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Studying at Cardiff University
Cardiff University

Commuting from Bristol to Cardiff- doable??

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River85
I knew there was plenty of parking. It's just I thought Cardiff may offer students a free parking badge in any uni car parks?


Ha, no. Cardiff is not a car-friendly university, as shown by the quote above. I've not met one person who has brought their car with them, although I'm sure there's a few... but, if you don't get a parking permit, you have to park privately. In fact, my residences agreement says that I'm not allowed to keep a car within 2 miles of the campus on a permanent basis. That only applies to certain residences, and it would be impossible to enforce, but it makes pretty clear the fact that they don't want students driving to get to their lectures.
Studying at Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Reply 21
RightSaidJames
Ha, no. Cardiff is not a car-friendly university, as shown by the quote above.


Maybe I got the wrong impression the couple of times I visited (a couple of decent size car parks).

Seems Durham isn't that bad after all. So parking charges add to the cost even further.
Reply 22
recneps
well... look at it this way...

If you live on campus, you are going to be living with housemates, some of whom are very likely to end up being friends
You'll join societies and make friends
You'll go out at night with coursemates and make friends

If you live the other side of the severn you'll not want to go out at night and then drive back
You wont go to society trips and socials and have to drive home
You'll be living with your parents so will miss out on the freedom and friend-making oppotunities

And bear in mind that if you carry on living with your parents now its gonna make it even harder to fly the nest when that time eventually comes. Unless you plan on staying at home forever!

Also, some days you might only have one hour or two hours of lectures (uni timetables have these wonderful quirks) or lectures at 9am, and 5pm with nothing in between. Are you going to travel all the way to cardiff for those? Or are you going to miss lectures because it really isnt worth a 2 hour round trip for an hour lecture. What about lectures at each end of the day? you wont have a house on campus to go back to so you'll be sitting in the library bored all day.


:yep:
parking is a pain in cardiff unless you are living in a residential area with parking for the houses (i had my car in my 2nd and 3rd years) but I would say commuting isn't a good idea. the train would probably be better than driving time and cost wise (with the bridge toll) but you would miss out on a lot of the good stuff of being a student by not being there.
Reply 24
thepinkpowerranger
Bah. If you have something incredibly special with someone and you both feel it, anything is worth it to keep you together.

Long distance is HARD!

But op, you'll be really tired and miss out on social stuff, the experience of living on your own and in halls...

Your call.

You're telling me? I've just come out of a 3.5-year international LDR and have recently moved in with my boyfriend. You don't need to tell me it's ***ing hard or that it's worth it :rolleyes:

What I meant was that it should do what's right for you, which seems to be what you are saying! The OP should go to the university of her choice (Cardiff) and save herself the hassle of the commute. If she is leaving a boyfriend in Bristol then he and she will take the trouble to maintain the relationship long-distance over three years if it is worth it. She shouldn't stay at home just because the relationship wouldn't work otherwise.

(Not that she's said any of this, I'm just guessing :p: )
Reply 25
If you really want to stay at home, then commute by train. The car takes longer and is much more expensive.
Reply 26
Thanks alot for all your answers.:smile: Yeah I do really want to live at home and it's not boyfriend related lol. I'm sure it is a pain though having to travel about an hour to get to uni... but as long as it is doable
Reply 27
Why do you want to stay at home. Why dont you just go to UWE or Bristol
I've met someone living at home in Bristol and who is commuting to Cardiff. People do it from Bridgend and Newport in quite large numbers.

However all the people I know who stayed living at home have been driven completely barking mad and don't have very many friends, although most of them were lunatics to begin with.

Commuting from Bristol will be amazingly annoying and time consuming and expensive whichever way you do it and you won't be properly immersed in the student experience or living the tremendously fun student life.

If you come to Cardiff, get yourself into halls. Either that or get slightly better grades and go to Bristol Uni where staying at home won't mean too much annoyance.
Reply 29
Of course it's possible, but it's not practical. Why do you want to live at home? You're gona be racking up debt anyway, just grin and bear it.... if you want to study and get the full experience of studying in cardiff, you're going to have to LIVE there too tbh. If you want to live at home, then study locally...

I would suggest finding your own flat, or moving in with a friend, doing a house share through the uni, or finding a halls that suits you better? There is an all girls one I know here, and some are definitely smaller and more "cosy", which might be better if you're worried about moving out and away. Just some thoughts...
Original post by recneps
its about an hours drive on the motorway, plus whatever it takes to get through the lovely bristol & cardiff traffic. In addition it will cost you about £5 a day to get across the bridge, and quite a bit in petrol.

Why on earth do you want to live at home? You'll miss out onthe whole "social" side of uni life, you wont make friends, and you will spend half your time sitting on the motorway.

Very bad idea!


People like you are such melons. Not everyone goes to uni to socialise and drink. It’s still an option to go from home and people still do it. She can still find time to do those things you know anyway. Some people are attached to their home
Original post by KingofCool
People like you are such melons. Not everyone goes to uni to socialise and drink. It’s still an option to go from home and people still do it. She can still find time to do those things you know anyway. Some people are attached to their home


In the top right corner of each post is the date the post was made. It might be worth checking that out before chucking around such fruit-based name-calling :donut:
Original post by threeportdrift
In the top right corner of each post is the date the post was made. It might be worth checking that out before chucking around such fruit-based name-calling :donut:

Doesn’t matter. Still think it’s a ridiculous take on the matter. Anyway I didn’t ask you did I?
Original post by **Cooookie**
Hi! I'm considering applying to Cardiff but I want to stay living at home. How long would it take by car to get to cardiff from Bristol and is it something one could consider? :smile:


Hi there,

I'd say that it's worth doing some trial runs first. I'm also not sure how easily you'll find cheap/ reliable parking near where you'll be studying. However, I have a friend who commuted from Bristol for 2 years on trains - it's definitely doable. I'd also consider looking into coaches etc as they're a good/ affordable backup and some stop right on the main campus on Park Place.

I hope this helps!

All the best,

Jaz - Cardiff student rep

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