Bristol is one of Europe's most historic and well-connected cities. Its
history of maritime trade and development as the commercial and cultural
centre for the South West makes it an ideal choice for the UKUUG 2002
Linux Developers' conference.
The River Avon runs through the city and has a historic floating harbour
as a focal point. Brunel's magnificent suspension bridge dominates the
Clifton area and overlooks a spectacular gorge.
You'll find more information about Bristol at www.visitbristol.co.uk and www.bristol-city.gov.uk.
Bristol is well-connected and has some of the country's most effective
rail, road and air links.
Road: Bristol stands on one of Britain's major strategic
motorway junctions, the crossroads of the M4 (London to South Wales)
and the M5 (South West to West Midlands).
Bus & Coach: Marlborough Street Bus Station is served by both
National Express and Bakers
Dolphin. Regional and local services are via First Badgerline and
First Cityline.
Rail: Bristol has two mainline Intercity stations (Bristol Temple
Meads and Bristol Parkway) linking it with London or Birmingham and
the rest of the rail network.
Bristol Temple Meads station is a five-minute walk from the conference
hotel or a short bus (numbers (50)8 or (50)9) or taxi ride from the
conference venue (or a 25-minute walk).
The London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads journey time is about
100 minutes. Birmingham is about 90 minutes away.
Train times can be found at Railtrack and Great Western Trains.
Ticket information and bookings are available from
Virgin Trains (with Virgin Value advance booking discounts),
QJump and
Great Western Trains (group discounts).
There is also train-running information for
Bristol Temple Meads and
Bristol Parkway.
For travel from Paris, Brussels or Lille to London see
Eurostar.
Air: Bristol International Airport
is 20 minutes from the University and offers a comprehensive service of
flights within the UK and Europe.
From London Heathrow you can take the Heathrow Express train to London Paddington or the cheaper (and usually faster) RailAir Link coach
to Reading, where you can change onto one of the many Bristol trains. If you buy your tickets on the day, you might
save money by using a combination of tickets for the journey, such as Heathrow (RailAir) to Swindon and then Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads.
National Express also
operates direct coaches to Bristol from Heathrow Airport - this is likely to be the best option (both simplest and cheapest)
provided you don't have a long wait for the next coach.
From London Gatwick there are frequent rail services to London and
hourly rail services to Reading during the day - the route that
avoids London is normally the better choice.
