Getting from Oxford to Birmingham

Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, teaching in some form since the 11th century, and the colleges, the Bodleian and the Radcliffe Camera are the reason most people come. Birmingham is 65 miles north west, and the two are joined by a direct railway.

Trains from Oxford to Birmingham

Direct trains take a little over an hour, running one or two an hour, from Oxford to Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill. Some services run to New Street instead.

Moor Street is the one to hope for. It is a restored Great Western station with the period detail put back, it is more pleasant than New Street by a distance, and it is closer to the Bullring and the city centre.

This is a relatively short hop, so the fare is not enormous however you buy it, but the British rules still apply: Advance tickets, released about twelve weeks out and tied to one train, undercut the walk-up Anytime fare substantially. A railcard takes a third off. National Rail Enquiries has the times.

Coaches

There are coach services, taking around two hours, and they cost less. On a journey the train does in an hour, that is a lot of time for a small saving.

The more useful coach from Oxford runs in the other direction: the frequent services to London and to Heathrow, which are among the best value airport connections in Britain and run through the night.

Driving, and a warning

The drive is about an hour and a quarter up the M40. The warning is about Oxford itself, which is actively hostile to cars: the city has traffic filters, controlled zones and very little parking in the centre.

Use the Park and Ride. There are several sites on the ring road, they are cheap, and the bus drops you in the middle of town. Trying to drive into central Oxford is a way to spend an hour achieving nothing.

Stopping on the way

This route runs along the edge of the Cotswolds, and if you have a car it would be a shame not to use that. Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Broadway are all a short detour, and Warwick, with a castle that has been continuously occupied since the 11th century, is almost on the line.

By train, Warwick and Leamington Spa are both stops on the Oxford to Birmingham service, so you can break the journey without a car at all.

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