Travel Information
How are you Travelling?
By air
From Heathrow and Gatwick: the best way to reach Oxford from Heathrow and Gatwick airports is to take a bus (during the day, the buses normally depart every 30 min). (Alternatively, you can take a train from the airport to London and then change to a train to Oxford, see below; you can also pre-book or take a taxi to Oxford but this may be expensive - 100 GBP or more one way.) The bus company is called "The airline" and the schedule, ticket prices and other information can be found here. The journey from Heathrow takes about 90 min, from Gatwick - 2.5 hours. The buses are equipped with climate control, toilet and free wi-fi service which sometimes works.
From Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3: follow the signes to the Central Bus Station and take the Airline bus from there.
From Heathrow Terminal 5: the Airile bus stop is located directly outside the terminal (bus stand number 10).
From Heathrow Terminal 4: please follow the signes to "Heathrow Express" (free) train - take it to Terminals 1,2,3 (it's one stop) and walk to the Central Bus Station.
From Gatwick's South Terminal:
The Airline bus stop is outside the terminal (bus stands 1 and 2), please follow the signes "Buses and coaches" to the street level. The schedule of departures is posted at the bus stand.
From Gatwick's North Terminal:
The Airline bus stop is outside the terminal (bus stop 4), please follow the signes "Buses and coaches" to the street level. The schedule of departures is posted at the bus stand.
You can buy tickets at the central bus station or directly from the driver (dollars and euros are accepted, change is given in GBP, the price of the "period return" ticket from Heathrow is about GBP 30, from Gatwick - about 37 GBP). There is no need to book bus tickets online in advance (but this option is available). Make sure you buy the "return" (=roundtrip) ticket. Usually, there is a line of people to board the bus, the driver first loads your luggage and then you join another line of those waiting to enter the bus, and finally you enter and pay. One comment - when loading your luggage, the driver usually asks where you want to go (notwithstanding the fact that the bus clearly displays the sign "Oxford") - the reason is that the bus will be making several stops in Oxford - the correct one you need is the final stop, "Central Bus Station" also known as Gloucester [it is pronounced GLOSTER] Green.
From other airports:
There is a service from/to Stansted Airport ( 757 via Stansted ). From Luton airport, a coach runs every 2 hours. The journey time is around 2 hours. More frequent connections are available by train. Trains run from Luton Airport Parkway station to Oxford via London. Two changes are necessary, the train arrives at St Pancras then you must take an underground link to Paddington, from which trains run to Oxford, see http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. The journey time is about 3 hrs. Birmingham International Airport (BHX) is a good alternative airport for travelling to Oxford. The train station is linked to the passenger terminals by a free, frequent Air-Rail link, which runs every 2 minutes from 0515 to 0200. The journey time is less than 2 minutes. There is a frequent train service from Birmingham International train station to Oxford, and the journey time is approximately one hour. Timetables can be found at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.
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By rail
There are regular services from London Paddington. There are also regular links to other parts of the country via Didcot, Reading and Birmingham. (Interactive timetable from National Rail - enter London Paddington for trains to/from London.) Oxford station is just under a mile from St John's college. Google your way through or take a taxi at the rail station.
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By coach (bus)
Frequent 24-hour direct services connect Oxford with London (peak times every 10-20 minutes). The X90 service includes Victoria Coach Station, Grosvenor Gardens, Marble Arch, Baker Street/Gloucester Place and Hillingdon (tel: +44 (0)1865 785410). The Oxford Tube service includes Grosvenor Gardens, Marble Arch, Notting Hill Gate, Shepherd's Bush, and Hillingdon (tel: +44 (0)1865 772250). For information on coaches to other major cities contact National Express (tel: +44 (0)8717 818178). Coaches arrive at Gloucester Green Coach Station in the city centre. There is also a coach service from Cambridge ( X5 via Milton Keynes) - it takes 3.5 hours and is usually described as the worst known to man method to travel between these two famous towns (most people prefer taking a train through London - it takes about 3 hours but you avoid motion sickness).
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How to reach St John's college in Oxford
From the bus station (Glocester Green) is's about 5-10 min walk, somewhat longer from the train station (20 min). You can take a taxi from the train station. The main Porter's Lodge of the college is on St Giles Street, not far from the Ashmolean museum. Please google the post code OX1 3JP. The entrance is unmarked - it's a massive medieval gate structure with a smaller entrance at the left. The gate is open 6:00-23:00, at other time use the buzzer next to the door. The porter's lodge itself is right inside the gate at your right. It is manned 24/7.