Day out in Oxford

C_J

Unfortunately there isn't a bus stop *right* by the hotel. Oxford Bus Company route number 35A from Oxford to Didcot via Abingdon has a stop at Milton Heights which is about a 20 minute walk from your hotel.

Rival bus company Stagecoach route 34 from Oxford to Abingdon has a stop outside the Packhorse Inn which is about half a mile away, and buses run every 30mins during the day (but only every hour at non-peak times). The timetable is here : http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/31X30w091207f270708.pdf

I think you would find the park and ride very much easier

Incidentally, it's worth knowing that there is free car parking in the centre of Oxford (along St Giles, the wide road between the Old Parsonage Hotel and the Randolph Hotel) after 6.30pm in the evening, but it does get full quite quickly. It's handy if you are coming into Oxford for an early supper though.

For evening meals, I can recommend Browns:
http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/menu-oxford.php

and if you like Lebanese food, then the Al Shami in Walton Crescent is great :
http://www.al-shami.co.uk/

The Dancing Dragon, near the shops in the Summertown area of Banbury Road (5 mins out of Oxford, free parking) is a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant which has quite simple decor (plastic tablecloths ahoy!) but the food is great. It's only about £6.50 a head for lunch and about £10 a head for dinner I think.

http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/reviews/venue/706/The_Dancing_Dragon/

Jelliebeen

I'd second Al Shami and also recommend the King's Arms at Sandford Lock (it would be easy for you to get to if you're coming from Abingdon, just get on the ring road as if you were going to Redbridge Park & Ride and follow the signs for the football stadium). It;s a really nice riverside setting and the food was good when we ate there, not expensive either.

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pubs-bars-national/kings-arms/

C_J

I used to work at the King's Arms when I was a poor hard-up student!!

Other good pubs to try (both a bit touristy, but worth a visit) are the Trout at Wolvercote (on the river, nice gardens with peacocks strolling around in it, lovely food):
http://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/

The Turf Tavern in the centre of Oxford (a bit hidden away, so you might have to ask for directions):

http://www.theturftavern.co.uk/directions.php Mind your head on the low beams:)


and the Cherwell Boathouse which is a restaurant, river cafe and punt hire place :

http://www.cherwellboathouse.co.uk/

susancs

C_J wrote: »

Unfortunately there isn't a bus stop *right* by the hotel. Oxford Bus Company route number 35A from Oxford to Didcot via Abingdon has a stop at Milton Heights which is about a 20 minute walk from your hotel.

Rival bus company Stagecoach route 34 from Oxford to Abingdon has a stop outside the Packhorse Inn which is about half a mile away, and buses run every 30mins during the day (but only every hour at non-peak times). The timetable is here : http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/31X30w091207f270708.pdf

I think you would find the park and ride very much easier

Incidentally, it's worth knowing that there is free car parking in the centre of Oxford (along St Giles, the wide road between the Old Parsonage Hotel and the Randolph Hotel) after 6.30pm in the evening, but it does get full quite quickly. It's handy if you are coming into Oxford for an early supper though.

For evening meals, I can recommend Browns:
http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/menu-oxford.php

and if you like Lebanese food, then the Al Shami in Walton Crescent is great :
http://www.al-shami.co.uk/

The Dancing Dragon, near the shops in the Summertown area of Banbury Road (5 mins out of Oxford, free parking) is a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant which has quite simple decor (plastic tablecloths ahoy!) but the food is great. It's only about £6.50 a head for lunch and about £10 a head for dinner I think.

http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/reviews/venue/706/The_Dancing_Dragon/

Thank you so much CJ for the information. Like you have sugguested I think Park and ride may be the easiest option. I love the sound of the Barley Mow Pub too.

Fen1

Must sees:
Pitt Rivers Museum. Totally bonkers and fun.
Bodleian Library tour.

Picnic spot: University Gardens (next to University Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museums).
You can pick up lunches easily from North Parade (just a bit north of the Park, opposite side of road); or from Little Clarendon Street.

Little Clarendon Street has great restaurants, fab tapas restaurant, bars, and a D&G ice cream parlour. The street really doesn't look like much from the main road ( Woodstock Road), but quickly opens out.
Little Clarendon Street is just north of where Woodstock and Banbury Roads diverge.

THere are also nice restaurants along Walton Street, an area known as Jericho.

RobTG

As Fen1 has rightly mentioned Jericho is a lovely part of Oxford, I can't post links yet, but look up Branca in Jericho for a sophisticated Italian restaurant which can be great, also the Jericho Tavern (in the middle of Walton Street, almost opposite Branca) does really really nice pub grub, and loads of good beers (though not cheap :rolleyes:). Al-Andulas is the tapas restaurant on Little Clarendon Street and is possibly my favourite restaurant in Oxford!

Don't like to disagree with anybody but the couple of times I've been to Brown's it's been horrible, both times on Saturday nights. Could be I've just been unlucky though, the place has been around for a long time so must do something right.

The University Parks are great, and go on for ages... definitely nicer, and less busy, than Christchurch, though lacking the river. If it's a nice day walk up to Magdalen Bridge (past many of the colleges) and hire a punt/skiff boat, might have to que for a while, but it's a quintessential Oxford thing to do! Or as mentioned above the King's Arms at Sandford lock is a fantastic place to sit in the sunshine and enjoy some food.

There are loads of restaurants in Oxford, what's best really depends on what you're after, but you can find something for just about every taste! There's also lots of places to get snack lunches and baguettes etc, if in doubt just go the covered market. Oh, and be prepared for tourists, lots and lots of tourists... Some weekends its a mass of matching caps or backpacks :rotfl:

C_J

RobTG wrote: »

The University Parks are great, and go on for ages... definitely nicer, and less busy, than Christchurch, though lacking the river.

You *can* get to the river through Uni parks ... stroll along the cycle track from Uni parks through to Marston (enter at the corner of South Parks Road/St Cross Road) for 5 mins and it takes you straight to Mesopotamia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia,_Oxford

A lovely spot for a picnic lunch.

enzyme1978

but punting (small boats) in Oxford is great fun and will be really fun if the weather is nice.. :T

enzyme1978

.. yes CJ already mentioned punting...oops....

RobTG

C_J wrote: »

You *can* get to the river through Uni parks ... stroll along the cycle track from Uni parks through to Marston (enter at the corner of South Parks Road/St Cross Road) for 5 mins and it takes you straight to Mesopotamia:

A lovely spot for a picnic lunch.

Of course you can... need to engage brain a bit more! Even saw people fishing last time I was down there.