Worcester or Oxford?

I will say upfront, I love Oxford. My last trip to England I took the bus to Oxford directly from Heathrow and was lucky enough to be there when students were on break so I was able to get a room at Christ Church College & eat in "Harry Potter's dining room' every morning. I took a tour of some of the other colleges, walked around town, went on a Morse/Lewis/Endeavor tour and had a fabulous time. Then I took the train to Bath, so I know it is easy to get to from there. What are you looking forward to doing in Worcester? I know the cathedral there is beautiful.
Later in my trip I took the train from Basingstoke to Moreton-in-Marsh and a friend picked me up and took me to Chipping Campden where I stayed for a few days. If you are looking for a van tour of the villages to rest up from your walk, I recommend the Go Cotswolds all day tour which leaves from Moreton-in-Marsh.

Oxford bears Worcester hands down. Way more to see and do. Very attractive and historic university town with so many old colleges to explore, gorgeous stone architecture, lots of good places to eat and drink, riverside walks and a great covered market.

Oxford every time

Bath to Worcester Foregate Street is perfectly possible by train, changing at Bristol, hourly.

In some ways Worcester is a good and easy day trip from Moreton in Marsh.

Piling on with… OXFORD!!! Hands down. Accept no substitutes. ;-)

Don't completely discount Worcester. It is a lovely ton with a lot going for it. It doesn't feature on the usual tourist itinerary and will be a lot quieter than Oxford. It repays visiting. Have a look at these pictures...

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/db6fc2/friar-street-worcester-worcestershire-england-united-kingdom-db6fc2.jpg

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/GF7K2Y/scene-view-in-historic-worcester-city-centre-intersection-corner-of-GF7K2Y.jpg

Based on the River Severn, the cathedral dominates the view. This is the burial place of'Bad' King John of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame (although he did have some good points too...) It also has links to the English Civil War.

It is also the birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar (Enigma Variations and Land of Hope and Glory...) as well as Royal Worcester porcelain...

There's a list of places to visit here.

Alternatively take a boat trip on the River Severn. Or check out the Racecourse to see if there are any events there.

There's a map of Worcester here.

You could easily fill three days here.

apples and oranges. Two completely different places, although they both played significant parts in the English Civil War.

I love them both.

What are you looking for, before I advocate one over the other.

If you want to avoid tourist hoards then Worcester (an easy train ride from Moreton). It's a lovely city - I used to live very nearby. You can also visit Great Malvern (and its abbey) and the Malvern Hills from Worcester by train. But there's lots to see (as wasleys says above), including the cathedral. Personally I find Oxford very busy (and possibly over rated).

Thanks for all these replies. It’s very appreciated!

As to what I’m looking for … well … we are both photographers, so always looking for things to photograph. I primarily to macro photography, my husband does landscapes and street photography. But we do switch it up at times. In addition I’m a professional musician so I look for concerts sometimes. Other than that, we just wander. We walk miles and miles just to see a place on foot, as that tends to show us more. And of course we love to eat!

I could do Oxford before our Cotswold walk and Worcester after. So there’s also that possibility. I was thinking of maybe a bit of Wales and then on to Ireland, but in all honesty we are still playing around with all of this since we don’t go until May 2026.

When you say macro photography do you mean 1:1 or greater, or just close up. If the former, you may have trouble in either location with trying to use a tripod. Similarly flash.

If you like taking photos of quirky details and architectural features, then Oxford is full of them. It's worth looking in the Colleges' dining halls and chapels as well as what can be seen in the Quads. Quite a few of the colleges charge visitors for entry - Christ Church is particularly extortionate due to the Harry Potter link. The link below indicates the entry charges to each college.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/visitors/visiting-oxford/visiting-the-colleges

There's also the museums (Pitt-Rivers, University and Ashmolean) and the Botanical Gardens - these are all free to enter, I think. You'll probably find some interesting subjects in the covered market too.

Depending on whether your visit is in term time or not, you may find quite a lot of music being performed in Oxford by student groups/orchestras etc. These are often cheap to go to and can be quite good. You may find the Oxford DailyInfo web site useful.

I do mean actual macro, although I’m not always doing that, but when traveling I don’t use a tripod and never a flash. I also take my smaller camera due to weight issues.

Obviously you’ve given me more to ponder. Thank you!

In Worcester there are Green Badge guided walks daily April to October at 11am from the Tourist Information Centre. Cost £8
see www.worcesterwalks.co.uk

Just found the flyer about them in my collection.

OXFORD ----

Hi! I live in Great Malvern so biased towards Worcester! Since you mention walking and photography Malvern would make a good diversion from Worcester if you have the time since just 15 minutes by train from Worcester- it's a relatively short walk (albeit uphill!) from Great Malvern station (photo opportunity here!) to town where you have the Priory, Abbey Arch and generally lots of Victorian bits and bobs to take pictures of e.g. the gas street lights that inspired C.S.Lewis. From town it's then straight on to the hills for landscape photos.

Depending on time, the train also goes on to Ledbury (classic market town) and Hereford (cathedral).

Enjoy your trip!

Malvern, always a good choice, has the advantage of views of Cleeve Hill where I walked as a boy and my father and uncle played golf until quite old.

The Malvern Hills are made for walking, the lack of trees means you can always see where you are.

Only thing wrong with Great Malvern is the lamented loss of Lady Foley's Tearoom on the platform of the station, where I would grab a bite when my trains dropped anchors there before returning to Birmingham.

I don't remember when your trip is, Patty. Yes I do, May next year.

That may be just about the time for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, which kicks off the flower show season.

My choice would be Oxford as well, if for no other reason than all the quirky details Bill pointed out. The architecture is incredible and there are so many little quixotic places to see. It’s a very walkable city as well and I could easily spend a week or more there exploring.

But if you have an option for seeing both then I would do that if possible. It’s always nice to visit some of the lesser-known places in England.