Oxford

The conference is being moved from Montreal to Oxford. And I mean, who doesn’t any to go to Oxford? So in considering it.

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Heathrow has a Heathrow Express service that is convenient for reaching London Paddington railway station, but not much else. It is a bit pricey given the distance — it’s 29 GBP in first class one way and not much cheaper in second. It’s more or less straightforward and easy to reach from most of the terminals. (T2 involves a bit of a walk, which may be a problem with luggage.)

Your train to Oxford will probably depart from Paddington, which is why I mention this.

Paddington Tube station connections to the railway station are awful if you have any amount of luggage, wheeled or not. If you can make your way to the Bakerloo line once you get to central London, at least you’ll have an escalator you can use. Otherwise, it’s steps all the way, unless somehow you’re lucky enough to hit the District and Circle lines eastward and manage to make your way to a lift. There are no lifts on the westward platforms, so this trick won’t work in the opposite direction.

If you still want to take the Tube with luggage, look for Transport for London’s step-free access guide, and read the notes on Paddington and the station you’ll use for transferring from the Piccadilly line to the District or Circle lines.

So if you’re really going to Oxford, and you’re taking a train from London Paddington railway station, go ahead and pay for the Heathrow Express from Heathrow. You’ll have level access to the train platform, no matter which train you’ll board to Oxford.

Things to check:
Heathrow Express: https://www.heathrowexpress.com/
National Rail Enquiries: http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search
First Great Western: https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/

Things to keep in mind:
Heathrow Express and First Great Western automated ticket machines should accept US-issued credit and debit cards, but you may have problems at shops, especially grocers. Try to hit an ATM at Heathrow — use the “accept as GBP” option if provided to use your bank’s conversion rate and fees, rather than the ATM owner’s rate and fees.

First Great Western allows you to buy tickets online with any internationally recognised bank plastic, but I think that’s limited to standard service on Heathrow Express. You will need the actual plastic with you to pick up the tickets from an automated ticket machine — they match details from the card with your particulars and ticket collection code.

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