Things to do in Oxfordshire
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Jericho Café
Chill out and relax with the paper over a coffee and a slab of cake, or go for some of the wholesome lunch and dinner specials, which encompass everything from sausages and mash to Lebanese lamb kibbeh. There are plenty of hearty salads and lots of options for vegetarians.
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Bangkok House
The food's delicious, the service impeccable, the prices affordable, and unsurprisingly, this little slice of Thailand is always packed. Elaborately carved tables, massive chairs and ornate wall hangings set the scene for the wonderfully aromatic Thai curries, sizzling meat dishes and delicately prepared dumplings.
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Café Coco
Chilled out but always buzzing, this Cowley Rd institution is a sort of hip hang-out, with classic posters on the walls and a bald plaster-cast clown in an ice bath. The food is vaguely Mediterranean and can be a bit hit-and-miss, but most people come for the atmosphere.
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Oxon Carts
Oxon Carts runs a fleet of pedicabs around Oxford's narrow lanes. Passengers receive a copy of a 1904 map of the city and a personal guide to its buildings and history. The 45-minute tours are fully flexible so you can follow the standard itinerary or your own suggestions.
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Branca
Floor-to-ceiling glass, dark woods, moody lighting and exposed pipework set the scene at this slick Italian restaurant in Jericho. The food is rustic, though, with stone-baked pizzas, simple pastas and hearty meats pulling in the crowds every night of the week.
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Quod
Bright, buzzing and decked out with modern art and beautiful people, this joint dishes up modern brasserie-style food to the masses. It's always bustling and, at worst, will tempt you to chill by the bar with a cocktail while you wait. The two-course set lunch (£9.95) is great value.
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G&D’s
One of three outlets of Oxford’s own mini ice cream chain, this branch will satisfy a craving for frozen lactose till the (almost) wee hours.
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Noodle Bar
For hearty fare try the Noodle Bar for bowls of steaming noodles and generous rice dishes.
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All Souls College
One of the wealthiest of Oxford's colleges and unique in not accepting undergraduate students, All Souls is primarily an academic research institution. It was founded in 1438 as a centre of prayer and learning, and today fellowship of the college is one of the highest academic honours in the country. Each year, the university's top finalists are invited to sit a fellowship exam, with an average of only two making the grade annually.
Much of the college facade dates from the 1440s and, unlike other older colleges, the front quad is largely unchanged in five centuries. It also contains a beautiful 17th-century sundial designed by Christopher Wren. Most obvious, though, are t…
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Christ Church College
The largest and grandest of all of Oxford's colleges, Christ Church is also its most popular. The magnificent buildings, illustrious history and latter-day fame as a location for the Harry Potter films have tourists coming in droves.
The college was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who suppressed 22 monasteries to acquire the funds for his lavish building project. Over the years numerous luminaries have been educated here, including Albert Einstein, philosopher John Locke, poet WH Auden, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and 13 British prime ministers.
The main entrance is below the imposing Tom Tower, the upper part of which was designed by former student Sir Chris…
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Pitt Rivers Museum
Oxford has some excellent (free) museums, among them the University Museum of Natural History, famous for its dinosaur and dodo skeletons, and the attached (and incomparable) Pitt Rivers Museum, an Aladdin’s cave spread over three floors and crammed with such things as voodoo dolls and shrunken heads from the Caribbean and Pacific. Visitors are given torches (flashlights) to ‘explore’ the lower Court Gallery and are allowed to open all the drawers. Great stuff.
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University Museum of Natural History
Oxford has some excellent (free) museums, among them the University Museum of Natural History, famous for its dinosaur and dodo skeletons, and the attached (and incomparable) Pitt Rivers Museum, an Aladdin’s cave spread over three floors and crammed with such things as voodoo dolls and shrunken heads from the Caribbean and Pacific. Visitors are given torches (flashlights) to ‘explore’ the lower Court Gallery and are allowed to open all the drawers. Great stuff.
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Sheldonian Theatre
The monumental Sheldonian Theatre was the first major work of Christopher Wren, at that time a university professor of astronomy. Inspired by the classical Theatre of Marcellus in Rome, it has a rectangular front end and a semicircular back, while inside the ceiling of the main hall is blanketed by a fine 17th-century painting of the triumph of truth over ignorance. The Sheldonian is now used for college ceremonies and public concerts, but you can climb to the cupola for good views of the surrounding buildings.
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Ashmolean Museum
Britain's oldest public museum, the Ashmolean reopened in 2009 after a massive £61 million redevelopment and is now being lauded as the finest university museum in the world. The makeover has made the once intimidating building and stuffy collection a real joy to browse, with a giant atrium, glass walls revealing galleries on different levels, and a beautiful rooftop restaurant.
The museum was established in 1683 when Elias Ashmole presented the university with the collection of artefacts amassed by John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. It contains everything from Egyptian, Islamic and Chinese art to rare porcelain, tapestries and silverware, priceless musical instrumen…
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Tourist Office
Runs two-hour tours of Oxford city and colleges (adult/child £7/3.75) at 10.45am and 2pm year-round, and at 11am and 1pm in July and August, Inspector Morse tours (adult/child £7.50/4) at 1.30pm on Saturdays, family walking tours (adult/child £5.75/3.50) at 1.30pm on school holidays, and a bewildering array of themed tours (adult/child £7.50/4) – including an Alice [in Wonderland] tour, a Literary Tour, and a Harry Potter tour – that run on various dates throughout the year.
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Magdalen College
Set amid 40 hectares of lawns, woodlands, river walks and deer park, Magdalen (mawd-len) is one of the wealthiest and most beautiful of Oxford's colleges.
An elegant Victorian gateway leads into a medieval chapel, with its glorious 15th- century tower, and on to the remarkable cloisters, some of the finest in Oxford. The strange gargoyles and carved figures here are said to have inspired CS Lewis' stone statues in The Chronicles of Narnia. Behind the cloisters, the lovely Addison's Walk leads through the grounds and along the banks of the River Cherwell for just under a mile.
Magdalen has a reputation as an artistic college, and some of its most famous students and fellow…
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Howard C & Sons
Apart from visiting the colleges and museums, the quintessential Oxford experience includes an afternoon punting on the river, quaffing Pimms as you watch the dreaming spires float by. The most central location to rent punts is at Magdalen Bridge, from Howard C & Sons . From here you can punt downstream around the Botanic Gardens and Christ Church Meadow or upstream around Magdalen Deer Park. Punts hold five people including the punter.
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Salters Boat Hire
A great way to soak up Oxford’s atmosphere is to take to the Isis (the name of the Thames in these parts) in a punt. These can be hired from the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse just below the northeast end of Magdalen Bridge, and Salters Boat Hire next to the Head of the River pub on Folly Bridge. Salters also offer a 40-minute river steamer cruise (adult/child £6.50/3.50).
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Oxford Information Centre
Runs 1½-hour tours of Oxford city and colleges (adult/under 16yr around £7/3, 11:00 and 14:00 Sunday to Friday, 10:30, 11:00, 13:00 & 14:00 Saturday); Inspector Morse tours (around £8, 13:30 Saturday); ghost tours (around £6, 19:45 Friday and Saturday June to October); family walking tours (around £6, 13:30 school holidays); and pub tours (adults only £6.50, 19:00 Wednesday).
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Oxford University
Thirty-nine colleges make up the university, their elegant honey-coloured buildings wrapping around winding cobbled streets and attracting hoards of tourists each year. Yet despite the rushing traffic and throngs of people, inside their jealously guarded quadrangles an aura of studious calm descends. The oldest colleges date back almost 750 years and little has changed inside the hallowed walls since then.
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Magdalen Bridge Boathouse
A great way to soak up Oxford’s atmosphere is to take to the Isis (the name of the Thames in these parts) in a punt. These can be hired from the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse just below the northeast end of Magdalen Bridge, and Salters Boat Hire next to the Head of the River pub on Folly Bridge. Salters also offer a 40-minute river steamer cruise (adult/child £6.50/3.50).
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Old Library
Just off the Mob Quad is a 13th-century chapel and the Old Library, the oldest medieval library in use. It is said that Professor JRR Tolkien spent many hours here while writing The Lord of the Rings. Other literary giants associated with the college include TS Eliot and Louis MacNeice.
If you're visiting in summer, look out for posters advertising candlelit concerts in the chapel.
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New College
From the Bodleian, stroll under the Bridge of Sighs, a 1914 copy of the famous bridge in Venice, to New College. This 14th-century college was the first in Oxford for undergraduates and is a fine example of the glorious Perpendicular style. The chapel here is full of treasures, including superb stained glass, much of it original, and Sir Jacob Epstein's disturbing statue of Lazarus.
During term time, visitors may attend the beautiful Evensong, a choral church service held nightly at 6pm. Access for visitors is through the New College Lane gate from Easter to early October, and through the Holywell St entrance the rest of the year.
William Spooner was once a college warden h…
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Blackwell
Oxford’s most famous bookshop runs 1½-hour guided walking tours, including a literary tour at 2pm Tuesday and 11am Thursday, a tour devoted to ‘Inklings’ – an informal literary group whose membership included CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien – at 11.45am on Wednesday and a Chapels, Churches and Cathedral tour(adult/child £9/8) at 2pm on Friday. Book ahead!
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Modern Art Oxford
Far removed from Oxford's musty hallways of history, this is one of the best contemporary-art museums outside London, with heavyweight exhibitions, a wonderful gallery space and plenty of activities for children.
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