MEC 2025 will be held at City St George's, University of London (formerly City University, London) at Northumberland Square, EC1V 0HB, in an old area of London called Clerkenwell.
The venue is a moderate walk from Farringdon station or The Angel, Islington, and is well connected by bus.
From Heathrow Airport, some Elizabeth Line trains will take you directly to Farringdon. If using the Heathrow Express or your Elizabeth Line train is one that terminates at Paddington, you can change at Paddington station and finish the journey on the Elizabeth Line.
From Gatwick Airport, City Thameslink trains will take you straight to Farringdon, taking about 40 minutes.
From City Airport, you will already be on the London Underground network, so there are multiple options. Probably the simplest is to take a DLR train to Bank station and then change onto the Northern Line (Northbound), getting off at Angel.
From Stansted Airport, Stansted Express trains run to Liverpool Street station, from which there are several London Underground options (such as the Circle or Elizabeth Lines to Farringdon) or buses (such as the 205). The Train itself takes about 50 minutes.
Trains from the continent arrive in St Pancras International, which is a long, but pleasant walk away from the conference venue. Alternatively, the Northern Line (Southbound) will take 2 minutes to get to Angel station.
Contactless credit and debit cards, along with smartphone payment systems, generally run well on the underground, buses and London-only trains (including trains from Gatwick). No registration is necessary. You should tap on the reader at the gates when you enter and exit the tube. If you are travelling by bus, you just need to tap on entry.
Those who want to take the faster Heathrow Express to and from the airport will need to buy a ticket, which are cheaper to buy well in advance.
Those who do not have a suitable payment method can buy an Oyster Card at most stations and newsagents. These are pre-pay contactless cards and work in a similar way.
The UK will have introduced an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system for most countries whose citizens until recently have not required a visa for visiting. Those coming from the US, Canada and the EU will all need to preregister and pay a £10 fee. Each ETA lasts 2 years. For more information and to apply, visit the government's website (UK government sites all have the .gov.uk domain name - treat information on other domains with suspicion).
Please contact the organisers if you need an invitation letter or would like some help working out what you need.
Questions? Contact Organizing Committee Chair, David Lewis, or Programme Committee Chair, Anna Plaksin, at conference2025 at music-encoding.org.
