How to do Oxford in a day

Oxford had such a lively feel to it, even in covid times, there was such a buzz around the city and every nook and cranny had someone in it. Although I only got one full day in the city, I felt so enthralled in the place that I felt like it had been an entire week. It felt so familiar, like I’d been time and time before. Well one thing is for sure, I’m going back!

The entire city is one giant university campus. Old, important buildings surround the main streets that run through. There is so much history in the streets of a city that is filled with such young people, the atmosphere is sophisticated yet fun and the culture is classic but quirky.

The main high street goes from modern glass shops with fake grass and deck chairs that slowly evolve into a cobbly street with old buildings with bendy floorboards. You can certainly tell that scenes of Harry Potter are shot here, some places are so oldie worldie looking!

Arriving in the city at around 9:30am, brings me to my first to-do.

• Sit back and watch, of course the first thing we had to do was grab a cup of coffee! Oxford has such a great atmosphere, we plonked ourselves right in the centre, ordered a brew and watched the world by! We sat back admiring the old buildings and cobbled streets, whilst people ran, walked leisurely or even rode electric scooters past us. There are so many amazing cafes, bistros and coffee shops that are all so individual and quirky, and there is one around every corner. Even my niece, Amelie loved having a babycino on a sunny Saturday morning.

After strolling around the streets, we found ourselves wandering into Oxford prison and castle

• For just over £14 a ticket, you get a tour of the whole jail for around 90 minutes. You find out all the interesting facts and history of the prison and Oxford by a costumed character (I will most definitely be returning for the murder mystery nights that they do!) Whilst we were there, we popped into the converted hotel which was once part of the prison, we sat and drank prosecco in the sun, whilst nibbling at the sharing platter from Slug and Lettuce. The prison looked so gorgeous in the bright sun, and the afternoon was glorious!

As we roamed back down we caught a few tourist attractions along the way

• There are so many historical buildings around the city which you can see almost within a 10 minute walk of each other. Just a few of many are Christ Church, Radcliffe Camera and Bridge of Sighs. It's so easy to casually trip over these amazing places.

To finish off the day, we had possibly the most relaxing punt down the river Cherwell, I honestly cannot recommend doing this enough!

• You can row, punt or even have someone punt for you! We chose the latter, and after seeing people punt themselves disastrously, I'm pretty glad we did! As he punted, the young lad told us about the history of the different places that sat along the side of the river.

Things I didn't do, but would also recommend-

• Visit Oxford town hall, the building itself is spectacular to go for this alone, but to add to this there is a micro-museum and cafe inside, this is only temporary until the Museum of Oxford opens up in the summer of 2022.

• Oxford covered market, with more than 50 independent shops theres all sorts to see here!

• The Eagle and Child, this is the pub where both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien would sit together in their writing group to discuss book ideas.. A lot would say this is where wrote their famous books, 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'Lord of the Rings'.

There are so many incredible things to see and do in this city, and I have named only a few of them. If this post doesn't urge you, then my only option is to return, and write more blog posts about it (my excuse to return!!!)

“I wonder [how] anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking. It is all - the colleges I mean - like an opera.” - William Butler Yeats