Python UK conference on a Budget

[John Precedo]

Python UK conference on a Budget
================================

If you don't have a generous company or a rich uncle to pay for you to
fly to the Python UK conference, you may want to know about the
cheapest ways of getting to Oxford from Europe for the Python UK
conference....


What is the Python UK conference?
---------------------------------
The 2003 Python UK Conference will take place in Oxford, on Wednesday
April 2nd and Thursday 3rd, at the Holiday Inn Oxford. The keynote
will be given by Guido van Rossum (the Python language founder), and
the talks will be on subjects ranging from jython to XP.

Other speakers include:
Sarah Lees, Ulrich Eisenecker, Lois Goldthwaite, Alan Griffiths,
Duncan Grisby, Jacob Hallén, Chris Hills, Kevlin Henney, Jon Jagger,
Jaako Jarvi, Simon Peyton Jones, Nico Josuttis, Andrew Koenig ,
Angelika Langer, Hamish Lawson, Marc-André Lemburg, Alan Lenton,
Randy Marques, Alex Martelli, Hubert Matthews, Mark Radford, Arno
Schmidmeier, Jeremy Siek, Julian Smith, Nathan Sidwell, Herb Sutter,
Daveed Vandevoorde, Guido van Rossum, Andy Todd, JC van Winkel, Chris
Withers, and Willem Wakker,

More information at the web site: http://www.python-uk.org/


Getting there from Europe
-------------------------
Flying by the budget airlines is the best way - check to see if these
airlines fly from your location and compare prices:
* Buzz (http://www.buzzaway.com/)
* Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com/)
* Easyjet (http://www.easyjet.com/)

As a rough guide, these are the best prices I found, but check the
airlines' sites for the latest information. All prices are one way for
a single adult on either Monday 31 March or Tuesday 1 April, booked
via the web. Check for prices for the days either side of the one you
intend to travel, you can sometimes make a substantial saving if you
can find somewhere to cool your heels 24 hours.

All of these prices were available on the respective web sites as of
last night, but prices and availably may change.

* Amsterdam: 32.50 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Amsterdam to London Gatwick

* Barcelona: 29.99 EUR
  RYANAIR (http://www.ryanair.com/)
  Barcelona-Girona (GRO) to London Stansted (STN)

* Berlin: 70.00 EUR
  BUZZ (http://www.buzzaway.com/)
  Berlin Schoenefeld (SXF) to London Stansted (STN)

* Dijon: 76.00 EUR
  BUZZ (http://www.buzzaway.com/)
  Dijon - Burgundy (DIJ) to London Stansted (STN)

* Dusseldorf: 44.35 EUR
  BUZZ (http://www.buzzaway.com/)
  Dusseldorf (DUS) to London Stansted (STN)

* Geneva: 60.00 CHF
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Geneva to London Gatwick

* Hamburg: 14.99 EUR
  RYANAIR (http://www.ryanair.com/)
  Hamburg Lübeck (LBC) to London Stansted (STN)

* Lyon: 23.00 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Lyon to London Stansted

* Madrid: 46.50 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Madrid to London Gatwick

* Milan: 9.99 EUR
  RYANAIR (http://www.ryanair.com/)
  Milan Bergamo (BGY) to London Stansted (STN)

* Munich: 37.00 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Munich to London Stansted

* Paris: 47.50 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Paris Charles de Gaulle to London Luton

* Prague: 2225.00 CSK
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Prague to London Stansted

* Rome: 47.00 EUR
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Rome Ciampino to London Stansted

* Zurich: 52.50 CHF
  EASYJET (http://www.easyjet.com/)
  Zurich to London Gatwick

(Ryanair also lists flights from a number of destinations including
Brussels S. Charleroi and Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN) at 0.01 EUR!)


Getting from the airport to Oxford
----------------------------------

BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
This depends on which one you fly to.

STANSTED
The 757 bus operated by National Express goes directly from Stansted
Airport to Oxford. The length of the journey is listed as 2 hours 50
minutes on their web site. The fare is £14.00 for an economy single,
or £20.00  for an economy return (open for six months, so you can
chose which day you come back on).

GATWICK
The X80 bus operated by Oxford Express goes directly from both the
North and South Terminal to Oxford. The journey length is
approximately 2 hrs (5 minutes or so less from the North Terminal).
The fare is £20.00 for an economy single, or £21.00 for a Next Day
Return.

These routes are both 'high frequency turn up and ride services'. You
can buy the tickets on the day from the driver, in advance though the
National Express web site (http://www.nationalexpress.com/).

(A fee of £1.50 may be payable when you confirm the return reservation).

The Oxford Bus company also runs an 'airline' bus service from Gatwick
(North and South Terminals) directly to Oxford. A one way adult ticket
costs £20.00, with a Period return (open for 3 months) for £23.00
More information on their web site (http://www.theairline.info/)

BY CAR
If you're planning to use a car to get from the airport to the
conference, the best thing to do would be to share a ride. There
should be something up on the site soon (probably a Wikki) to allow
you to co-ordinate ride-shares, meeting up and so on.

--
John Precedo  (johnp at reportlab.com)    Developer
Reportlab Europe Ltd  (http://www.reportlab.com)