Conference Venue: The conference will be held in Merton College, Oxford. Merton College is one of the oldest colleges in Oxford, founded in 1264. The meeting will be held in the modern TS Eliot Theatre. http://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/

** UPDATE 22 March 2016: Here is a local map showing location of Merton College, location of social event (Wed 6 April), bus stops and train station, as well as some recommended local pubs and restaurants. ***

The main entrance to Merton college is in Merton Street. The college is open 24h/24h, but if you plan to arrive after 22h, please phone the front desk at 01865 276310 to ensure that it is attended at the time of your arrival. A direct door to the TS Eliot lecture theatre from Rose Lane will be open during conference hours.

Accommodation: Attendees are encouraged to stay onsite in Merton College, where Bed & Breakfast accommodation is offered – this will give you an Oxford student experience, with breakfasts served in the historic College Hall.

Onsite accommodation prices are:

Single room (shared facilities) – £80.40/night

Single room (ensuite facilities) – £100.80/night

Twin room (ensuite facilities) – £100.80 / night for single occupancy, or £144.00 /night for double occupancy.

Accommodation can be booked using one of the following options:

• The most flexible way to book your accommodation at Merton College is directly on Merton College’s website: http://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/conferences/bedrooms. To make a booking for the Venus conference, use booking code IVSC2016. This will allow booking of rooms at any point between 2 and 10 April.
• If you are looking for a single room, arriving Sunday 3 April and leaving 8 April, you will be offered the opportunity to purchase this package at a 17% discount as part of the registration process. For all other enquiries (different arrival dates, double occupancy etc), please book via http://www.merton.ox.ac.uk as instructed above.

Other accommodation options include:

–        College rooms in other colleges : www.universityrooms.com/oxfordrooms

–        The Mercure Eastgate Hotel is less than 200 m from Merton College – www.mercure.com/Oxford-hotels.

Travel to Oxford:

–        Car travel to the conference is not advised; parking in the city centre is very scarce and there is none near the conference venue. If arriving by car, consider using Park & Ride services http://parkandride.oxfordbus.co.uk/

–        Air: Oxford is very easy to reach from Heathrow and Gatwick airport; a fast and frequent bus service is available, details at http://airline.oxfordbus.co.uk/. Merton College is <200m from the “High Street” stop on this bus service. Birmingham or Southampton airports are also convenient, as these airports have a direct train service to Oxford. London’s Stansted and Luton airports are more cumbersome to get to; they can be reached by train via London, or by infrequent coaches.

–      Train: There are frequent services to Oxford from London Paddington station. Train information can be found at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

–      Bus: There are very frequent bus services between Oxford and London. The Oxford Tube runs up to 6 times per hour; the Oxford X90 runs up to 4 times per hour. If arriving in Oxford, get off at the “High Street” (or “Queens lane”) bus stop, this is very close to Merton College.