Travel

Travel by air

If you're flying into Britain for the conference, it's definitely worth trying to get a ticket to Manchester Airport (or possibly to Liverpool Airport, as Liverpool is close to Manchester and there are frequent train services connecting the two cities). This may not be possible from some places, in which case you'll most likely have to fly into one of the London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Luton) and either get a connecting flight to Manchester (which should be easy as Manchester Airport is one of the largest in the country), or take the train or bus from London to Manchester.

Manchester Airport

Manchester airport has direct flights from all over the world and connecting flights to the London airports (and other airports in Britain). There is a direct train service from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly train station in central Manchester (see the 'Travel by train' section below for information about Manchester train stations). You should be able to find details of flights into Manchester from the airport's website: Manchester Airport (or click here to go directly to the airport's 'destinations' page). 

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

If you're travelling from Europe, it may be cheaper to fly to Liverpool Airport using low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair and then take the train to Manchester - you can sometimes get some very cheap tickets with airlines flying into Liverpool, although their prices go up as they sell seats on a particular plane. You can easily get to Manchester from Liverpool Airport (although it will probably take at least an hour and a half). There is a direct bus from Liverpool airport to Manchester, or you could take the (regular) bus to from Liverpool airport to Liverpool Lime Street train station (on bus number 500), then the train to Manchester (trains run from Liverpool to Manchester every 30 minutes or so and the journey lasts about 45 minutes). See here for some details about the buses involved. The total cost of this journey will probably be be around GBP15.

Travel by train

It's easy to get to Manchester by train from anywhere in Britain, including the main airports. If your journey involves travel by train, it's worth noting that there are several train stations in Manchester. The main station in central Manchester, where intercity trains normally terminate, is called Manchester Piccadilly Station. There is also a station to the north, where some trains from Liverpool and Lancashire and other parts of the north of England terminate, called Victoria station. The closest station to the University and Hulme Hall is called Oxford Road station. Some trains from Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and other cities stop here as well as at Piccadilly, and it may be worth getting off your train here, although Oxford Road station is much smaller that Piccadilly and it's easier to get a taxi from Piccadilly. 

If you take the train from London, you'll probably need to get to Euston Station, which is the big London station for trains to the North-West of England (and certain other destinations). It's easy to get to Euston by the London Underground railway (also known as 'the Tube'). You can download a Tube map here. This site also contains other information about travel in London.

You can find out details of train services to all of the Manchester stations at the National Rail travel information site and you can buy train tickets online either there or at www.thetrainline.com (for which you'll need to register, but that's free). It's also easy to buy tickets on the day of travel at any train station - you can just walk up to the counter - but you can normally get cheaper tickets if you buy them in advance (and you can arrange to pick up pre-ordered tickets from the machines at train stations). All the details can be found at the two websites just mentioned.