA (tel: +44 121 275 3746; www.theaa.com) and the RAC (tel: +44 844 891 3111; www.rac.co.uk).

Emergency breakdown services

AA (tel: 0800 887 766, in the UK); RAC (tel: 0800 828 282, in the UK).

Routes

Oxford is well served by a network of roads and motorways that give fast and direct access from the rest of the UK and also Europe. The M40 motorway connects Oxford with London, the M25 and the Midlands. Junctions 8 and 9 link directly to the city. The Oxford ring road provides direct access to the south and west coast ports of Southampton, Portsmouth and Bristolvia the A34.

Parking in Oxford is notoriously difficult, so day visitors are advised to take use the Park & Ride system. All the five Park & Ride sites are clearly signposted from the ring road, and they operate frequent bus services to central Oxford seven days a week. There are no buses from Water Eaton on Sundays.

Coaches

There are frequent coach services between the centre of Oxford and central London. The Oxford Bus Company (tel: +44 1865 785 400; www.oxfordbus.co.uk) serves Victoria Coach Station, Grosvenor Gardens, Marble Arch, Baker Street/Gloucester Place and Hillingdon.

The Oxford Tube (tel: +44 1865 772 250; www.oxfordtube.com) service stops at Grosvenor Gardens, Marble Arch, Notting Hill Gate, Shepherd's Bush and Hillingdon.

National Express (tel: +44 871 781 8181; www.nationalexpress.com) operates bus services between Oxford other cities within the UK.

Megabus (tel: +44 141 352 4444; www.megabus.com) also runs intercity coach services from Oxford.

Time to city

From London - 1 hour 15 minutes; Birmingham - 1 hour 20 minutes; Manchester  - 3 hours.

Travel by Rail

Services

Oxford is well connected to the rest of the UK by a mostly efficient rail service. National Rail Enquiries (tel: +44 3457 484 950; www.nationalrail.co.uk) provides information on timetables and fares.

Oxford railway station is located on Park End Street, 10 minutes' walk from the city centre.

Operators

GWR (tel: +44 345 700 0125; www.gwr.com) operates frequent services between Oxford and London Paddington.

Oxford is also served by Virgin Trains (tel: +44 3331 031 031; www.virgintrains.co.uk), which operates frequent north-south services from Scotland to the south coast and includes cities like Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

Journey times

From London Paddington - 1 hour; Birmingham - 1 hour 10 minutes; Manchester - 2 hours 45 minutes.