The Student Room Group

How far away is your uni from your hometown?

Sorry if this questions been asked before. Was just wondering how far away your hometown is from your university? I would love to go to university in Ireland or Scotland, but I don't know if I would regret not being able to come home regularly. So if you go to university a long way away, do you regret it? How often do you go home? And how much does it cost you?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
400 miles. But my parents want to relocate so will probably move closer to my Uni city (cheaper there as well).
Reply 2
I'm about a 7/8 hour drive away from home, so it's nigh on impossible to go home for a weekend as by the time I get there it's almost time to turn around and go back again. However, I don't mind too much that I can't go home during term time (I did it once last term and it was just too much hassle) as I ring home often so it doesn't feel as though I'm 300 odd miles away. It costs me about £60 return when I do go home which I don't think is too bad for a 6 hour train journey which crosses London, but it'd certainly add up if I went home more often. As of March however Flybe are starting to do flights from Norwich to Exeter, meaning that next year I might manage it more as I should be slightly better off due to living in a house rather than halls.
Reply 3
6 hours by train/driving.

Its a pain when sometimes you just want to go home but due to money (£68 if bought on the day) i can't. I do love my uni town though.
Reply 4
Used to be less than 10 miles.
Reply 5
I'm from Newcastle and I am studying at Aston Uni (Bham) so about 3.5/4 hours by train and a tiny bit more by car
Reply 6
It's about a 2 - 2 1/2 hour drive away. I only go home for the holidays though, so I wouldn't really care if it was further away.
About 3 hours away. Perfect distance really. I'm not so close that I'm tempted to go home often and miss out on a social life here, but I'm close enough that, should I ever need to, I can get back fairly easily. Saying that, the only time I've been back home since September is at Xmas, so maybe that option isn't really necessary.
7 hours by train (due to changes), about 5 1/2 driving. I only go home at holidays, costs £50-£80 depending on how early I book train tickets.
About 300 miles (5-6 hour drive). But it's a 3 hour direct train from London, so it's quite easy for me to get home as I just get the train to London then the tube and a short train out to my hometown. It's a reasonably cheap journey (about £20 for a single) if I book a few weeks in advance.

If there wasn't the direct, fast train from London then it would be much harder, but as it is it's fine and it's easy to go home for a weekend (I usually go Friday - Sunday).
(edited 12 years ago)
5 hours in the car. :smile:
Around 100 miles I think, from Slough to Canterbury
From Exeter to Bristol, so about 1 hour away and 70 miles?
Reply 13
Dorset to London: 1hr 57mins.
about 7 hours by car, but it dont bother me, i got home christmas and summer, i usually have placement at easter so i stay for that.

sometimes i wish i went closer, but other times im glad i came this far, id have failed epically if id have gone closer as id have been going home more and not spending as much time at uni
160 miles. I'm moving to Southampton.
About three hours on the train, station to station (more like 4 if you measure door-to-door). Anyway, I think it's a fairly good distance, because I'm not really tempted to go back just for the hell of it, but when there's been a reason to go back (reading week, family funeral, getting a fairly specialist item fixed being the three reasons so far other than xmas) then it's not a major pain.

PS my careers teacher used to have a formula for a happy university experience. I can't remember what most of it was, but one part was "two hours away from home, girls!" - basically for the reasons above
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 17
About 75 miles. Takes about 1hr20 by car.
It's an hour and a half drive - I live in west London and study in Cambridge. When I visit home during term time it takes me 45 minutes to get to Central London by train (WHY IS CAMBRIDGE STATION SO OUT OF TOWN THOUGH!!) and then approximately the same amount on the Underground to get home, costing me about £25 all in all so it's not too bad at all.

For me I couldn't really spend a whole term without going to London. I have stuff timetabled here 7 days a week so it really feels like a prison most of the time and I need that escape every few weeks. Plus I'm in a relationship with a Londoner so it's brilliant that we don't have to be apart the whole time.
(edited 12 years ago)
I'm from Poole in Dorset, and I live in Aberystwyth and I love it though for me in terms of distance it's a bit of a weird one. In a car it's 215 miles (about 4 and a half hours) and goes via Bristol and Newport. However, the train (which I use more, and doesn't even touch that route) takes seven and a half hours with two changes. My advised route is Poole - Winchester - Wolverhampton - Aberystwyth, but it's actually slightly cheaper to do Poole - Southampton Central - Birmingham International - Aberystwyth. The nightmare is at Birmingham because if you miss the train you face a 2 hour wait for the next one, and from Birmingham International to Aberystwyth the train takes 3 and a half hours (although this DOES include 10 minutes at Birmingham New Street and 15 minutes at Shrewsbury). With a rail card I can do a return for about £46 normally. The train route is 110 miles longer than the car route.

Quick Reply