Getting Here
Rail
Swansea is connected by an hourly service to London Paddington, with the shortest train journey taking around 3 hours overall. Swansea railway station is a 5−10 minute taxi ride away from Campus. Train schedules are available from National Rail Enquiries. The mainline trains can be booked directly from Great Western Railways or an external supplier like The Trainline. Note that there can be significant price changes between the 08:30 and 09:30 trains (particularly if booking on the day) as the latter qualifies for an off-peak ticket.
Internation rail is quite easy, and appealing, with the London St. Pancras international (Eurostar) terminal an easy interchange on the tube to Paddington.
Air
Swansea’s nearest airport is Cardiff. A short bus service connects the terminal to Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station, from which trains to Bridgend and Cardiff Central (with connections to Swansea) depart on an hourly basis (see here for more information). Bristol Airport is further away; this airport is a short coach journey away from Bristol Temple Meads railway station from which you can take the mainline to Swansea.
London Heathrow is the most connected airport. The Heathrow Express can take you to London Paddington, and then on to Swansea by national rail or coach (see below). This is often the easiest option and most enjoyable as you get a good uninterrupted stint on the train to work. Of the other London airports, Stansted is doable, but both Luton and Gatwick present some headaches with the interchange in London.
Coach
Alternatively, the National Express operates a coach service that runs directly to Swansea. The journey takes around 4 hours, with departures every 2 hours.
From Swansea City to the Bay Campus and Village Hotel: A taxi is the best bet here. Bus services 8,10 run from the main bus terminal (coach station), to the train station to the bay campus. However, these are sporadic and also not so cheap.
Road
We recommend visitors arriving by car who are unfamiliar with Swansea study the map. Swansea is just off the westmost stretch of the M4 motorway. Going west-bound, exit at junction 42a and follow the A483 (Fabian Way). The bay campus, which houses the Computational Foundary appears on your left on Fabian way just after the roundabout by the Amazon depot. (N.b. this is not the old Physics building that you might have visited before, it is a new campus to the east of the city). If you are planning to drive us know so that we can ensure parking provision is made.
Accomodation
There are a variety of hotels that are reasonably located for both attendance of conference and town centre. Here are some options:
Village Hotel located in the SA1 area. We plan on having a daily coach from this hotel to the campus (it is possible to do the 4k walk to the campus from the hotel and also to hire a bike but it is not the most scenic). It is a pleasant 15-minute stroll to the town centre from here. Close to this, we have also Premier Inn Swansea Waterfront as good mid/budget option.
Premier Inn Swansea City is more in the town centre, further from the campus, near the bars/restaurants and also a good mid/budget option.
An upmarket option is the Morgan hotel which is situated near to the town centre.
We also have the possibility of booking a room in the on-campus accomodation just near from the conference itself. Both ensuite (single bed) and larger premium ensuite (double bed) rooms are available at an estimated cost of £140 and £155 per week respectively. These rooms are built in the last couple of years, and are good options at a significantly cheaper rate. To book one of these please email the organisers directly on intdualdef@gmail.com.
