VISIT STOKE-ON-TRENT:

   Over four million tourists a year think Stoke-on-Trent is well worth a visit. In fact, Stoke consistently welcomes more tourists than Stratford-upon-Avon! This page gives you an overview of the various ways you can travel here, and some pointers on where to stay. Please let us know if you're a creative who's coming up for a first visit, and we'll be pleased to meet you for a coffee and a chat.

 
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Trains:

1. Virgin Cross Country express (northbound):
Cornwall south coast Bristol Birmingham Stoke.

2. Virgin Cross Country express (southbound):
Scotland Manchester Stoke.

3. Virgin Cross Country express (southbound):
Stoke Watford Junction London. (Journey time: 83 minutes from Spring 2005).

4. Virgin express from London Euston:
London Milton Keynes Rugby Lichfield Stoke.

5. Central Trains - West coast to East coast shuttle: Skegness Nottingham Derby Stoke Longport (request stop) Crewe Manchester Airport.

6. First North Western: Manchester Piccadilly Stoke. (Journey time: 58mins)

Information: Check times / buy tickets / check the departures board at Stoke, and the BBC Stoke public transport news.

Taxi's: a large taxi-rank is located at Stoke mainline rail station. The rank can be found by going to the far north end of Platform One. There are also buses from outside the rail station.

Car-hire: A Hertz car-hire centre is located about fifty yards from Stoke rail station.

1. National Express: A confusing range of coach numbers serve Stoke-on-Trent, but the X325 seems to be the most frequent.

(See also: UK Bus - Staffordshire bus timetables)

The usual approach is: M6 motorway, then onto the new A500 dual-carriageway. Get a second opinion on directions from the AA Route Planner.

You might want to have a print-out in your car of the relevant Ordnance Survey street-map, and also tune-in your car radio to BBC Radio Stoke on 94.6FM for the latest traffic updates.

Check BBC Stoke traffic news & AA traffic news online before you set out.

Don't get lost: Those arriving by car for the first time may want to be aware of the following: 'Stoke-on-Trent' is the name of the whole city. 'Stoke' is the name of the oldest town in the city & is where the rail station is located, but the city-centre is actually 'Hanley'. So once you reach 'Stoke-on-Trent', follow signs to 'Hanley' or 'City centre' if you want to reach the city-centre. Ignore signs to 'Stoke' or to the rail station.

1. You can take bikes on most trains to Stoke mainline rail station. You need to book a place for your bike in the guard's van on the Virgin express services. Stoke mainline rail station has busy cycle-locking facilities, and you can also use the cycle racks by the North Staffs. Hotel and at the Film Theatre around the corner from the station.

2. From North Wales and the North West: Follow the SUSTRANS national cycle-route to Burslem and then through Forest Park into Hanley and down to Stoke railway station.

3. From Birmingham/Lichfield and the south: Follow the SUSTRANS national cycle-route to Stoke-on-Trent. Much of it runs along canal towpaths.

By canal narrowboat along the Trent & Mersey canal. Directly accessible from Lichfield, Leek, Llangollen, Manchester, Birmingham, & Kinver. Mooring, pump-out & fuel available at the large Black Prince basin at Festival Park.

Most convenient international airport:

Birmingham International Airport. A direct mainline Virgin train service runs from the airport's train station to Stoke-on-Trent. Also nearby is Manchester Airport. Both airports offer easy quick flights to major creative-industries centres such as Amsterdam, Dublin and Paris.

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The George Hotel, an elegant family-run AA & RAC three-star hotel in the centre of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Just over the road from the School of Art & Ceramica.

Moat House Hotel, a modern four-star hotel on Festival Park. The leading conference centre in the city.

North Staffordshire Hotel - an attractive building directly opposite the passenger entrance of the main Stoke-on-Trent railway station.

Four major canal narrowboat holiday routes can be started from the nearby Black Prince marina at Festival Park. Renting a narrowboat is an authentic and pleasant way to stay in the Potteries.

(For more options, including B&B's, see Stoke Tourist Board the Moorlands tourism, and the Peak District National Park.)

     _{MOVING TO THE AREA:}

A 2003 MORI poll asked whether residents liked living in Staffordshire. Eighty-eight per cent replied that they were very satisfied or fairly satisfied.

Larger local estate-agents & auctioneers: Butters / Austerberry. Prices of terrace houses in the city averaged £70,618 at the end of June 2005.

Property Section: The Sentinel newspaper. The paper edition of the Property Section is much better than the franchised 'find-a-house' service available from their web-site, and we highly recommend you get the newspaper. UK-wide house-hunters can get a weekly feel for local prices and areas by having the Thursday edition delivered by post for £15 for 3 months: contact 01782 602584. Jobs & Business news & Commercial Property are in the Wednesday edition, and the Jobs adverts are repeated in the Sunday edition.

inStaffs - Staffordshire's inward-investment agency. If you're a business seeking to relocate, these are the people you need to talk to.