Your guide to experiencing Oxford as a local! Map and photos included to prevent you looking like a tourist. Have fun!
GO PUNTING
The gondoliers of England are to be found in Cambridge, Canterbury and Oxford, but obviously I saved the best till last. Either jump on a punt at Cherwell Boat House and make your way down the river to the Vicky Arms, or join the river in the city centre and punt your way through the gardens of Oxford’s colleges! No previous experience required to rent one! To be honest, the less experience you have the more fun it will be.
FIND THE DINKY DOOR
As far as I know, this is Oxford’s only dinky door, but I shall keep my eye out for others. You can find the entrance to number two on Little Clarendon Street. Apparently, the miniature residence gets a makeover for each holiday season, so i’ll update my photo at halloween.
OXFORD COLLEGES
In my opinion, the best way to see the colleges is the Open Garden scheme in the summer, but it’s also possible to visit at other times of the year. If you’re going for the gardens, check out Lady Margaret Hall. If you’re interested in architecture, go to Exeter College’s raised walled garden for a unique view of the Radcliffe Camera, Christchurch College for Harry Potter fans and Philip Pullman lovers.
CANAL PATH
It’s only recently I have come to appreciate how beautiful the canal paths are, possibly because the idea of living on a canal boat is more and more appealing by the day. The two best areas in Oxford to walk along the canal are in Jericho, or the path from Folly Bridge through Christchurch Meadow to The Kidneys.
THE BEAR
If you want to experience a true British pub, Oxford is a fantastic place to start. The Bear Inn is one of the oldest in the city. The uneven floors and low ceiling will make you feel a bit tipsy before even ordering that first drink. You will also notice, that the ceiling is covered in a collection of over 4,500 ties. This was started by the landlord in the 1950s who offered a free half pint in exchange for snipping the end off of guest’s ties belonging to the Oxford colleges, societies and sports teams. I’m not sure the offer still stands!
PITT RIVERS MUSEUM
This is a fantastic museum, not only for its dinosaur skeletons and shrunken heads which have featured in Harry Potter, but also for the vaulted Victorian glass ceiling that hangs over the largest exhibits.
COVERED MARKET
Oxford’s Covered Market is an indoor Victorian market lined with independent coffee shops, butchers, fishmongers, shoe makers, milkshake bars, themed gift shops and florists. Not only does it allow you to step back in to a time of independant shops before the reign of supermarkets, but it’s also a good way to get away from the busy high streets at either entrance.
BEN’S COOKIES
You will find Ben’s cookies in the Covered Market, but I thought it deserved a mention of its own, as they hands down bake the best cookies I’ve ever had in my life. They serve them hot from the oven, still melting inside as they pass them over the counter! Just make sure to grab a handful of napkins!
RADCLIFFE CAMERA
Known to locals as the Rad Cam, this is easily Oxford’s most iconic building. If you have ever watched a film or series based in Oxford they will have undoubtedly included a scene with the Rad Cam at some stage. The Radcliffe Camera was built in honour of John Radcliffe, a royal physician who left £40,000 (a lot of money then!) in his will to be used to build a library and reading room with enough left over to pay for a full time librarian. The Rad Cam was built in a new square and has become the most prestigious of the reading rooms within the Bodleian Library.
TURL STREET CAFE
Turl Street in the centre of Oxford, is quietly hidden between the entrance to the three central colleges, Exeter, Jesus and Lincoln. During the spring and summer the street pavement turns into an outdoor cafe.
TURF TAVERN PASSAGES
Another of the oldest pubs in Oxford, open for business since 1381. The timber Turf Tavern is hidden down a series of narrow passageways tucked behind the Bridge of Sighs. Originally known as the Spotted Cow, but changed its name to distance itself from its growing reputation as an illegal gambling den, which it managed to conceal from the colleges and local authorities by being built on the opposite side of the city wall. Since then, the pub has welcomed many famous patrons, including Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Stephen Hawking, Philip Pullman, Bill Clinton and even the cast of Harry Potter, who used it as their hang out whilst filming Hogwarts scenes in the Oxford colleges.
HEADINGTON SHARK
After buying a run of the mill terraced house in suburbia, Bill Heine who was a local radio presenter, decided to liven up the street by planting a 25ft fibreglass shark headfirst into his roof. Bill chose to erect it on the anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. It goes without saying that the local council has contested its presence ever since, which has only added to its attraction. You can even stay in the house, which is now an AirBnB. I’ve checked and unfortunately, you wont find the shark’s head sticking through the attic cieling!
HOLYWELL STREET
The rainbow street of Oxford and the alternative entrance to the Turf Tavern.
TOWER OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN
The best tower for a view of Oxford with the Rad Cam directly opposite. Admission is only £6 but you must wait inside the church to get your ticket as there is no pre-booking.
BOTANICAL GARDENS
You will find the botanical gardens next to Magdalen Bridge which makes it the perfect spot to take a photo of all the punts lined up in the morning. Beautiful shots can be taken in the summer if you embed yourself in the bushes and get a shot framed with the flowers lining the river. Admission is about £8 so make the most of your visit and take lunch with you to eat by the fountain, or under the orchard trees along the river. Keep an eye out for the Cheshire Cat statue lurking in the branches near the walled garden and the Philip Pullman sculpture depicting the main Dæmons of His Dark Materials.
THE EAGLE AND CHILD
Another of Oxford’s historical pubs, but this one in particular is known for the literary geniuses who used to drink and draft their books at the bar (C.S Lewis who wrote the Narnia Chronicles and Tolkien, the master of Middle Earth).
OLDEST PRET SHOP EVER
I’m not the biggest fan of Pret prices, but this branch is lucky enough to be housed in the oldest building on Cornmarket Street. A shot of the corner of this building is essential for any photographer visiting the city. The Medieval treasure is often called ‘the oldest house in Oxford’.
FOLLY BRIDGE
Folly Bridge is still a relatively new discovery for me, but I’m so glad I’ve found it. The bridge overlooks two riverside pub gardens and a canal path which leads past Christchurch Meadow. It’s also the reason the city is known as Oxford, as this bridge allowed cattle to cross the ford into the city for market.
After having a few drinks by the river, make sure to wander over the bridge to the house covered in statues, known as Caudwell’s Castle. It’s the one topped with battlements and canons at the entrance. It was also from this bridge that Lewis Carroll began a boat trip with his three daughters and came up with the story of Alice in Wonderland to amuse them as they rowed down the river.
HARRY POTTER LOCATIONS
The Divinity School has been used for filming the Hogwart’s hospital scenes and also for the scene in The Goblet of Fire in which Professor McGonagall teaches Ron to waltz. The college’s most prestigious library, the Duke Humphrey Library was also used, for the scenes in which Hermione researches Nicolas Flammel and also later how to make a Polyjuice Potion.
Christchurch College’s Great Hall was used for the Hogwarts Great Hall, as was the staircase leading to it, which appears in the scene in which Draco introduces himself to Harry for the first time.
The cloisters and courtyard garden within New College is where they filmed the scenes for the Goblet of Fire in which Harry walks past everyone wearing a ‘Potter Stinks’ badge and Moody transfigures Malfoy in to a ferret.
MALMAISON PRISON HOTEL
A Victorian prison turned luxury boutique hotel. You may be free to come and go as you please but it’s not exactly cheap. I’ve never stayed here because I’m not sure how much I would be able to enjoy a night in a former prison neighbouring the Oxford Castle and dungeons. However, from a photography point of view it’s worth buying a cocktail in the bar to gain entry!
BODLEIAN LIBRARY
The ‘Bod’ is the most famous library in the city, and the largest university library in the UK, storing over 13 million printed resources, including every book ever printed in the UK and Republic of Ireland! The fascination doesn’t end there, there are also underground tunnels encasing conveyer belts running between the Bod and the colleges delivering book requests through secret entrances.
THE STORY MUSEUM
Though this museum is intended for children, there is nothing stopping us adults who still enjoy childhood wonder and stories from exploring this literary gem of a museum. The rooms are brimming with installations that bring illustrations from children’s classics to life. Those of you with keen eyes will notice the lamps either side of the entrance say ‘speak friend and enter’. This is a quote from The Fellowship of the Ring when the company try to enter the Mines of Moria.
TOLKEIN’S GRAVE
Speaking of Lord of The Rings, any literary lovers should pay a visit to Tolkien’s grave whilst in Oxford. Though the gravestone itself isn’t very impressive considering the imaginative talent which lies beneath it, the plot has become a sort of pilgrimage site for fantasy enthusiasts.
COWLEY ROAD
The Cowley Road is a less OTT piece of London’s Camden Town in Oxford, or perhaps more accurately the city’s hipster center. Here you can find funky independent cafes, record stores, gig nights plastered to the lamp posts featuring cassette players, street murals, second hand clothing stores that find the label of charity shop insulting and the locally Instagram famous Picture Palace Cinema.
COFFEE AT FREVD
Frevd is the sister cafe of the popular cocktail bar of the same name in London. Both bars have taken over disused churches and retained the glass windows, high ceilings and minimalist vibe to create an unusual drinking hole. Where once there was an altar there is now a bar and the aisle is now the location of those queuing for their next cocktail or cortado.
BRIDGE OF SIGHS
Hertford Bridge, known locally as the Bridge of Sighs for its similarity to the one in Venice, whilst being a major tourist attraction isn’t actually used by students as the route it takes through the colleges is not a shortcut by any means. This hasn’t prevented the covered skywalk from gaining as many admirers as the Rad Cam at the end of the same street.
JERICHO MURALS
Head in to Jericho, just a 15 minute walk from the city centre, to search for the rainbow terraces and street art in this increasingly popular neighbourhood. In particular, the bizarre fairytale house on the corner of Wellington Street.
LUNCH AT THE VAULTS
Many visitors don’t realise this cafe exists until they find themselves needing a toilet after posing infront of the Radcliffe Camera. Hidden behind the bushes and to the side of St. Mary the Virgin is The Vaults Cafe, an organic cafe with filling dishes to enjoy in a garden directly beneath the Radcliffe Camera!