Surprise trip to the UK...

Lucky you! However the glitch in this is the Olympics. July first is not far off and it is close enough to the start of the Olympics to impact things. Prices may be way up and availibility may be down. I did a quick check on travel times- it is either a one or two hour trip between Oxford and Paddington (depends on the train and how many stops)and prices run the gamut from 4GBP for a single, advance purchase discounted fare to over 60 GBP return non-discounted walk-up. Maybe you should consider staying mid-way between the two. Reading, Slough and a few other places seem possible. Nigle could probably made a good recommendation. I'd also check out university accomodations, Citiadines, VBRO, and similar places in addition to hotels- weather in London, Oxford or another town.

You are one lucky woman! My daughter works for Volkswagon of America and is trying to figure out how to get a business trip to Germany.

As a local I don't personally stay in Oxford hotels, but people have told me that the Randolph isn't really what it used to be. Old Bank and Old Parsonage are 2 I know people have been happy with, but although these can both be considered to be in the centre neither are that close to the station. As your meeting is 'outside' Oxford, is being near the train station an absolute requirement?

I forgot to mention that you can read all about Oyster cards on this on the Transport for London site, including how to top up your card as needed and how to get a refund on any unspent pounds plus your deposit when you leave London.

I've tentatively booked in London at a hotel where we have a company rate that didn't know about. And, if I end up there my manager can't complain as eveyrone stays there! But it is in London. The reason I need to be near the Train station as the office is actually in Milton Park, which may mean something to Nigel. You get off at Didcot and take a shuttle bus to the office. This is how our editors do the commute. As I said, living like a local for sure. ; ) Yes, I've been told that if you go to MP from London 3 or more times, it's worth getting the week pass. And since I'm going in early (of course!) for the weekend, I'll have time to do that. I've been told that the train really takes only about I really appreciate the suggestions for Oxford. Step two of this is figuring out how to get to Scotland for the second weekend and then back down to Heathrow. It's trickier than you think as Inverness doesn't connect well with Heathrow. Particularly on aa Sunday nights. My walking friends just happen to be visiting that weekend. ; ) Pam

If you stay in Oxford you can go up to London whenever you desire. If you stay in the Big Smoke you have to go backwards and forwards every day even if you don't want to. And, if the trains go phutt for any reason would you be in hot water for missing a day? My first thought in Oxford, right in the centre, is the Randolph - a grand old lady. Have only been in the public areas, very nice. Directly across the road from the Ashmolean Museum. My Good Lady Wife suggests Bath Place . She has only seen the outside, but the location, in the Colleges, is great and it looks nice. Their webpage could do with upda-ting and when I just checked their printed rates are until the end of April. I spoke with the chappie at the desk and he says July is £5 or £10 more but basically similar. We haven't vetted either with TripAdvisor, I'd check. My wifey also suggests to stay away from the hotels and guest houses near the station because they "don't look very nice". Who's a lucky girl then, Pamela?

Last year I stayed at the Hotel Indigo Paddington using Priority Club points. I was pleasantly surprised. Nice modern bathroom with great shower, Aveda products, free wifi, good workspace with lots of outlets, etc. I think I was in one of the Executive rooms and I would recommend choosing one of the larger rooms. It is not a charmer (rather it is sleek and modern), but it is really convenient to Paddington. Check the TA reviews and photos.

I just read some of the earlier responses. I would not recommend staying in Reading or Slough. I worked in Reading for about 6 months and commuted from London, so I'm pretty familiar with what there is in Reading and it would not be my choice to stay. And if you have seen Slough, you probably wouldn't choose that either; there is a reason that it was chose as the setting for "The Office". These would save you only about 20 to 25 minutes over a commute from Paddington. At least for me, I'd either stay in Oxford with a short commute or stay by Paddington and accept the longer commute. If you do stay in London, see about a one-week rail season ticket that covers London zones 1-6 + Oxford. You will need to get a photocard, but you can get a photo taken at a booth in the station. This will be cheaper than paying the walk-up fare. Perhaps Nigel will have some good suggestions.

There should be rooms available in the colleges in July. Just seen a website www.oxfordrooms.co.uk which seems to let out student rooms on a bed and breakfast basis.
Some years ago I was on a week long course taking place in the Easter vacation which was held at one of the Oxford colleges - it was great fun to stay in a student room in the old stone buildings and eat in the refectory.

The Oxford Tube is a bus service between London and Oxford. A daily return (roundtrip) ticket costs £16.00. A one week Tube pass costs £53.00 if bought online and provides unlimited rides on the Oxford Tube plus local Stagecoach buses in Oxford city and Oxfordshire. By contrast, a seven-day season ticket for the train between London and Oxford costs £111.30. My suggestion would be to stay in Oxford and buy an Oxford Tube pass to get to London and back and around Oxford itself.

That's fantastic! Given that you are there for business, I would stay in Oxford, as Nigel indicated. That way, you can go into London any time you like and not be worried about delays on the train for whatever reason - unless of course your schedule is really loosey-goosey and being late for something isnt a deal-breaker. :) You might try the Old Bank Hotel (4.5 on TA). You could also try the Royal Oxford Hotel (4 on TA). Both are within about a mile (~20 minute walk) of the station. If you choose London, the area around Paddington has numerous hotels to choose from. Hotel Indigo has already been mentioned. If you have the budget or hotel points, there is a Hilton right in Paddington Station - which is very convenient, but occasionally pricey. You can also try something somewhat closer to the park on Bayswater Road and still be very close to the station. Thistle has the Kensington Gardens (4.5 on TA), and there is another Hilton (3.5 on TA) here as well. As others have said, whichever place you choose, check Trip Advisor for reviews and photos.

If you stay in Oxford, buy an Oyster card at Heathrow, load some pay-as-you-go pounds on it. Use it to get from Heathrow to London, for all your rides on the Tube and bus on each day you're in London, and to return to Heathrow. The Oyster computer will automatically give you the best fare and you'll never pay more than the price of a one-day travelcard for the zones in which you traveled on a particular day.

Thats a tough one - If you fly, your choices from Inverness are really Gatwick or Luton. Then you'd have to connect from either of those airports to Heathrow. Looks like your choices there are Easyjet and Flybe to Gatwick, and Easyjet to Luton. I believe train service to Inverness runs out of Kings Cross, but thats a 9 hr-ish ride - from which point you'd still have to get across to Heathrow A different approach might be for you take the train from Inverness to Edinburgh, where you can fly from there to Heathrow on bmi or BA - at least according to their website. http://www.edinburghairport.com/flight-information/destinations-and-airlines Hope this helps.

The TA local advice was to take the Caledonia Sleeper. ; ) Pam

Milton Park ... I know it well .... There are some hotels in that immediate area, including a Premier Inn that would be in walking distance especially if you are at the western end; Steventon House and Milton Hill House being a little further. Without own transport however, there wouldn't be much around to do in the evening. Didcot does have an expanding shopping centre, cinema and arts complex though. As well as the train museum. From Oxford you would be with the commuting flow, from London against.

INV - LHR. Sadly the days of direct flights from bmi and BA to LHR are long gone. There are connecting routes through EDI, GLA, or MAN but the timings are not brilliant. Best I can see are either early morning (6:40) or early evening (17:45) on flyBE, changing to BA at MAN and arriving at 11:05 and 22:55 respectively. At about twice the price of a flight to LGW and nearly 3 times as long.

The Caledonian Sleeper leaves Inverness at 20:47 and arrives at London Euston at 07:47. If arriving at that time allows you to get to LHR a full three hours before your flight home, then taking the sleeper would work. However, it always is wise to spend your last night in the city from which you will fly home. That way you don't have to worry about the train being late, causing you to miss your flight. Flybe has a flight that leaves Inverness at 17:10 and arrives at Gatwick at 18:50. Non-stop National Express coaches run frequently between Gatwick and Heathrow. Spend the night in a hotel near Heathrow. For a list of hotels, with links to detailed information on each one, go to this page on the London Toolkit site.

The Caledonian Sleeper is usually fairly close to on time but I can remember sometimes seeing it approaching Euston well after its appointed time.

If you take the Caledonian Sleeper, one of your options for a quick connection to Heathrow may be a cab from Euston to Paddington and the Express to LHR if you are pressed for time - I've done this from Kings Cross a few times. As Marco has indicated, though, you might be better served flying into Gatwick, transiting by whatever means to LHR, and spending the night there before your flight. It comes down to the amount of 'travel excitement' you can tolerate.

Actually, my flight home is not until the late afternoon. It's around 5 PM. That's why willing to possibly bust the have-to-be-in-the-same-city-for-transatlantic-flight rule. ; ) No one from my company stays at Milton Park. ; ) It's really funny to hear them talk about it. Now that they are all done Jubileeing I've been hearing from my UK colleagues! I now know that there is an express from London to Didcot with one additional stop that take 40 minutes. I do have to remember that a lot of the advice I am getting about this is from people who commute over 1.5 hours to NYC. Pam

Since your flight home doesn't leave until around 17:00, you won't be risking much if you break the "rule" about staying in your departure city the night before a trans-Atlantic flight. Here are two possibilities: 1. Take the Caledonian Sleeper, store your luggage at Euston, and see a bit of London before taking the Tube to LHR. 2. Take a Flybe flight from Inverness to LGW, leaving at 07:05 and arriving at 08:50. Take a Southern train (much cheaper than the Gatwick Express) from LGW to Victoria, store your luggage there, see a bit of London, and take the Tube to LHR. You need to be at LHR three full hours before your flight is scheduled to leave. Get on the Tube no later than 13:00.

Didcot has the second oldest yew tree in Britain (estimated at 1,600 years old) - and has 12 listed buildings in the old village core dating back to the 15thC (and the church to the 11thC). All of these are well hidden from the view of people who stick to the present day main roads. There are people I know who have lived there 20+ years who haven't seen them ... London to Didcot is 45-50 minutes typically.

Ha! I've seen the oldest yew in Fortingall Scotland! How many people can say that they have seen not only the oldest yew, but the second oldest! ; ). I love it. Pam

Yew can.

OK Karen, you win this year's prize for most apt answer. good one

Suit yewrselves!