Travel
Travel to and around Glasgow is usually pretty straightforward, however, we've put some notes together to try and make your journey and stay a bit easier.
- Getting to Glasgow
- At the Conference
Getting to Glasgow
There are several daily scheduled flights into and out of Glasgow International Airport from major British and European cities, as well as from other airports in Asia, Africa, Australia and the USA. Edinburgh Airport is just an hour away and also offers a wide choice of flights. There are flights from Europe to nearby Prestwick International Airport.
This site is very useful for planning trips around Scotland. It will give you times, and bus/train connections.
Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is definitely the easiest option. It is just 15-20 minutes drive from the city centre. A taxi at the airport will typically cost £25 to get to the centre of the city. However, if you call a private hire taxi, the cost may be ~£15 (e.g. WestEnd Radio Cars - 0141 954 7070).
The cheaper option is to take the regular Glasgow Shuttle bus service. An open return Shuttle Bus ticket is £8.50, a single is £6. Tickets can be purchased from the driver on the day, or from the Shuttle website up to 3 months ahead of travel. The Shuttle operates 24 hours a day, and drops off / picks up from several locations in the city centre before stopping at Glasgow Bus Station. The George Street (George Square) stop is the closest to the University, approximately 10 minutes walk from the University Accommodation.
Edinburgh Airport
The easiest way to get from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow is by Taxi. However, this will be expensive, and if paid for on the day can cost nearly £100. It is possible to find private hire firms that let you book ahead, and will pick you up from the airport. Private hire taxis will make the trip for closer to £60. But if you don't book ahead they would probably take an hour to get there (0141 954 7070). Unfortunately Edinburgh Airport does not have a direct bus or train link to Glasgow (at the time of writing this). The best option is to catch a shuttle bus from the Airport into Edinburgh Haymarket train station, just before city centre (e.g. the Airlink 100 express costing £3.50 single / £6 return, taking around 20 minutes). You can ask the driver where to get off. A short walk around the corner, then take the train from Haymarket station to Glasgow. If you stay on the bus you will end up in the centre of Edinburgh (an extra 5-10 minutes travel), from there you can take a train from Waverley station to Glasgow.
Trains run on two different lines from Edinburgh to Glasgow, one terminating at Glasgow Central Station, and one at Glasgow Queen Street station that takes about 50 minutes. The trains to and from Queen Street are slightly quicker, and Queen Street Station is closer to the University of Strathclyde (saving you about 5 minutes walk!). Typically a single one-way ticket is £13.40, and a return ticket is £21.80 (but this depends on the day and time of your journey).
Prestwick International Airport
Prestwick International Airport has daily scheduled flights from around Europe, but is around 30 miles from the city centre. It has its own train station with trains running to Glasgow Central Station every half hour and taking approximately 45 minutes. A single will cost around £7.50, returns cost £10 - £14 depending on the time of day; however, if you show your boarding pass, you can get a discount. All passengers traveling to/from the airport will receive a 50% discount from/to anywhere in Scotland on the standard fare. Passengers joining the train at Prestwick Airport are required to show their official flight confirmation and photo id to the train conductor when buying their ticket, as there is no ticketing office at Prestwick Airport. The airport's location also means that travel by road is generally hassle-free.
At the Conference
Finding the University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde is a city centre campus, just a few minutes walk to the East of the city centre. Once in the campus you will find recently updated maps on the street corners that are pretty good. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk across the entire campus, so getting lost is unlikely (but not impossible).
This Youtube video gives a fly-through the city from Glasgow Central Station to the University of Strathclyde campus:
The Welcome Reception
The evening welcome drinks reception on the Monday, to which everyone, including accompanying guests, are invited to come along, will be held in the Glasgow City Chambers. This is the city council main building, and the main entrance you need to use is on George Square. It is about 10 minutes walk from the University accommodation to the city chambers building. The city council are hosting the reception, and so staff will be able to guide you to the reception room when you come in. In addition to the usual welcome speech, and free drinks, there should also be an opportunity to look around two of the more striking rooms in the building, the ballroom, and the council voting chamber.
Registration and the Conference Rooms
The conference will be held within the John Anderson building in the University of Strathclyde. This is less than 60 seconds (!) walk from the University accommodation. For those staying in the Premier Inn hotel on George Street/Square it is about 5 minutes walk. The main conference lecture room is 'JA325'. The two main entrances to the John Anderson building are actually on the 4th and 5th floors, so you will need to take the stairs down to get to the conference rooms. All breaks, lunches and also the evening poster and whisky tasting will take place in the space around JA325. We will also ensure that the room is signposted. Registration will be at a table outside JA325.
The Conference Dinner
The conference dinner on the Thursday evening will be at the Oran Mor in the West End of Glasgow. This renovated church is on the corner of Byres Road and Great Western Road, opposite the Botanical Gardens. We plan to arrange transport there via coach from the conference site. But, if travelling direct from your hotel then a taxi should be £5-6 from the city centre, or you can take the subway to the Hillhead Station, then walk 5 minutes north (turn right exiting the subway station) along Byres road.
