London to Oxford by car? coach? train?

OP

@Oxford Mum is Great Western Railway from Paddington Station, good enough without delays? It is the shortest route to Oxford for Open Days for me. 🙂

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 2

TypicalNerd

By a small margin, I would think the GWR from Paddington would be your fastest option as the train journey itself is about an hour long.

Though that said, you’d then have to either get a bus, taxi or walk to the colleges that you’d want to look around most. To give you an idea of how long of a walk it would be, Google maps says St John’s College (one of the most central colleges in Oxford) is about a 14 minute walk from the train station.

Driving there should take circa 1 hr 20 m in all, according to Google maps. However, I suspect that this is a rather optimistic estimate and because I’m looking at it at like 4 am so traffic probably isn’t nearly as bad as it would be during more sensible hours of the day lol.

Looking on BusBud.com, it would appear coach journeys from London to Oxford usually are around 1 hr 30 min each way, but they all seem to start near Buckingham palace and drop you off at Gloucester green (which conveniently is in central Oxford and is about a 5 minute walk from St John’s).

Reply 3

Scotney

Original post by thegeek888

@Oxford Mum is Great Western Railway from Paddington Station, good enough without delays? It is the shortest route to Oxford for Open Days for me. 🙂

Train for sure especially if you are on Elizabeth Line.

Reply 4

Oxford Mum

21

Original post by thegeek888

@Oxford Mum is Great Western Railway from Paddington Station, good enough without delays? It is the shortest route to Oxford for Open Days for me. 🙂

I really do not have any expertise in this area. Coming, as I do from a small village up north, the only really viable way for me is to drive.

Lucky you you live in london so are well connected. The only issue is, will the tube or train be running ( a real risk nowadays). I would certainly prefer to use public transport if I could, as driving long distances can be very stressful.

Whichever way you travel, the big picture is getting to Oxford and enjoying the experience once you get there

Reply 5

OP

Original post by TypicalNerd

By a small margin, I would think the GWR from Paddington would be your fastest option as the train journey itself is about an hour long.

Though that said, you’d then have to either get a bus, taxi or walk to the colleges that you’d want to look around most. To give you an idea of how long of a walk it would be, Google maps says St John’s College (one of the most central colleges in Oxford) is about a 14 minute walk from the train station.

Driving there should take circa 1 hr 20 m in all, according to Google maps. However, I suspect that this is a rather optimistic estimate and because I’m looking at it at like 4 am so traffic probably isn’t nearly as bad as it would be during more sensible hours of the day lol.

Looking on BusBud.com, it would appear coach journeys from London to Oxford usually are around 1 hr 30 min each way, but they all seem to start near Buckingham palace and drop you off at Gloucester green (which conveniently is in central Oxford and is about a 5 minute walk from St John’s).

I would drive with my dad, if or when I get in, as there's too many belongings to take into the room.

The coach is nice, I have travelled to Birmingham and Manchester on coach but it was slow due to traffic.

So I will stick with Great Western Railways from Paddington to Oxford. 🙂

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Scotney

Train for sure especially if you are on Elizabeth Line.

Yes, it is just 10 minutes to Paddington from my house. Also house prices have increased from £75,000 in May 1995 to £550,000 in my area to most recently, mostly due to Elizabeth line and a shortage of suitable housing.

It is roughly the same as buying a studio or 1 bedroom flat in The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea!!! 😀 lol

Reply 7

OP

Original post by Oxford Mum

I really do not have any expertise in this area. Coming, as I do from a small village up north, the only really viable way for me is to drive.

Lucky you you live in london so are well connected. The only issue is, will the tube or train be running ( a real risk nowadays). I would certainly prefer to use public transport if I could, as driving long distances can be very stressful.

Whichever way you travel, the big picture is getting to Oxford and enjoying the experience once you get there

Oh wow, you're from the North?! Yet you come to Oxford and Cambridge events often. 🙂 lol

I will be travelling on the GWR Paddington to Oxford train, since it is about an hour journey. It is even better than Cambridge.

Also, St. John's College, Oxford University, only gets 8 applicant's per place on average, which is rather low for Oxford. However, each student also gets £350 each term to spend on books or iPad by being a student accepted by St. John's College, Oxford University.

I am not worried, as I will be well prepared and if I don't get in, I will apply to Cambridge the following year, since Cambridge interviews 80% of applicants, whereas Oxford only interviews about 40% of applicants?! ☹️

Reply 8

gjd800

Avoid by car if you can, the amount of roadworks in and around Oxon - especially up by Botley - is chaos at the moment and there are massive delays.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by gjd800

Avoid by car if you can, the amount of roadworks in and around Oxon - especially up by Botley - is chaos at the moment and there are massive delays.

Where do you suggest I park? As I won't be able to see all the Colleges on Open Days and it might be easier to travel home back to London by car at late night.

Reply 10

gjd800

Original post by thegeek888

Where do you suggest I park? As I won't be able to see all the Colleges on Open Days and it might be easier to travel home back to London by car at late night.

Parking is very, very difficult as well at the moment. Might even be easier to pay for parking in the Westgate but it fills up pretty quickly. I don't have an easy answer for this. If it were me I'd avoid travelling there by car at the minute. Perhaps your College choices have some tailored advice given all the work ging on in and around Oxon currently?

Reply 11

OP

Original post by gjd800

Parking is very, very difficult as well at the moment. Might even be easier to pay for parking in the Westgate but it fills up pretty quickly. I don't have an easy answer for this. If it were me I'd avoid travelling there by car at the minute. Perhaps your College choices have some tailored advice given all the work ging on in and around Oxon currently?

I will just take the GWR train and visit in June and September.

Reply 12

themilnes

4

Original post by thegeek888

Where do you suggest I park? As I won't be able to see all the Colleges on Open Days and it might be easier to travel home back to London by car at late night.

If you're going to drive then definitely use the park & ride as parking in Oxford is a nightmare and also very expensive (which is great in a way, because it helps to reduce the traffic trying to go into the centre). The park and ride is sensibly priced and very frequent - like around every 10 mins or so for the bulk of the day.

My brother studies at Oxford and someone drives him to the Park & Ride (as there is no sensible public transport solution from here) and then they either hop on the park & ride bus with his stuff or just he goes on the Park & Ride bus and a cycle courier meets the car at the Park & Ride and takes his stuff to the college (and vice versa at the end of term).

It sounds like the train would be a good option for you, though. Oxford is a small city and you can walk between the colleges and most places in very little time.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 13

OP

Original post by themilnes

If you're going to drive then definitely use the park & ride as parking in Oxford is a nightmare and also very expensive (which is great in a way, because it helps to reduce the traffic trying to go into the centre). The park and ride is sensibly priced and very frequent - like around every 10 mins or so for the bulk of the day.

My brother studies at Oxford and someone drives him to the Park & Ride (as there is no sensible public transport solution from here) and then they either hop on the park & ride bus with his stuff or just he goes on the Park & Ride bus and a cycle courier meets the car at the Park & Ride and takes his stuff to the college (and vice versa at the end of term).

Oh splendid, that's very insightful.

So no cars are allowed on the site of any colleges? 😧

Just for clarification, how would I carry my suitcases, and electronics goods, all the way to a College without the car being parked near or on site in college?

Reply 14

sam3541654

8

Original post by thegeek888

I wonder which is the quickest route to Oxford?

I will be going to the Open Days. So it could get busy? :s-smilie:

I live just 5 minutes walk away from an Elizabeth Line train station and can reach Paddington (also on the Elizabeth Line) within 10 minutes.

So is going from Paddington to Oxford on Great Western Railway the best choice or should I go by coach or even car?

trains have really bad delays i would probably go by car

Reply 15

ScienceBean

5

When I visited last year, we drove and then used the park and ride. It was alright but so, so busy. There were literally hundreds of people waiting for a bus into Oxford so we hard to wait quite a while. Getting back to the car park was even worse as buses were going past the stop already full so we had to wait even longer just to be able to squish onto a bus. The park and ride is great though if it's not an open day

As it sounds convenient for you from London, definatly take public transport.

Reply 16

themilnes

4

Original post by thegeek888

Oh splendid, that's very insightful.

So no cars are allowed on the site of any colleges? 😧

Just for clarification, how would I carry my suitcases, and electronics goods, all the way to a College without the car being parked near or on site in college?

I can only speak for Somerville where there is no parking but lots of people do abandon their cars in the road near the entrance for a short while whilst they dump their bags into the porter's lodge. I see why they do it but it's a pain in the backside for cyclists and other traffic. We either take the bags on the park & ride bus or get the lovely Velocity Cycle Couriers to meet us at the park & ride car park and whizz the bags to the college. With having to take all the stuff at the start of term and remove it all at the end my brother is good at packing light (gets everything, inc sports stuff, in a couple of large duffel bags, 2 rucksacks and possibly a carrier bag or two).

Reply 17

Muttley79

Original post by thegeek888

I wonder which is the quickest route to Oxford?

I will be going to the Open Days. So it could get busy? :s-smilie:

I live just 5 minutes walk away from an Elizabeth Line train station and can reach Paddington (also on the Elizabeth Line) within 10 minutes.

So is going from Paddington to Oxford on Great Western Railway the best choice or should I go by coach or even car?

Do not drive - parking is expensive and then you pay for the bus as well from the Park and Ride.

Be aware there are roadworks near the station - look at this option: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/oxfordshire/oxford-tube

Reply 18

OP

Original post by Muttley79

Do not drive - parking is expensive and then you pay for the bus as well from the Park and Ride.

Be aware there are roadworks near the station - look at this option: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/oxfordshire/oxford-tube

•

"At seat wireless charging, USB charging and reading lights"

•

Complimentary Wi-Fi

•

Toilet facilities

All for half the price of the trains. But it does take 25-30 mins longer?! 🙂 lol

Reply 19

Muttley79