England tips from recent traveler (5/18)

"but human factor interferes with that--street people are like Berkeley."????
Appreciate if you could explain that to a non-American.

Street people are vagrants.

I'm currently in York and in full agreement about its physical attractiveness. Absolutely dripping in history and so much to see and do within walking distance. We're currently staying in a fantastic Airbnb rental, a three bedroomed house right within the city walls and definitely the best rental we've stayed in to date https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/16876627. It's a bit pricey in comparison to others in the area but it was cheaper than booking two rooms at an average hotel and you get the benefits of an entire house.

The only cringeworthy aspect of York was the number of stag and hen parties this weekend. I dread to think what the foreign tourists made of the hordes of steaming drunk revellers rolling around at 5pm.

Oxford is physically beautiful but human factor interferes with
that--street people are like Berkeley

Appreciate if you could explain that to an American.

Street people are vagrants.

Got that but what's the Berkeley reference?

As I have relatives that live in Berkeley, I think what the OP was inferring was that the homeless were all over the city begging.

OP, I'm glad you liked York and I think Cambridge will suit you better as it has more of a small town feel to it.

For those not familiar with the reference...Berkeley, California, is known for the larger-than-normal numbers of homeless people. It's been like that for many years. Having spent quite a bit of time in both Oxford and Berkeley recently, I would never think to make that comparison though. Berkeley has FAR larger numbers of homeless people than Oxford ever has. The only thing the two cities share in common is that both are fairly prestigious university towns. Honestly, I don't know how the homeless would interfere...the homeless deserve our sympathy and help and should not be seen as an inconvenience to sightseeing, however many or few of them there happen to be.

Native Californian here.

Grew up in the SF Bay Area now live in Hollywood. Let’s set the record straight.

Berkeley ( GO BEARS) doesn’t hold a candle to the vagrants and homeless population in Hollywood and Los Angeles.

The chasm between the haves and the have nots on the planet has drastically increased so don’t expect to travel believing you’ll not encounter such souls.
Washington D.C. , Paris, London, San Francisco, AND Cambridge, Reno, Seattle, Amsterdam, etc., etc., etc.

Welcome to the real world of the 21st century.

As far as Cambridge BnB’s try researching booking.com, AirBnB and VRBO.

The last survey showed there were 61 people rough sleeping in Oxford. This is approximately double that in 2014.

My wife and I stayed outside of Cambridge in the town of Royston. The Banyers used to be a good 17th Century carriage house across the road from a church that was mentioned in the Domesday Book Of 1086. We liked getting the train into Cambridge and walking around the smaller town at night.

For anyone interested in how austerity is affecting the UK, the New York Times has a good article on the front page today.
Austerity in UK

61 in Oxford compares how with Berkeley?

Thank you for the England tips! Much appreciated. Interesting brief comment regarding street people in Oxford. With no specifics mentioned, it remains unknown what the original poster experienced and observed. In response to that comment, someone on this thread posted, "Honestly, I don't know how the homeless would interfere (implying an interference with one's vacation experience)....They - homeless- deserve our sympathy". People who are hanging out on the street are not necessarily homeless. Since the original poster used the term "street people", I would assume these individuals were hanging out in the street, i.e. public places. How can this interfere with one's business or pleasure? Honestly, it can occasionally make for a less than pleasant atmosphere if the odd individual on the street verbally abuses you, is urinating/defecating in public, is smoking some stinky skunkweed and you're forced to breathe it in due to close physical proximity, is yelling and cursing, or is aggressively panhandling. Another reason to avoid areas with, in this case homeless, is when their tents block the sidewalk which then causes the pedestrian to have to walk in the street and dodge cars. These things honestly have happened on occasion as perpetrated by a few individuals. Oxford is not being referenced here. The street can be crossed and unpleasant scenarios avoided whilst one retains lots of sympathy for humanity and makes generous donations to charities and volunteers to help the poor and homeless.