Travel Information
The conference - and the reserved accommodation for delegates - is at St Anne's College, at the corner of Woodstock and Bevington Roads just north of Oxford city centre. The college entrance is on the right-hand side, looking north, about 400 metres from the beginning of Woodstock Road. You can find a satellite image here: the dining hall of the college (at the centre of the image) has a raised, circular portion to its roof.
Rail
There are trains from London Paddington every 20 to 30 minutes or so. There are large destination boards in the station, and you're looking for a train to Oxford, Great Malvern, or Hereford (direct) or Bristol, Penzance, Swansea, Cheltenham, Exeter (change at Reading).
You need to buy a ticket: from the "First Great Western" booth (to the right of the destination boards, looking towards the platforms), from the credit card ticket machines (to the left), or from the main ticket sales desks (left-hand wall). Keep your ticket, as you will need it to leave the platform at Oxford station.
If there isn't a fast, direct train in the near future (55 minutes, stopping at Slough and/or Reading) then you can take any fast train to Reading (25-30 minutes) and change there for a fast train to Oxford (25-30 minutes). Try to avoid the slow, direct trains (90 minutes), and if you take an indirect route, remember to change at Reading!
The timetable is on-line, here.
When you get to Oxford, it's a 15 minute walk to St Anne's. Leave the station via the main entrance on Platform 1, walk across the station forecourt past the taxis, walk along the front of the business school, cross the side road that leads down to the Fire Station, walk along the front of the green glass building, past the Chinese shop and the Thai restaurant, over the mill stream, and cross the road at the Pedestrian Crossing ahead. Then carry on in the direction you were going, starting up George Street, and you're at the main (bus) entrance to the bus station: see directions below.
Or you could take a taxi from the railway station to St Anne's (5 minutes)
Bus
There are frequent services between London and Oxford (every 10-20 minutes during peak times) - the Oxford Espress and the Oxford Tube. National Express connects Oxford to most other cities and airports.
From the central bus station "Gloucester Green", it's a 10 minute walk to St Anne's. If you're at the main (bus) entrance to the station, turn left - or if you've just walked from the railway station, carry straight on - past the Old Fire Station, turn left when you get to the Cinema, and walk across the eastern side of the paved ("bricked") pedestrian square. If you've walked out through either of the pedestrian entrances on the shop side of the bus station, walk cross the same square until you reach the far corner.
Either way, you should be next to a large pub. Look north towards the Oxford Playhouse/Burton Taylor Theatre, and walk another 100 metres to Beaumont Street. Turn right, walk past the Playhouse and the Randolph Hotel, turn left at the lights, and walk up the broad, tree-lined street that is St Giles'. At the top of St Giles', Woodstock Road is the left-hand fork. St Anne's is on your right, 400 metres further on.
Or you can take a taxi from outside the Cinema (3 minutes to St Anne's).
Air
Oxford is easily accessible from all London Airports. From Heathrow and Gatwick, The Airline is a direct coach service operating 24 hours a day. From London Stansted, the National Express 757 coach, runs every two hours. Tickets for both can be bought from the driver.
Jim prefers to travel by train. Unless it's before 6 in the morning, or after 11 at night, he would take the work-friendly option of the Heathrow, Gatwick, or Stansted Express train into London, then the train from Paddington to Oxford. If you're landing at Gatwick or Stansted, then you'll need to make a tube connection in London, but that's quite straightforward. It's much more expensive, but you don't need to worry about getting caught in traffic, and you can sit down and get on with finishing that talk.
The Heathrow Express to Paddington runs every 15 minutes, at 3, 18, 33, and 48 minutes past the hour, and takes 15 minutes. You should buy your ticket from a machine in the tunnel next to the platform, or from the upstairs ticket machines if you've arrived at Terminal 3. If you're really pushed for time, you can buy a ticket on board for an extra couple of quid.
If you're travelling by road, then the bus really is quite a sensible option, but you can also book a taxi: pre-bookable airport transfers are available from companies such as Oxicars.
Car
To get directions to Oxford by car, use a route finder such as The AA or The RAC, and use the postcode OX26HS.
Public parking in the city centre is very limited and the best advice for those coming by car is probably to use the Park & Ride services on the city outskirts (see map).