Traveling to Nottingham from Heathrow

@crumpet: Two pieces of hold luggage...

Will it be a problem then to arrive on campus around 8pm?
Because the coach arrives at Nottingham at 19:20 and then I still need to catch a taxi or a bus to campus, right? :/

University of Nottingham

Nottingham

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Reply 21

No it won't be a problem. You'll arrive, find your room, make your bed, then presumably go and start meeting people. You can unpack later.

This PDF is helpful: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/documents/internationalstudents/studentsupportadviceresources/travelling-to-nottingham.pdf

Maybe consider flying into Birmingham instead, in future. It is easier than the London airports too.

Reply 22

So it won't be too late to meet people and explore the campus a little?
What about the "welcome adress" program?

I would've considered flying there, but my city-airport only connest to Heathrow... >.<

Reply 23

It won't be too late to meet people, and indeed that will be what the whole of fresher's week will be about.

Do you know what hall you are in? Join the Facebook page and start meeting people now. The hall facebook links are in this:

http://www.welcometonottingham2014.co.uk

Exploring the campus probably not viable as it will be getting dark, but there will be plenty of opportunity to explore and hopefully attend campus tours in the following days.

Reply 24

Alright, so there shouldn't be any problem with the "welcome adress" either?

Thank you :smile:

Reply 25

Original post by MEng_Student

Hold luggage = no chance of being on a coach an hour after the scheduled landing time. It could easily be 30 minutes before you are reunited with it, and that's before immigration and then getting to the coach stop.

The bus system is one of the best things about Nottingham. Unless they're doing free shuttle buses from the centre, you will need the exact money though, so make sure you have some UK coins.

You also want to have a map of the campus ready. It's a big one and while things may improve during the first week, it is normally very very lacking in good signage.

Original post by MEng_Student

Oh okay, so St. Pancras is just next to King's cross?

Do you know if the trains to Nottingham leave on a regular basis or is there like 1-2 trains a day?

Yes, to the point that the underground station is 'Kings Cross St Pancras'.

There are two ways to get between London and Nottingham via the train. The direct line leaves from St Pancras - up at the same level as the Eurostar, but on a different set of platforms. It's run by EastMidlands trains. You can also go from Kings Cross on the EastCoast line and change at Grantham. If you're not finding any direct trains, there may be engineering work on the EastMidlands route.

For future reference, it's worth knowing that you can get discount tickets on some trains Mon-Sat on the EastMidlands route via uk.megabus.com (they buy a pile of seats on otherwise underused trains very cheaply and sell them cheaply...) Apart from that, it's always best to go to the website of the train company concerned - it will probably be cheaper than the heavily advertised Trainline.

Here, if you can do Heathrow - Nottingham in one coach, go for it.

Reply 26

They go on until 10pm, but you might want to contact your Hall reps in advance to ask whether they could get you on to a late slot.

Reply 27

Yeah, I'll probably book the later coach then and inform my Hall reps...
Are the direct trains between London and Nottingham always suspended on sundays or is it just that particular date?

Thank you guys for your help! :smile:

Reply 28

cole-slaw

Original post by MEng_Student

Hi guys, I'll be arriving on Heathrow Airport on Sept 21 at 1:15pm?
How do I get to the university from there the fastest/cheapest way?

I read that I can either take a coach that travels 3 hours and costs like 20£ or take the tube to King's Cross and board a train that has 1 stop in Grantham for like 30£. The train travels like 2 hours or so.

Which option is better/faster/prettier?
Is it really necessary to book those tickets right now? If so, for what time should I book the coach/the train? I don't know how long I need at Heathrow to pick up baggage and go through customs (I'm an EU student).

Thank you in advance!

Sincerely,
MEng_Student

http://www.thetrainline.com/buytickets/combinedmatrix.aspx?Command=TimeTable#Journey/193/NOT/21/09/14/14/0/Dep//////Dep/1/0//0;0;0

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/Airport/trainline/index.aspx?from=HEATHROW+AIRPORT+%28ANY%29&to=NOTTINGHAM&adults=1&children=0&outday=21&outmonth=09&outyear=2014&outime=14:00&jtype=single

The coach would drop you at broadmarsh, the train station is about 100 yards down the road.

As the tram is not yet open, you need the rainbow 5 (indigo) or an orange bus to get you to university from broadgate.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 29

Original post by MEng_Student

Yeah, I'll probably book the later coach then and inform my Hall reps...
Are the direct trains between London and Nottingham always suspended on sundays or is it just that particular date?

As with any other line, it's usually on semi-random weekends, occasionally for weeks at a time. In the past year, Nottingham has been closed for several weeks because of building a bridge for the tram line extension over it.

In my experience, your life will be complete even if you never go to a 'welcome session'.

Reply 30

Alright thank you guys.
Since I don't know at what time I'll come out of the Airport, I guess the best thing to do would be not to prebook any tickets and see if I can catch a coach and if I can't to simply take the tube to King's Cross and hop on a train, even if I have to change trains midway through.
I don't want to arrive too late either :/

Reply 31

parentlurker

just a thought - but have you double checked about not being able to get an internationals coach? If there is one and it isn't fully booked they might just let you have a place.

Reply 32

The coaches only depart on the 16th of september for international students week, which I am not eligible for either.
So there are definitely no coaches on the 21st of september.

Reply 33

Original post by MEng_Student

Booking in advance is much, much cheaper than buying on the day. You should get the later coach with no problem.

Reply 34

It seems extraordinary to me that international students from the EU can't attend International Week. They will encounter exactly the same issues re opening bank accounts, language, assimilating into the culture, perhaps not having visited the uni before arriving, needing to buy more when they arrive, whether they are from the EU or outside.

Reply 35

Original post by Crumpet1

Yeah I know, but what can I do? It is how it is.

@unprinted: But with train I could arrive up to 1-2 hours earlier...
And I can't really book it in advance, since I don't know when I'll actually manage to get through EU customs and pick up my baggage...

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 36

Assumption: you'll be out of the terminal at 14:30.

Choice one: Piccadilly line to King's Cross St Pancras - takes just over an hour. Oops, you've missed the 15:15 from KGX, so it will be the 16:15 which involves two changes (the train doesn't stop at Grantham, so you need to change at Peterborough for one that does) and arrives Nottingham 18:22.

Cost - £28 if bought now, 'only two tickets left at this price'. £55 on the day. Both plus the £6ish cash fare from Heathrow or the more sensible Oyster deposit plus Oyster fare.

Choice two: coach from Heathrow. Dep 15:30, arr 19:10. Cost £18 if booked now, £45-£47 on the day.

There's no contest! Book the later coach, paying an extra £5 for the flexible fare: "It allows you to get on any available coach 12 hours before or 12 hours after your original coach departure time. You can also amend your ticket free of charge to a new departure date. So if your flight is delayed, then there’s no need to panic, you can just hop on the next available coach. It also entitles you to refund your ticket free of charge up to 24 hours before departure".

Reply 37

According to
http://www.buytickets.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/combinedmatrix.aspx?Command=TimeTable
there is a train at 15:52 that leaves for Grantham, which I can catch

As for the coaches:
http://coach.nationalexpress.com/nxbooking/journey-search?searchSessionKey=1409225916299

The flexible fare is £21 more

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 38