Travel Information
How to get to Swansea
Planes...
The nearest airport to Swansea is
Cardiff
(less than one hour by cab), with
Bristol
around twice as far. They both are reasonably connected with some European
destinations. For your information, there are low cost flights between
Dublin and Cardiff, operated by Air Wales and Ryanair
To get to Swansea from either airport you will need to
book a taxi service - please let us know your flight details and we
will make arrangements, though note a return fare for an unaccompanied
passenger can be as high as £70. For Cardiff airport, the other option is
taking a bus from the terminal to Cardiff Central station and taking a train
from Cardiff Central to Swansea (for the detail, refer to the Cardiff airport
web page). Now, there is a train link from Cardiff airport to Swansea.
Heathrow is well connected to Swansea -
either take the Heathrow Express
to London Paddington and then the main line train direct to Swansea, or
(slightly cheaper) take the
RailAir coach
link to Reading railway station (less than one hour travel time), and
then the train directly to Swansea (a bit more than two hours). You can
buy a ticket for both legs of the journey on the coach and train. There is also a
direct National Express coach from Heathrow to Swansea which takes 4 hours and leaves
every 2 hours (approximately).
From Gatwick, you can either take a coach to Reading
railway station as
above, or travel into London to Paddington station from where the
trains to Swansea leave (see below). Again, there is also a direct coach
from Gatwick to Swansea (around 5 hours).
...Trains...
Swansea is well-connected by train from London by an hourly service. Trains
leave from Paddington station, and the journey time is listed as 3 hours.
Swansea railway station is very close to the centre of the
city, and is a 5 - 10 minute taxi drive from the UWS campus.
Click here for train timetable details.
...and Automobiles
The M4 motorway connects Swansea with London, and it will take you
around 3 hours from the outskirts of London. Travelling west on the M4
take exit 42a
and follow signs for Swansea on the A483. After a distance of around 4
miles, you will be close to the centre of Swansea(Sainsbury's Supermarket, on your left, is a landmark at this point).
Keep with the main flow of traffic (which heads towards Gower)
and you will find yourself on a road which runs along the sea-front (A4067).
2 miles beyond Sainsbury's, you will pass the entrance to
the main university campus.
...and for the adventurous
There are
ferry connections between Fishguard at Pembrokeshire of South
Wales and Rosslare at the South Eastern tip of Ireland. Lower
Fishguard is extremely picturesque and Rosslare offers a warm Irish
welcome. For the connection between Fishguard and Swansea, Fishguard
ferry terminal (U.K. end) is easily reached by road from the M4 and
rail services arrive directly beside the foot passenger terminal. For
the connection between Dublin and Rosslare, Rosslare Port is an
excellent gateway to the East, South East, West, Southwest and
Midlands via the N11/N25 road network (Ireland end), or try a
train
or a
bus.
For alternative ferry connections, please refer
the web page.
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