Travel

Cardiff is the capital of Wales, one of the four nations bought together in the United Kingdom. As a city with a population of around 500,000 people, it has a friendly atmosphere and boasts a wide range of attractions, restaurants and entertainment amenities split between the city centre and Cardiff Bay area, a rejuvenated dock area and home of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh national orchestra and opera.

COVID

The UK currently has no COVID related restrictions on travel, immigration, meetings, mask wearing, etc. However, it appears that the pandemic will be with us for some time, with frequent flare ups. Thus, restrictions may be imposed at short notice. Delegates are thus strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated well in advance of the meeting.

Cardiff University Rooms in Residences

Cardiff University has rooms available from Sunday 2nd – Saturday 8th July. If guests do not require all those dates, please amend by using the calendar which is contained within the red box at top of the page

https://bookaccommodation.cardiff.ac.uk/PLAT14.bnb

SGA Travel Grant

The Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) offers 5 travel grants to SGA students to participate at the 14th International Platinum Symposium. The award of the student grant requires the acceptance of an abstract for oral or poster presentation, and will be based on financial need and scientific quality of the submitted presentation. The application form should be sent to Anna Vymazalova (anna.vymazalova@geology.cz) by April 11, 2023.

Transport to Cardiff

Car

Cardiff is served by the M4 and is easily accessible from all parts of Britain.

From the south west, take the M5 and from the south of England, follow major A-roads to the M4.

From Scotland, the north of England and the Midlands, travel via the M50 to the M4.

Train

London Paddington to Cardiff is 2 hours by train. Heathrow Express links Paddington with London Heathrow.

Cardiff is easily accessible by rail from London, major UK airports and many towns and cities across the country.

The Cardiff-London InterCity rail service, from London Paddington, runs some seventeen times a day, with a journey time of less than two hours.

Frequent regional network trains, the Sprinter services, connect Cardiff with many towns and cities across the UK, including:

Bristol (50 mins)

Birmingham (2 hrs 30 mins)

Southampton (2 hrs 40 mins)

Manchester (3 hrs 20 mins)

Liverpool (3 hrs 45 mins)

Various rail companies operate direct services to Cardiff Central Station from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Bus

National coach services
Cardiff is well served by National Express, Megabus and Greyhound Express providing services to and from other major towns and cities.

Airport shuttle bus
Cardiff benefits from its close proximity to two international airports (Cardiff International Airport and Bristol Airport). Both are served by Shuttle Bus Services.

Fly

Cardiff city airport, regular flights from Europe. Bristol airport is only around 1 hour away.

Cardiff International Airport connects Cardiff to many European cities and has an increasing number of international flights.

Cardiff Airport (code CWL) is 11 miles from the city centre.

Various coach and rail companies operate direct services to Cardiff Central Station from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Accommodation

Cardiff is the capital of Wales, with ~400.000 residents and 100s of hotels and B&Bs. Delegates are encouraged to make their own accommodation arrangements. Please note that during the conference date, there will be another (larger) conference organised by Cardiff Uni (chemistry), so make sure you confirm your hotel bookings timely.

Cardiff University Rooms in Residences

Cardiff University has rooms available from Sunday 2nd – Saturday 8th July. If guests do not require all those dates, please amend by using the calendar which is contained within the red box at top of the page

https://bookaccommodation.cardiff.ac.uk/PLAT14.bnb

Getting About

Transport Links Between

Local Transport Map

Bus

Local Buses are run by Cardiff Bus

Train

Local Train services run from Cardiff Central to Cathays

Taxi

There are several taxi companies to choose from Dragon Taxis, taxi2cardiff – others are also available.