Travel to Sheffield by Air...

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The closest international airport to Sheffield is Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which is located 18 miles (29 km) from the city centre, on the site of the former RAF Finningley. The airport opened on 28 April 2005 and is served mainly by charter and budget airlines. It handles about one million passengers a year. Leeds Bradford International Airport and East Midlands Airport: Nottingham, Leicester, Derby lie within one hour’s drive of the city, and Manchester Airport is connected to Sheffield by a direct train every hour.

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EasyJet have cheap flights between Manchester Airport and various major cities in Europe including Hamburg, Berlin and Amsterdam. If you want to bring hoops then EasyJet are also a good option as these can be taken as an extra oversized luggage bag which costs around a tenner! EasyJet fly to other destinations in the UK such as Liverpool and London, but Manchester is probably best option as their is an easy and cheaper train connection direct from the airport to Sheffield, more information about easyjet flights can be found on the website here: http://www.easyjet.com . Trains also travel direct from Newcastle Airport.

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EasyBus offer low cost airport transfer http://www.easybus.co.uk/ from Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports to Central London, you would then need to use underground (you can pay when you get there for London Underground, it will cost around £5) to get connecting buses from London Victoria or trains from St Pancras International, make sure you leave plenty of time to get across London!

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SkyScanner is also a useful tool to find cheap flights http://www.skyscanner.net/ but if carrying extra luggage such as non-collapsible hoops, then make sure to check costs with airline before you travel.

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RyanAir www.ryanair.com/en also have cheap flights, but check with them for luggage information, they also go to East Midlands Airport which is not far from Sheffield either. There is a bus service from the airport to the train.

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London Underground’s Piccadilly Line provides the most cost-effective rail route between Heathrow Airport and the capital. Journey time is under an hour and you shouldn’t have to wait longer than ten minutes for a train, even off-peak. Heathrow has three London Underground stations – one for Terminals 1 and 3, one each at Terminal 4 and Terminal 5. Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 station is in the central area between the terminals, which are a few minutes’ walk away via underground walkways. Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 stations are in the basements of the terminal buildings. All stations are in Travelcard Zone 6. A single fare to central London costs approximately £5. Purchase a Travelcard and you’re covered for London buses and some mainline trains too. Tickets are available at all London Underground stations, from ticket offices or machines. Pre-paid Oyster cards can also be used on the London Underground.

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If anyone knows of budget airlines we have not already mentioned then please let us know!

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Travel by Train…

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Major railway routes through Sheffield railway station include the Midland Main Line, which links the city to London via the East Midlands, the Cross Country Route which links the East of Scotland and Northeast of England with the West Midlands and the Southwest, and the lines linking Liverpool and Manchester with Hull and East Anglia.

National Rail has a cheapest fare finder search tool on their website http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/farefinder/search? this will look up fares from pretty much all the rail companies in the UK, however I think this still excludes Megabus so you will have to go to the Megabus website to compare prices.

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From London St Pancras station (now St Pancras International), Sheffield has a direct connection to continental Europe. East Midlands Trains http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/ run services to St Pancras International and Eurostar run services from there to France and Belgium.

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It is also often possible to get train tickets cheaper through Megabus http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx select travelling by train in the search menu (basically Megabus don’t actually own any trains, but they sell cheap tickets for the existing train services run by other companies, so the same train might be cheaper through the Megabus website, they don’t normally put tickets up until closer to the time, but best booked at least a few weeks in advance).

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The First Transpennine Express trains http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/  go every hour between Manchester Airport and Sheffield. A single ticket on this service costs around £6 one way when booked online in advance.

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DBahn do cheap London Special Tickets between Germany and London St Pancras (Via Eurostar) http://www.bahn.com/i/view/index.shtml

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Eurostar offer rail tickets between the UK and continental Europe. Eurostar trains arrive in the UK at St Pancras International Station in London, from here you can change on to an East Midlands train to Sheffield. You should be able to purchase tickets from the Eurostar with the London to Sheffield section of the journey included. However it may be worth checking to see if it is cheaper to purchase seperately, see MegaBus and National Rail websites for journeys between London and Sheffield.

Check with the rail company in the country you are travelling from, some may offer tickets that use the Eurostar between France/Belgium and London, which are cheaper than booking with the Eurostar directly.

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Travel by Road…

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Sheffield is linked into the national motorway network via the M1 and M18 motorways. The M1 skirts the north-east of the city, linking Sheffield with London to the south and Leeds to the north, and crosses Tinsley Viaduct near Rotherham; the M18 branches from the M1 close to Sheffield, linking the city with Doncaster, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and the Humber ports. The Sheffield Parkway connects the city centre with the motorways.

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Of course if you coming by road from continental Europe, then there is a little bit of water to contend with before you get to our island, so you could get across via ferry. The most obvious route is probably Calais to Dover but there are others also. It is possible to hitch hike and get a free ferry ride (ferry prices are often per vehicle and not per person), but if you don’t find a suitable lift you may have to go as a foot passenger and pay (in which case it is probably cheaper to use the MegaBus – see below). But you could also get a ride share at www.carpooling.co.uk or www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/ (I’m sure there are probably equivalent websites in other European countries, so if you know any other sites then please let us know).

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Travel by Coach or Bus…

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International coach/bus services are operated by Eurolines http://www.eurolines.com and MegaBus http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx are also offering a bus service between London and Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam. Bus journeys include ferry crossing.

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Coach services running through Sheffield are operated by National Express http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx and Megabus, part of the Stagecoach Group. National Express services call at Sheffield Interchange, Meadowhall Interchange and Meadowhead Bus Stop. Megabus services only call at Meadowhall. National Express services 564, 560, 350, 320, 310 and 240 call at Sheffield, as do others on a less frequent basis. The 560/564 service is a direct connection to London Victoria Coach Station via Chesterfield and Milton Keynes, operating 12 times a day in both directions. The 350 and 240 services connect Sheffield to Manchester Airport and Heathrow/Gatwick Airports respectively. Two Megabus http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx  services, the M12 and M20, call at Sheffield en route to London from Newcastle upon Tyne and Inverness respectively. There is a regular tram service from Meadowhall to Sheffield City Centre, the closest stop is at Sheffield Train Station.​

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Cycling/Unicycling to Sheffield…

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For cycling, although hilly, Sheffield is compact and has few major trunk roads. It is on the Trans-Pennine Trail, a National Cycle Network route running from West to East from Southport in Merseyside to Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North to South from Leeds in West Yorkshire to Chesterfield in Derbyshire. There are many cycle routes going along country paths in the woods surrounding the city.

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Canal Boat…

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The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (canals and canalised rivers) in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of 43 miles (69 km) and has 29 locks. It connects Sheffield, Rotherham, and Doncaster with the River Trent at Keadby and (via the New Junction Canal) the Aire and Calder Navigation.