Six bus stops at Headington Shops (HS) |
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HS1 |
Eastbound |
Outside Starbucks |
Park & Ride 400 buses |
HS2 |
Westbound |
Outside Iceland |
All Oxford-bound buses |
HS3 |
Southbound |
Windmill Road, opposite Helen & Douglas House Charity shop |
No. 10 bus Cowley-bound |
HS4 |
Westbound |
Just west of Holyoake Road |
Buses from London |
HS5 |
Eastbound |
Outside Bury Knowle Park |
8, 9, 275, 280, 800, 400, |
HS6 |
H5, London, Airports, and National Express |
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Buses running between Headington and Oxford
During the day buses are so frequent and there is such a choice of services that you do not need to check the times: nearly everything going westwards from the London/Headington Roads will end up in Oxford centre. You can catch any of the following:
- No. 8 from Barton and No. 9 from Risinghurst. These are run jointly by Oxford Bus Company (who use a distinctive orange colour for the route to Headington) and Stagecoach Oxfordshire
- Brookes bus (run by the Oxford Bus Company) is available for everyone, not just Oxford Brookes University students. The U1 bus runs between Wheatley in the east and Harcourt Hill in the west via Headington and the City Centre, while the U5 bus picks up in Cowley and Marston. Beware of university vacations, when there is a reduced service: scroll to the foot of the online timetable for vacation service.
- Park & Ride (run by the Oxford Bus Company). These fast 800 buses operate between the Thornhill and Seacourt car-parks, but will also pick up and drop passengers at just two stops in Headington: (1) Headington shops (near Kennett Road for Oxford, new stop before the main traffic lights coming back) and (2) Gipsy Lane (for Oxford Brookes University). Note that on the way back to Headington the only stop is a special one just at the start of the Headington shops near Morrison’s. These buses also stop at intervening bus-stops after 6.50pm in the evening. There are charges for parking at Thornhill for more than one hour
- Arriva bus from the county picks up locally between Headington and Oxford, but is less frequent and so it is not advisable to get a return ticket, as the joint ticketing scheme does not apply
If you want to get straight to the centre, it is best to avoid the No. 10 bus, which takes a long route via the John Radcliffe Hospital and north Oxford.
If you want to go to Summertown, you have to get a separate bus going to Kidlington from Magdalen Street in the city centre (Stagecoach No. 7A or 7B, or Oxford Bus Company No 2).
The Oxford Bus Company City15 bus serves Morrell Avenue, Old road, and Wood Farm: timetable. (Their City 4 bus now terminates in Oxford.)
Where to get the bus in central Oxford
Bus stops (apart from the Queen's Lane one in the High, where everything stops as before) have changed since the Westgate Centre opened in October 2017. This map shows all the new bus stops (scroll down to find out which bus stops where:
Nos. 8 & 9 pick up at both the following stops:
- E2: This is the fourth bus stop down as you go down Castle Street, and technically in Norfolk Street as it is south of Paradise Street junction
- T2: This is the second stop in the High Street to the east of Turl Street
Brookes bus:
- This stops at T1, which is just to the east of T2 above
- The Park & Ride 400 is similar to before: Stop G6 at the top of St Aldate's
No. 4 (via Old Road):
- G2: just to the south of Pembroke Street in St Aldate's as before
- T2: same stop in the High to the east of Turl street as Nos. 8 & 9 above.
Science Transit Shuttle ST2: from JR Hospital and Old Road Campus
to University Science area, Seacourt Park & Ride, and Wytham
Stagecoach H5: Headington to Bicester via Islip
Oxford Bus Company X3/X13: John Radcliffe Hospital to Abingdon
Local buses going east from Headington
- Arriva 280 service: to Thame and Aylesbury
Buses to railway station in central Oxford
The Park & Ride 400, Arriva 280, and Brookes Bus from central Headington shops, and the No. 4 bus from Wood Farm via Old Road, all stop near the station
Thames Travel bus services
Thames Travel runs buses in South Oxfordshire, Reading, Chalgrove, Watlington, Wheatley, Wallingford, and Abingdon.
Free bus passes for older people
These are supplied by Oxfordshire County Council. You can apply online here (make sure you have a scan of a passport-type photograph available before you start): or if you do not have a computer, go to the top floor of the Central Library in the Westgate.
