Dear Bristol workshop participant,

Andy Booker has provided the following travel advice.

1. From Heathrow to Bristol.

The best option is to take a bus with National Express,
www.nationalexpress.com.
Participants can try booking tickets there, but they might have
trouble without a UK credit card.  However, it's not too expensive to
buy tickets on the day from the central bus station in Heathrow.  They
should look up the schedule from Heathrow Airport to the Bristol Coach
Station.  There are three stops at Heathrow that you can choose on the
website: T1 & T3, which is the central bus station servicing terminals
1 to 3, and separate stops for T4 and T5.  The latter choices are for
people who know specifically that they're flying into one of those
terminals and are able to purchase their tickets online; otherwise
they should make their way to the central bus station either on foot
(from T1 or T3) or by the airport train (from T4 or T5).  By the way,
it's usually a lot cheaper to buy a return coach ticket rather than
two singles, so it pays to look into your return travel at the same
time.

On average it takes about one hour from the plane landing to arriving
at the central bus terminal, but more if you have to transfer from T4
or T5.  When choosing a coach, I usually add two hours to the
scheduled landing time.  If you happen to arrive early and there's an
earlier coach available, you can ask the driver if there's space to
take you.  On the other hand, if you're late then you should go to the
desk at the central bus station and they'll give you a later ticket
for a small fee (£3, I think).  Also note that Bristol might not be
the final destination listed on the board in the central bus station;
other common destinations for coaches servicing Bristol are Cardiff
and Swansea.

2.  From the Bristol bus station to the hotel.

We have made a reservation for you at the Raddison Blu, located at
7 Broad Quay (unless you told us you would make your own reservations.
Also, if you didn't send us your travel dates then we had to guess
which days you would be staying at the hotel.)

On arrival at Bristol Coach Station, exit the doors at the end nearest
to where the coach lets you off, and follow these walking directions
to the hotel:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=bristol+coach+station&daddr=7+Broad+Quay,+Bristol+BS1+4DH&hl=en&ll=51.457269,-2.594855&spn=0.005495,0.013797&sll=51.456628,-2.593589&sspn=0.01099,0.027595&geocode=FXk1EQMdLGrY_yFMD2tI-pyDLg%3BFdocEQMdG2DY_yF-KWRqZiOZ-imPs7LG141xSDGmB1HygOJvsA&mra=ltm&dirflg=w&z=16

By the way, the coach is not the only option.  People can also take
the Heathrow Express to Paddington, and change there for a train to
Bristol Temple Meads.  These can be purchased online at
www.heathrowexpress.com and www.fgwtickets.co.uk, respectively.  In
contrast to the coach, train tickets from London are very expensive
unless booked in advance.  Also, they're totally unforgiving if your
plane is delayed and you miss the train.  For those reasons, the coach
is probably the better option for most people.

If anyone out there still hasn't bought their plane tickets, note that
Bristol has an airport (BRS) with convenient connections to Newark,
Amsterdam and Paris.  Tickets to Bristol airport tend to cost a bit
more, but avoid the hassle of travelling from Heathrow.

To get from the hotel to Howard House, follow these walking directions:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=7+Broad+Quay,+Bristol+BS1+4DH&daddr=51.4527617,-2.6004113+to:51.4570741,-2.6077989+to:bs8+1sn&hl=en&sll=51.455225,-2.602695&sspn=0.010991,0.027595&geocode=FdocEQMdG2DY_yF-KWRqZiOZ-imPs7LG141xSDGmB1HygOJvsA%3BFVkbEQMdJVLY_ynL-4w8141xSDFxcB_MI4sNEw%3BFTIsEQMdSjXY_ymR2Rsq241xSDEhdR_MI4sNEw%3BFcUuEQMdrDfY_ylZcX8j241xSDFvB9JwGGND6Q&mra=ltm&via=1,2&dirflg=w&z=15

3. From the hotel to Howard house.

The workshop will be at Howard House, which is where the Math Department
is located.  We plan to meet every day, including the weekends.
More details in a future email.

Howard House is the building at the corner of Queens Ave and Elmdale
Rd.  If the guard is not present in the lobby when you arrive then
ring the buzzer for Bristol University, 4th floor.  From the lobby,
take the elevator up to 4.

This walk includes climbing a very steep hill and is about 0.8 mile,
according to Google.  You can also take the number 9 bus,
which is more or less direct from the hotel to Howard House.
The stop is on the other side of the small plaza outside the hotel.
Tell the driver that you want a single to Queens Avenue.
The fare is something like £1.80.  You can also buy a return for a
little less than twice that amount, or a "day rider", which for £4
allows unlimited use of (most of) the buses in Bristol for one day.
Try to make change before boarding the bus; if you give the driver a £20,
you can expect a large pile of coins in return.  The bus follows this route:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Bristol+City+Centre,+The+Centre+(Stop+ci)+%4051.453540,-2.597570&daddr=Tyndall's+Park,+Queen's+Avenue+(E-bound)+%4051.457800,-2.608060&hl=en&sll=51.453579,-2.597516&sspn=0.005496,0.013797&geocode=FWQeEQMdPl3Y_w%3BFQgvEQMdRDTY_w&mra=ltm&z=15

You need to press a button to signal that you want to stop.  A good
time to do that is when it makes the U-turn just before turning left
onto Queens Ave.  Upon exiting the bus, Howard House is on the
opposite side of Queens Ave, at the corner with Elmdale Rd.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Regards,

David