Getting there

Planes

London's Heathrow airport is about an hour away from Oxford by car | Gatwick a little further – about 90 minutes.

Trains

Trains run to Oxford from London Paddington every 20 minutes during the day. They’re almost as frequent in the evenings; the journey takes about an hour. There are no direct services from Heathrow or Gatwick, but travelling via London, you’ll still be in Oxfordshire within two hours.

Automobiles

Oxford’s an hour west of London along the M40 | and 90 minutes from Bristol via the M4 and A420. If you want to hire a car | try www.hertz.co.uk – you get a 10 per cent discount if you’re a Smith cardholder | just quote ‘635230’ when you book.