The RAS National Astronomy Meeting 2008

There are two airports near Belfast - the City airport (BHD) and the International airport (BFS). Belfast is easily accessible from other cities in the UK and Europe with regular scheduled flights coming into both airports. Flying time from UK and Irish destinations is only 1 hour or less.

Airports with direct flights to Belfast Airports: Aberdeen (Flybe), Blackpool (MANX2), Birmingham (Bmibaby, Flybe), Bristol (Easyjet), Cardiff (Bmibaby, Flybe), Cork (Aer Arann), Doncaster/Sheffield (Flybe), East MIdlands (Bmibaby, Ryanair), Edinburgh (Easyjet, Flybe), Exeter (Flybe), Glasgow (Easyjet, Flybe, Ryanair), Galway (Flybe), Leeds/Bradford (Flybe), Liverpool (Easyjet, Ryanair), London City (Cityjet), London Gatwick (Easyjet, Flybe), London Heathrow (BMI, Aer Lingus), London Luton (Easyjet), London Stanstead (Easyjet, Ryanair), Manchester (Bmibaby, BA, Flybe), Newcastle (Easyjet, Flybe), Southampton (Flybe).

The Belfast City Airport is only 5km from QUB, and a taxi to the University area will cost between £7.00 and £10.00. You can also use public transport to travel to the QUB campus. Translink operates the Airport Express 600 bus service every 20 minutes from the Airport terminal to the Europa Bus Centre adjacent to the Europa Hotel, in the heart of the city. The service operates between the hours of 0600 and 2205, and costs £2.20 for a return journey. From there you can walk to QUB (around 10 minutes) or get a local Metro bus to the University area (see below).

The International airport is 30km from the University area. A taxi from the Airport directly to the University area will cost about £25. Sometimes the taxi drivers at the airport will ask you to share the taxi with someone else going in the same direction, and charge you less, though what they charge varies! Translink's Airport Express 300 service operates between Belfast International Airport and Belfast City Centre every 10 minutes, at peak times Monday to Friday, every 20 minutes on a Saturday and at 30 minute intervals on a Sunday. The service operates between 0535 and 2320. The fare from the Airport to Belfast City Centre is £6.00 for a single journey or £9.00 for a return journey. The first stop the bus makes in Belfast is Laganside Bus Centre, don't get off here. You should get off at Europa Bus Centre.

Upon arrival at the Belfast Europa Bus Centre walk through the Great Northern Mall to Great Victoria Street, cross the road and walk (right) to the bus stop. A route 8 Metro bus will take you to QUB campus - the 8A goes along the Stranmillis Road after passing the front of QUB, while the 8B/8C travel along the Malone Road. A single fare on a Metro bus is £1.30.

The map to the left shows places on the campus which will be used as part of the conference - a copy of this map will be included in the conference guide. You may also find this Google Maps page useful to get an idea of the layout of the University area - places of relevance to NAM2008 have been marked.

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has a useful street map covering the QUB and City Centre areas.

• Local bus information may be found on the Translink Metro website - service 8 runs past the front of Queens and along the Stranmillis and Malone Roads. Service 7 runs along Botanic Avenue and the back to the campus.
• The QUB Visitors Centre
• GotoBefast.com - the official Belfast tourism website