For getting into London, I think this is by far the best method.

It’s reasonably quick, there’s a good regular service and it’s pretty comfortable.

One word of warning - if you’re planning to leave your car at the (free) Park and Ride at Thornhill, get there early - pretty much all the spaces are gone by about half past nine, and you can spend a very long time looking!

Being late seems to be a feature, not a bug of Greater London transportation.

For 3 years i took the tube every weekend down to London. It’s quick, cheap and it seems like there is a bus ever 4 minutes! This is the only way to travel to London from Oxford. Stay with the original! Ignore the copy cats :)

I agree with all of the above and frequently recommend the Oxford - London coaches to my London friends. Few of them can be prised from their cars or the belief that the train is quicker than coaches so I'll try and persuade some people here instead.

The great thing about these coaches is that they'll pick you up an drop you in the centre of town unlike the trains. Oxford station is a 10 minute walk from the centre of town and a bus ride away from many of the residential areas. Depending on where you are going you may find you don't have to take any other public transport, or that you can get a bus rather than the London underground. The train drops you in Paddington. The Oxford Tube stops at Hillingdon, Shephards bush, Notting Hill, Marble Arch, and Victoria. In Oxford the bus will drop you at the Park and ride (for those people who left their cars there) and lots of bus stops through Headington, the Plain (useful for those who are visiting people in East Oxford), the high Street and then it goes round the houses (don't panic it is only the one way system) and into Gloucester Green which may not be scenic but it is a lot closer to the centre than the train station.

The other great thing about the coaches is their fares. Don't assume you need to buy two singles or a period return. Tell the driver when you are going and when you want to return and let him/her tell you what is the best ticket to buy. Just remember:

*Children go free except on Saturdays.

*Nightrider tickets available between 3pm and midnight are cheaper than day returns and let you come back anytime the next day.

*Day returns also let you come home anytime the next day.

*If you travel by a stagecoach bus in Oxford or Oxfordshire in order to get to the London Tube ask for a "Londoner" ticket as you get on the first bus and you'll get your stagecoach travel for a pound as well as your Tube ticket.

*You can buy a Tube12 pass which gives you 12 single journeys for 65 pounds so 5.50 a single. The pass is valid for a year. I think you can buy one pass and use it to take more than one person but I'd check that. Once upon a time I used to have a social life and I used to have a 12trip pass for each of the coach services to London (the Oxford Express and the Oxford Tube) that way I could get on whichever bus came first.

Obviously you need to check what I've told you with the website or the driver because things change - though these tickets seem to have been available forever.

The only bad things about the buses are the traffic (caused by other people not taking the bus) and the number of people who do take the Oxford - London coaches which mean you sometimes have to wait as several coaches go past you full to the brim at popular times. If you are travelling in the rush hour it may be worth going to the terminus to start your journey.

Persuaded?

Cheap, fast, comfortable, easy. Yes I'm actually describing public transport. The Oxford tube is fantastic. £15 round trip on a very comfortable bus with service that runs every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day. Convenient pick up and drop off points and very friendly drivers make this a no-brainer for travel to Oxford.

Oh, let's not forget the free wi-fi as well as the powerpoints at the seats. What a great service - if only every city had these!

The oddly named Oxford tube is a great service for getting into London and I don't know anyone who's been let down by it. As ahunter says, the fare is £12 if you're a student, and I think this holds for young person's railcard holders as well. The 'nightrider' fare is £9, which is pretty good for a 3 hours round trip on a comfy coach.

Good points:
Regular service - every 12 minutes during peak hours
Free wi-fi
Breakfast available
Friendly drivers - jokes about cruising level and weather at destination are common!
Cheap

Bad points:
Traffic - unlike trains, it can get stuck in traffic jams, so best avoided in rush hour
The train is faster and can be only a couple of pounds more if you have a student railcard (£13.20 return with underground last time I went) - worth bearing in mind if you'll be using the underground.
Scary for cyclists - the Tube goes very fast, which is great if you're in it, but terrifying if you're cycling next to it!

This is a brilliant bus service for trips from Oxford to London and vice versa. I must have used this service 3-4 times per month to travel down to London for a big night out and then jump back on at 4am. A single fare is £15 return (£12 if you are a student) and the "nightrider" fare is even cheaper.

The journey time is about an hour and a half from Central Oxford to London Victoria and the seats are actually pretty comfy. Forget taking the train or driving into central London. This is EASILY the best way to get to London from Oxford quickly, easily and on a budget.