Local Information

AofA 2024 will be hosted at the University of Bath.

Getting to Bath

Travel by Train:
Bath’s train station is called Bath Spa. There are frequent direct trains from London Paddington to Bath Spa. You can, for example, use the GWR website to book your tickets. You can also buy tickets at the train station.

You can either buy an “Advance” ticket (only available if you buy your ticket in advance) or a flexible ticket. An advance ticket is only valid for the specific train you select when booking. A flexible ticket is valid for all the trains in the right time zone: for example, a super-off-peak return is a return ticket that you can use on any train at a super-off-peak time. There is more information about peak and off-peak tickets here.
The Trainline is often good at finding the cheapest options.  

Travel by plane:

• Bristol international airport:
  • There is a direct bus between Bath train station and Bristol international airport: https://www.airdecker.com/. There is one bus per hour and the journey takes 1/1,5 hour, depending on the traffic.
  • Alternatively, you can take the A1 bus to Bristol Temple meads (the main train station in Bristol) and then take a train from Bristol to Bath.
• Heathrow international airport: All three options below take approximately two hours:
  • People from Bath usually take the RailAir bus to Reading train station and then take a train from there to Bath.
  • A more expensive option is to take the Heathrow express to Paddington train station and then a train from there to Bath.
  • The cheapest option is to take a National Express bus. There are a few direct buses from Heathrow to Bath train station per day.
• Other London airports: the other airport of London are much further away, so if you can, try flying to Heathrow. The next closest option is Gatwick airport, which can be reached by train with a connection in Reading train station.

Hotels

Bath is a small town with rather short distances. Since its, well, baths, are a tourist attraction, there is ample accommodation available, but it might be prudent to book well in advance.

Budget hotels:

• Travelodge (Riverside, City Centre, and Central)
• Z Hotel
• Royal Hotel
• Premier Inn Bath City Centre

Upscale hotels:

• Indigo Hotel
• Hamptons by Hilton

Small family-run Bed & Breakfasts:

• Pulteney House (only a dozen of rooms available)

Youth Hostels with private rooms:

• YHA Bath (between the city centre and uni)
• YMCA Bath (in the city centre)