During my Stay in the UK, wanderlust led me to search for all possible weekend destinations. One such destination was Oxford, which is a historic university city. Situated about 60 miles from London, makes it a comfortable day trip destination. Apart from the fact that it is the oldest ever English university , Oxford has many things else to offer. From Stained glass churches, Ivy clad university buildings, lush green meadows to Georgian styled shops , punts on river and hustling streets -It is a perfect amalgamation of the ancient and the modern times!
We reached Oxford by a change of train from Reading as we were arriving from Newbury. It is on the route for express trains from London Paddington to Hereford via Worcester. Oxford Station is about ten minutes walk to the west of the city centre.
After arriving in Oxford, the easiest way to get around is to walk, though many take up cycling. Another simple way of touring in Oxford is hop on hop off buses. We preferred the hop on hop off buses as the ticket for £15 was valid for 24 hours with unlimited rides. Another advantage to take up this tour is we get an overview of oxford through the audio guide. This would not have possible if we would have walked and toured the city. Aimlessly wandering in an unknown place makes little sense, all the more because time is limited!
As I was planning for the trip the day before, I came to know that everything you want to see is in a compact walkable area. There are 38 colleges spread throughout the city but the oldest and most historic allocated at the heart of the place.
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| Hop on Hop off Bus |
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| Me on the roof top bus |
We visited a handful of colleges. Then came to the Christ Church college which is the largest of the lot and the most popular one. Across years of academic and literary history many renowned scholars, Scientists and Writers have walked across the corridors and sat in the lawns of the campus. Thinking about it surely gives a chill!
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| Christ Church College |
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| The Ivy Clad Wall |
While walking around in Oxford, we saw the luxurious looking ‘Oxford tube’ driving around. These buses travel between London and Oxford in a very good frequency.
I was also fascinated by a small shop located just a few yards before the Christ collage. It was the ”Alice Shop”. Being a fan of Lewis Carroll, I could not stop myself from visiting this place and ended up buying some over priced Alice themed souvenirs from that shop:)
Another nice place which we visited is the Saint Michael at the North Gate. The church had beautiful interiors decorated in stained glass. The Saxton tower of the Saint Michael is the oldest building in Oxford (close to a thousand years!)
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| St. Michael’s Church |
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| Bridge of Sigh! |
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| Post Lunch at Turf Tavern |
This was our last stop for the day. Post the museum tour, we wandered through the main town centre area of Oxford. The place depicted a different side of Oxford city. It had all the modern shops, banks, road side music, hotels, coffee shops and what not!
