Travel

Getting to Leicester and to the rest of the UK is made easy by the city’s excellent rail and road connections. Leicester is centrally located within the UK, only 65 minutes from London, and easily accessible from all major international airports.

Air

Our nearest airport is East Midlands Airport (approximately 20 miles from campus). We can also be reached easily from Birmingham International Airport, Stansted Airport, Luton Airport, London Gatwick and Heathrow. Brief instructions for onward travel to Leicester from each airport can be found below.

East Midlands Airport (EMA):

• Several buses run between East Midlands Airport and Leicester city centre. The bus journey takes around 37 minutes, and services run daily.
• Regular trains run hourly between Long Eaton train station and Leicester, with the journey taking 20 minutes. Long Eaton train station can be reached using the Skylink transfer bus from East Midlands Airport.

Birmingham International Airport (BHX):

• The easiest way to travel between Birmingham International Airport and Leicester is by train. The journey takes approximately one and a half hours, from Birmingham International Rail Station and connecting via Birmingham New Street Station. See the National Rail website for more details: National Rail.
• Limited bus services (approximately once every 4 hours) run between Birmingham International Airport and Leicester. See the National Express website for more details (180 coach and 777 coach): National Express.

Stansted Airport (STN):

• Direct coaches run between Stansted and Leicester (9.00am to 9.00pm). The journey takes approximately two and a half hours: National Express.
• Direct trains run between Stansted and Leicester. The journey takes approximately two and a half hours: National Rail.

Luton Airport (LTN):

• Direct coaches run roughly once per hour between Luton Airport and Leicester. The journey takes approximately two hours: National Express.
• Please note that the IATA airport code (LTN) and the UK National Rail station code (LUA) for Luton Airport are different. Regular direct trains run between Luton Airport Parkway (rail station code LTN) and Leicester. Luton Airport Parkway can be accessed via the Luton DART service from the airport, and the DART ticket is included if train tickets are booked with 'Luton Airport' (rail station code LUA) as the origin station. The journey takes approximately one hour and forty five minutes: National Rail.

London Gatwick (LGW):

• Although direct coaches run between Gatwick Airport and Leicester, this is not a recommended route as the journey takes more than four and a half hours.
• Regular trains run between Gatwick and London St Pancras International. Direct trains to Leicester from London St Pancras International run throughout the day. The overall journey from Gatwick to Leicester takes approximately two hours: National Rail.

London Heathrow (LHR):

• Direct coaches run between the airport (London Heathrow Airport Terminals 2 and 3) and Leicester. The journey takes approximately three hours: National Express.
• Regular trains and Underground services run between Heathrow Airport and London. The easiest route (avoiding the Underground) is to take the Elizabeth Line train from Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 to Farringdon, then a train to London St Pancras International from Farringdon. Direct trains to Leicester from London St Pancras International run throughout the day. The journey takes approximately two and a half hours: National Rail. An alternative route is to take the Piccadilly Underground line from Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 directly to London St Pancras International.

Train

Leicester Train Station is 15 minutes’ walk from campus. There are direct train services from London Stansted and London Luton airports. From Birmingham International Airport you can travel by train to Leicester, but you will need to change trains at Birmingham New Street station. Information about train times can be found on the National Rail Enquiries website or on Trainline.

There are also direct trains from London St Pancras, meaning that you can travel from Brussels or Paris on the Eurostar with just one change of train.

Once you have arrived at the train station in Leicester, it is a short taxi ride (<£10) or bus journey to the main campus. Consult Leicester Travelling by bus and Arriva Bus in Leicester.

Coach

For most airports, Leicester can be accessed by a National Express coach which can be booked directly through National Express.

If you are travelling to Leicester by bus or coach, you will arrive at St Margaret’s Bus Station in the city centre. St Margaret’s Bus Station is centrally located with coach services from most major English cities including Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester and London Victoria. For Buses in Leicester consult Leicester Travelling by bus and Arriva Bus in Leicester.