Find buses from Oxford to Birmingham

There are roughly 20 buses from Oxford to Birmingham every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays. Some days offer a few more than others, but you can generally rely on being able to find plenty every day. The trips are shared by two bus companies, National Express and Megabus, with National Express providing the bulk of them. There’s not much difference between them when it comes to travel time, although National Express has a route with an intermediate stop for a change of bus. All Megabus buses to Birmingham from Oxford are direct trips. Buses run throughout the day, at about 30min to 2h intervals, often in clusters where you’ll have a few buses departing at the same time.

Oxfordshire is one of the lush rural counties with green patchwork fields that are so strongly associated with the English countryside. So buses from Oxford to Birmingham take a very scenic route. You’ll pass through Banbury in the Burton Dassett Hills area, where the Battle of Edghill started the English Civil War in the mid-1600s. You can also catch a glimpse of the Banbury Cross, of nursery rhyme fame. You’ll then travel towards Royal Leamington Spa, having crossed into Warwickshire. This is the area of the Leam Valley Nature Reserve – buses to Birmingham from Oxford don’t go through it, but the surrounding area comprises tranquil meadows and small rivers, like Stoneleigh Meadows. Passing through Coventry, keep an eye out for the famous Coventry Cathedral.

On a typical day, buses to Birmingham from Oxford start at around 07:00, with a few leaving simultaneously to accommodate rush-hour demand. The next spate of departures is at around 10:00–10:45, when both National Express and Megabus are operating. This is followed by a midday cluster of buses, one in the middle of the afternoon, and another at peak hours between about 17:00 and 18:50. From then on there are a few buses at around 20:00. Strictly speaking, these are the last buses from Oxford to Birmingham for the day. However there are two National Express buses that leave at around 01:00, which are some of the quickest on this route, and worth taking if you don’t mind travelling in the wee hours. They’ll save you quite a bit on bus tickets from Oxford to Birmingham too.

All Oxford to Birmingham buses leave from Oxford Gloucester Green Bus Station. It’s about a 5min bus ride from the city centre, either on Oxford Bus Company Lines 13 and 35, or on the Nx2 Thameslink bus route. You’ll arrive at one of a few Birmingham bus stations. Two of the main ones are Birmingham New Street Station and Birmingham Coach Station. New Street Station is about 7min away from the city centre on the Line 23 bus operated by NX West Midlands. Birmingham Coach Station is even closer – it will take about 3min to get to central Birmingham from here on numerous NX West Midlands bus lines, leaving every 5min or so. Some buses arrive at Birmingham Bearwood Station, which is further out, taking about 20min on a No. 9 NX West Midlands bus.

National Express allows either two medium-sized luggage items in the hold, not exceeding about 12 x 18 x 28 inches, each weighing up to about 44lb, or a single larger suitcase, up to about 12.5 x 20 x 29.5 inches. On top of these you can bring one smaller item of soft carry-on luggage. Just note that if it’s hard-shelled, it needs to go in the hold luggage compartment. Megabus allows you any combination of luggage that equates to one large hold luggage item up to about 44lb, no larger than a standard suitcase. You can split this into two or three items, while staying within the spatial and weight limits. You can also take a piece of carry-on luggage that must fit on your lap or under the seat in front.

The most time-efficient journey by bus from Oxford Kidlington to Birmingham currently available is 1h 15m.

While Birmingham is 57.3 mi from Oxford Kidlington, the distance by bus is longer and depends on the route taken. The bus journey is around 1h 15m long.