Accommodation and Travel

Accomodation

As travelling to Birmingham can potentially take a long time from some parts of the UK, we will offer accommodation for 4 nights, starting from June 23rd, and allowing us to begin on the Tuesday with a full day. Students will be accommodated by the IBIS Budget City Centre hotel. It is a very nice hotel, a 40 minutes walk from the Watson Building. Buses 61 and 63 stop right in front of the hotel, every 5 minutes. Both will take you by the campus in 10 to 15 minutes.

Travel

By Air

The closest and most recommended airport is Birmingham International Airport. There is a Air-Rail link from the Airport terminal building to the Birmingham International train station. Trains to Birmingham New Street, the main central station, take approximately 15 minutes.
Other choices for airports and links are the following. East Midlands is around 1h 30min away, by Skylink to Derby and train to Birmingham New Street. London Heathrow and Gatwick have train and tube connections to London Euston and London Marylebone train stations, and they are 2h to 2h 30min far away. London Luton has a coach service to Birmingham Coach Station, which takes approximately 2h 30min.

By Train

The main Birmingham station is Birmingham New Street, where there are several trains each connecting Birmingham to London, the Midlands and the north. Another very central station is Birmingham Moor Street, with connections to London Marylebone.
The University of Birmingham has the honour to be the only one in the UK with its own train station. It is of course the closest train station with respect to Watson Building, a 5 minutes walk. Connections between Birmingham New Street and University stations are every 10 minutes during the day, with intermediate stop at Five Ways, the closest stop with respect to the IBIS Budget.

By Coach

Birmingham Coach Station is located in Oxford Street in Digbeth, a 10 minutes walk from the city centre. There is regular service to central London, and Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton airports, as well as many big cities in the UK.

By Taxi

Taxis in Birmingham are cheap. From the Airport, it is a 20£ to the IBIS Budget, while from the IBIS to the campus is 8£ to 10£. You might want to share one!

Reach the Campus

IBIS Budget Hotel is in the heart of the City Centre, and it is a 40 minutes walk away from Watson Building. It is easy to reach the campus. Out of the Hotel, Bristol Road is on the right. You have to go along that for at least 30 minutes, until you see the clocktower straight on your right. Here is the campus! The clocktower is right in the center of it. Then just turn right and enter the campus. Watson Building is at the north-east of it.
The bus follows exactly the same way, but it just takes 5 minutes. Bus stop is in front of the hotel, with buses 61 and 63 coming with a 5 minutes interval at most, and both taking to the campus. Again, criterion "clocktower on your right" applies for bus stops.