Please offer suggestions for a 4-day stay in Oxford (actually 4 days and 5 nights). I'm thinking of arrival afternoon with jet lag enjoying simple outdoorsy things, dinner in town. Day 1 = seeing main Oxford sites. Day 2 = Morning Windsor Castle, afternoon and evening in Oxford. Day 3 = Morning Blenheim Palace, afternoon in Stow-on-the-Wold with a hike, evening in Oxford. Day 4 = ?? We will be renting a car. Please suggest alternatives to this draft plan and something for Day 4. Thank you!!!
Posted by
Washington DC
27142 posts
You can take a tour of some of the colleges. The tourist office offers them. There are some others as well. I liked both the Ashmolean (art) and Pitt-Rivers (ethnography on steroids) Museums. There's also a botanical garden for outdoor time.
GoCotswolds! (and possibly some other companies) offers one-day van tours of the Cotswolds from Moreton-in-Marsh, an easy train ride from Oxford if you don't want to use the car.
Another possibility is the WW II code-breaking center at Bletchley Park, just under 40 miles from Oxford. You could spend the better part of the day there.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Windsor is close to Heathrow, which is presumably where you land, so it would make more sense to take a cab to Windsor for your first night then hire a car the following day, when you are fresher, rather than double back on yourself day 2.
Parking is difficult in both Oxford and Windsor.
It took me c 4 hours to see Blenheim Palace and grounds at a reasonable pace.
Bletchley Park is an interesting day out and would be my choice for day 4. There are several National Trust properties in the area.
Posted by
OP
20 posts
Based on past travel, we are using Oxford as a base to avoid moving around a lot. With two teenagers in tow, this suits us the best. We have limited time and are dividing it between the days based in Oxford and 5 days in London. We know we will be limited to a small portion of the country. Please keep the suggestions coming!
Posted by
Washington DC
27142 posts
I have a feeling your teenagers would enjoy the Pitt-Rivers Museum. It can be a bit dark (to protect the items on display), so stop at the shop and ask to borrow a flashlight or two, so you can read the labels.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6522 posts
I can see your not wanting to spend a night in Windsor and then move on to Oxford for three more. But I don't see the point of going to Oxford on your arrival day, then doubling back to Windsor and returning to Oxford the next day. Maybe you should consider visiting Windsor on your arrival day, if your flight isn't too late. You can check your bags (in fact you must) at the castle entrance. Then take a late afternoon or evening train to Oxford and your hotel. That also saves you from driving on that jet-lagged arrival day, at risk to yourselves and others. Or, if you want to go straight from Heathrow to Oxford, this bus provides good easy service.
There are good walking tours of Oxford, leaving from the tourist office on Broad Street. Probably the best are offered by licensed Blue Guides, buy tickets in the tourist office. My favorite colleges are Christ Church, Magdalen, New, and probably Trinity, but openings may vary with the academic calendar and everyone has their own favorites. The Ashmolean Museum is good, I haven't been to Pitt-Rivers.
With a car you can explore parts of the Cotswolds, including Stow and other villages. I hope you'll be able to take a hike in the country and savor the area without feeling a need to "see it all." We enjoyed a full-day van tour from Oxford, but covered a lot of ground and by the end wished we'd spent more time in fewer places.
I'd spend day 4 in Oxford, I like it so much. Each college is unique, architecturally and historically interesting in different ways. But with a car you have many options. Have you been to Salisbury? Stratford on Avon?
Posted by
OP
20 posts
We've been to Stratford but not Salisbury. That's a place I've been thinking of adding.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6522 posts
Salisbury's a couple of hours' drive each way, the train takes about as long because you have to change. Beautiful surroundings including Stonehenge and Old Sarum if you're interested. One of England's best cathedrals, architecturally integrated because it was built all at once instead of over centuries, and with a copy of Magna Carta on display in the cloister. A good regional museum just off the cathedral grounds. A very nice downtown with an interesting old church and recently exposed medieval frescoes that had been covered over during the Reformation. Much in the news lately because of the Russian chemical attack on an ex-spy and his daughter, but no hazard to visitors. Well worth visiting if you have time in the area. Maybe a bit of a stretch for a day trip from Oxford.