trip to Oxford UK
 

I will be traveling from Metz, France to Oxford UK to attend a conference this summer. The Conference is at Queens College. I may need to arrive a day early and I can't get checked into my room until the afternoon the conference starts. Where is a good place to stay close to Queens College that is reasonably priced and in a safe area. Also how is the best way to travel from Metz to Qxford.?
Thank you.

Have you been to London before? If you can't check into your conference accommodations, have you considered flying to London and staying the night in the city? Then you can take either a bus or train from central London to central Oxford the afternoon of the conference.

I hadn't thought of that. I think I would rather go on to Oxford and find a place to stay close to Queens College. No, I have never been to Europe, so I'm unfamiliar with the travel situations. Any help would be appreciated. I'm going first to Edinburgh and then on to Metz and Oxford.

Well -- Queen's is in the very center of Oxford and you won't find much in the way of inexpensive, or even 'moderate' accommodations in central Oxford.

A few high end/expensive hotels -- but otherwise you'd have to stay outside the city center (and nowhere near Queen's) and take buses into town. That is one of reasons I suggested London - it would be a lot easier to find cheap or cheap-ish places to stay.

What is your budget?

You could see whether this outfit has anything for your dates: http://www.oxfordrooms.co.uk/

They arrange for non-college people to stay in college rooms.

Oxford is very safe
I'd try and stay in Queens as the price will be very good compared to any hotel nearby. If not one of the other colleges may provide. If they cannot fit you in ask them to make a proposal and they should be able to arrange something for you

In terms of safety you may be worrying about the TV series Morse which follows multiple murders around Oxford. Don't worry :-)

1. Getting there: from Metz it's a shlep to either Luxembourg or Basle-Mulhouse. Most people round here find it easiest to get a train to Paris and change from Gare de l'Est to Gare du Nord for the train to St Pancras (about 5.5 hrs, Metz to London: www.bahn.de). Then for Queen's: often easiest of all to get a taxi to Gloucester Place and a bus (every 7 mins) straight to the stop outside Queen's (or should that be Queen's'?)porter's lodge about 90 mins later. The Tube connection at Paddington (for the every 30 mins, 55 min train) from the line from St Pancras is the most unpleasant and dangerous in the civilised world, though I use it regularly and no-one's been hurt yet.

If flying for some odd reason: buses from both Heathrow (every 30 mins) and Gatwick (every hr) stop outside Queen's. If tempted to fly from Basle-Mulhouse, buses from Luton and Stansted are relatively infrequent.

2. Every hotel/hostel/B&B within a 30 mile radius is safe: almost nowhere's cheap. Handiest for you is The Bank (opposite the college. It (like all central Oxford hotels) often has cheap midweek deals, though possibly not during the summer vacation. But worth googling anywhere within a mile of OX1 4AW (there's only about ten) to see whether they've got deals on your day.

Thanks, thursdaysd, for posting the link on the Oxford U. dormitories. I'm thinking of traveling to Oxford in September and it seems there are good options available. My feeling is who needs a hotel when you can be right in the thick of things and save some money to boot? Many of the rooms are ensuite and include breakfast. Just my two cents-

Hope you find good accommodations, Hamilmom.