EuroStrings 2006: April 3-7, Cambridge, UK

Rail

There are regular train connections to Cambridge from London. The fastest trains depart from Kings Cross Station in London and take approximately 45 minutes. Other, slower, trains depart from both Kings Cross and Liverpool Street Stations in London and take around 70 minutes. Tickets should be bought at the station before boarding the train.

Once at Cambridge Railway Station, there is taxi rank outside to take you to your accomodation. Alternatively, Stagecoach Cambus runs a bus service between the rail station and the city centre.

General information about UK train services is available at the Railtrack web site. Maps of the London underground are here.

Coach and Bus

The Cambridge coach station is close to the city centre and there is an adjacent taxi rank.

Long-distance coach services are run by JetLink and NationalExpress. A combined timetable can be found at the National Express web site. Stagecoach bus runs services in Cambridge and to/from nearby villages and towns.

Car

Air

Cambridge is within easy reach by rail, coach or taxi. There is a railway station inside the terminal at Stanstead. The services to Cambridge are operated by Central Trains and take about 30 minutes. The service operates seven days a week, the first train departing at 05:51 (Monday to Sunday). The last direct train to Cambridge departs at 21:18 Monday to Saturday and 22:40 on Sundays. If you arrive late, you can take the Liverpool Street train and change at Bishops Stortford for the Cambridge train. This may involve a wait of 30 to 60 minutes so it is then better to take the coach (see below).

The coach services to Cambridge run with the same frequency as the trains, and take about 1 hour (JetLink lines 757 or 797). Tickets can be purchased from the coach ticket desk in the arrivals area of the terminal or on the coach. A taxi from Stanstead Airport to Cambridge costs around 50 or 60 pounds.

London Heathrow Airport
Many airlines fly to London Heathrow. The easiest way to get to Cambridge is to take a direct coach service. There is an hourly coach (Jetlink 787 or 797, see the National Express web site) which takes a scheduled 2.5 hours to reach Cambridge (often longer, depending on traffic jams).

A fast train service, the Heathrow Express, connects the airport with London Paddington station. From there it is only a few stops on the underground to Kings Cross station for rail services or to Victoria Station for coach services to Cambridge.

London Gatwick Airport
This airport is located to the south of London. A fast train service, the Gatwick Express connects the airport with Victoria train station. From there, use the underground (Victoria line, northbound) to reach King's Cross station, and follow the instructions above. Alternatively, coach services run directly from Victoria coach station (next to the railway station) to Cambridge.

There is also a direct coach service to Cambridge from Gatwick which takes around 4 hours.

London Luton Airport
Some budget airlines (e.g. EasyJet) use Luton airport, which is about 35 miles from Cambridge. No intercontinental flights operate from Luton. Contact the Luton Airport web site for a list of operating companies.

There is no direct train connection from Luton airport to Cambridge and you will have to go via London. However, there is a coach service (JetLink 787) once every two hours, departing just outside the terminal building. It takes about 1.5 hours to reach Cambridge.

London City Airport
The City airport is located very close to the centre of London. It serves major european cities. See the London City Airport web site for details. There is a shuttle bus from the airport that connects with the underground network.

Train or boat from the continent

There are also various boat connections from Ireland, France, Belgium and Holland which have train connections to London or directly to Cambridge. See the sites of P&O, StenaLine and SeaFrance for more information.