Travel, Accommodation & Visitor Visa

Carlisle is easily accessible with good road and railway links.

Online map and Sat Nav references

• Carlisle Cathedral (main venue) - CA3 8TZ
• Live Video Link (Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery) - CA3 8UL
• Crown & Mitre Hotel - CA3 8HZ but for car parking use CA3 8HB.
  The Cathedral is situated on Castle Street in the centre of Carlisle.

Parking

Parking is sign-posted and is available near the Cathedral at the Damside, Viaduct and Devonshire Walk car parks. Carlisle City Council provides car parking information on their website. 

By rail

The Cathedral is less than ten minutes walk from the train station. Alternatively, there is a taxi rank in front of the station. For information about timetables, booking tickets and station facilities, visit Avanti West Coast or your preferred train ticket provider.

By booking early, it is possible to get cheaper tickets and Virgin offer the following tips.

By air

The nearest airports to Carlisle are:

• Newcastle Airport (NCL) – 50.5 miles
• Edinburgh Airport (EDI) – 74.9 miles
• Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) – 77.7 miles

Good value accommodation is available for students and guests at the University of Cumbria, Fusehill-St-Accommodation and Brampton Rd campuses.

Alternatively, Carlisle has plenty of accommodation on offer including hotels, bed and breakfast and self-catering. Carlisle Tourism Partnership offer accommodation information for visitors on the Discover Carlisle website, or you can call the Tourist Information Centre on 01228 625600.

There are a wide range of places to eat in the city centre. For more information visit the food and drink pages of the Discover Carlisle website, run by Carlisle Tourism Partnership.

You and/or your guests may need a Standard Visitor Visa to attend your graduation ceremony.

Applying for a Standard Visitor Visa

The Home Office website has all the information you need about applying for a Standard Visitor visa, including how to apply, fees, waiting times and the supporting documentation you will need.

Letter of Invitation

You can apply to the Ceremonies Team for a letter of invitation which you can present to your home authorities along with your application for a visa letter. This letter will confirm you have been invited to a graduation ceremony and the date and location of the ceremony. It will state that attendance at the ceremony is subject to successful completion of your award and clearance of all academic fees to the university. It will be addressed to "whom it may concern" and will refer to you, the graduand, by name.

It will not refer to any other person such as named guests. However, you can use this letter to accompany any letter of invitation that you provide for your guests.

How to Apply

Once you have registered your attendance at graduation, please send an email to ceremonies@cumbria.ac.uk no later than

• 16th June for July 2025 ceremonies

After this date it will not be possible to provide you with a letter.

The letter will include the following information from your student record on ICON:

• Your student ID number
• Your full name
• Your home address

An electronic copy will be emailed to your student email address and contact address. 

Before contacting the Ceremonies Team please check that the information on ICON is correct and up to date. We will not be able to reproduce letters if you have not done this.