Cambridge or Oxford?

Cambridge's campus is nicer than Oxford's.

Oxford has a special place in my heart. We lived there for a summer many years ago when our children were 2 and 5--they're 39 and 42 now! As a fan of Morse and Endeavour, when we returned in the summer of 2022, we stayed at the The Randolph Hotel, by Graduate Hotels which is where Morse and Lewis often went for a pint. The hotel has totally been renovated but they kept The Morse Bar as is. There are photos on the wall of John Thaw. My husband took a photo of me toasting those photos with a glass of champagne--I know it should have been a pint . . .
Oxford doesn't have one main campus, but the campuses of Christ Church and Magdalen Colleges are quite large and beautiful. CC's dining room is what the Harry Potter Dining Hall is modeled after. I found the fireplace to be of particular interest because of the tiles. Several of the hand-painted tiles are of the don's daughter, Alice, who Lewis Carroll, who taught at CC, modeled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland after.

We also visited Cambridge for the first time in 2022. It is quite beautiful, as well. If you watch the PBS show, Grantchester, you can walk along the backs to the village of Grantchester and visit the church that is featured in the series. We visited both Oxford and Cambridge in 2022. At that time, there was no direct way (other than driving) to go from one to the other. We took a train into London and then from London on to Cambridge. It was only @ 2 hours. You're going to love either one if you have to choose, but I cherished my time in the Morse Bar. Btw, the Ashmolean is right across the street from the Randolph--it was featured as was the Radcliffe Camera (five-minute walk) quite a bit in the series.

Oxford is included in the RS England guidebook but not in the Great Britain guidebook.

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/england-guidebook

I would choose based on what interests you more. Oxford would be the place for a fan of Morse.

For what its worth, I prefer Cambridge to Oxford only because Cambridge has a bit more of a small town feel to me. They are both well worth a visit.

Thank you for your thoughtful replies!

I have been to both. We chose to make a day trip to Cambridge over Oxford about five years ago because it is smaller and we thought we could do it justice in a day. This past June we spent 3 nights in Oxford. You certainly could enjoy a day trip to Oxford as well but liked having more time.

But no matter which you choose, I think you will be happy!

I love Oxford! I was there for the first time this year and could only manage one day there and one night, but I will be back. It is the most wonderful and vibrant city with so much to see and do. I think you would really love it. In all fairness, I have not yet been to Cambridge, but Oxford is definitely worth visiting.

Been to both. Slightly preferred Oxford.

Oxford is better for walking. You can nip into the college courtyards and walk under the Bridge of Sighs and the whole thing is very nice.

To really see the best of Cambridge, you have to see it from the River Cam, which means punting and that is a lot of fun. But you can't just jump off and walk in as you see Kings College chapel pass by. So its less spontaneous.

Its very close, both are awesome, but if I have to choose one, its Oxford.