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Travel directions information

By car

Coventry lies at the heart of a motorway network. Once you get to the city centre there are signposts to the University from all the relevant ring road junctions.

From London: follow the M1, leaving it at Junction 17 onto the M45. At the end of the M45, continue along the A45 and follow the signs for the city centre.

From East Anglia and eastern England: Take the A14 until it meets the M1/M6 interchange. Then take the M6 to Junction 2 and follow signs for the city centre.

From southern England: take the A34 to the M40. Leave the M40 at Junction 15, then take the A46 and follow signs for the city centre.

From the southwest: take the M5, then the M42, leaving the M42 at Junction 6. Follow the A45 to Coventry. From South Wales: follow the M4 to the M5, then as above.

From western Scotland and the Northwest: leave the M6 at Junction 3 and follow the signs for Coventry city centre.

From the North: take the M1 to Junction 21, then to the end of the M69, following signs for Coventry city centre.

Electric Car Charging

• CU Coventry at Mile Lane - 6 charging points
• A Student Electric Car Charging Permit is available to park here - any student with an EV may apply.
• Tech Park - 2 charging points
• Multi-storey car park - 20 charging points
• Alma building - 10 charging points
• C-ALPs - 1 charging point

Car sharing

Approximately 16% of students and 55% of staff travel to the University in a car. If you need to drive, you can minimise your impact by car sharing. Coventry University Liftshare is a private network that matches staff and students who are driving along the same route. The average regular liftsharer saves £1,000 per year by sharing their journey.

Car sharing will help to:

• Save money - cut your fuel and parking costs
• Reduce parking stress
• Reduce congestion and pollution
• Give you time to think and chat rather than focussing on the road- giving you some extra chill time

Park and ride

Coventry provides free parking for drivers to complete their journey to the city centre. The park and ride facility is based at Memorial Park, Kenilworth Road, CV3 6PT.

The return bus fare is £2.50. The daily equivalent price falls with weekly or monthly passes. The Park and Ride is served by Stagecoach services X17 and X16. This gives passengers using Coventry's Park and Ride a new Sunday service, plus earlier morning and later evening buses.

By train

The rail station is towards the south of Coventry city centre (Station Square CV1 2GT), a 10-20 minute walk from most campus buildings.

Student tips for finding cheaper train fares:

• Save 1/3 on your fare by getting a 16-25, or a 26-30 railcard
• Travel at off-peak times (usually after 9 or 9:30 am)
• Book tickets early and look for advance fares for specific trains
• If you need to make a return trip, a return ticket is usually a lot cheaper than two singles.

How far is Coventry? Coventry is on the main intercity route. Trains from London (Euston) leave every 30 minutes throughout most of the day with journey times of 1 hour to 80 minutes. It takes approximately 20 minutes to reach Coventry from Birmingham International Station. There are also daily services from Scotland and the Northwest, from Bristol, the Southwest and South Wales.

In addition there are frequent services from Oxford, Southampton and Bournemouth, as well as Nuneaton, Rugby, Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International (for Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre). Check the National Rail Enquiries website for more information.

From Coventry station

If you take a taxi, the fare will be approximately £3.00 and you should ask for Coventry University in the city centre.

Alternatively, bus numbers 8/8A/9/9A/85/585/X30 leave the station for the city centre every ten minutes (every 30 minutes after 6pm). Ask the driver for 'Pool Meadow', which is the bus terminus. This is opposite Priory Street. Make sure you have the exact cash ready as no change is given on the buses.

If you choose to walk, it will take you 15–20 minutes. There are extensive building works between the train station and the city. There are pedestrian diversion signs to the city centre, then pedestrian signposts to Coventry Cathedral.

On Undergraduate Open Days only you can take advantage of our free shuttle bus service from Coventry railway station to take you to and from the University. When you arrive at Coventry railway station go through to the main concourse and look for our Student Ambassadors, who will direct you to the shuttle minibus. The journey takes about ten minutes, depending on traffic.

TheHub is located next to the Herbert Art Gallery moving away from the cathedral. It is the large glass fronted building with yellow pillars.

By bicycle

Coventry is well served by cycle paths and if coming from outside the ring road, there are cycle and pedestrian shared-use subways which allow you to circumvent the ring road junctions. For more details see the council's Coventry cycle map.

If you are travelling to or from the station by bicycle, the trip will take you approximately 5 minutes. There is a designated cycle path from the Toucan crossing over the ring road and an off-road cycle path that takes you to Friar’s Road. There is covered cycle parking at many locations around the University.

By bus or coach

Pool Meadow bus and coach station is located five minutes' walk from the University's main reception in the Alan Berry building.

There are student travel cards available from the main bus operators; National Express and Stagecoach Unirider. A bus and train salary-sacrifice scheme is available to staff enables them to spread the cost of a seasonal/annual West Midlands rail card via monthly salary reductions.

For details of local bus/coach/train times and destinations please contact the bus station enquiry line on: +44 (0) 24 7655 9559.

National Express offers connections between Coventry and other major cities around the UK. If you travel from Birmingham Airport you can take line number 900 bus to Pool Meadow station.

By air

You can fly to Birmingham International airport, which is a 20 minute journey from Coventry by road or rail.

There are direct daily flights to and from Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf and many other major European cities. Note: there are also direct coaches (National Express) from these airports to Coventry, terminating at Pool Meadow.

Birmingham Airport Website

If you fly into London Heathrow, Stansted, Luton or Gatwick, you can catch a train to London and travel to Coventry by rail.

Airport transfer service

For students flying into Birmingham or London Heathrow airport at the beginning of the semester, we offer a free transfer service. Alternatively, you can book our premium service where a private chauffeur will drive you to your accommodation.

Where to stay

A list of accommodation in and around Coventry is available; you can also find information on restaurants, shopping, theatres, nightlife and places to visit, while you are here.