Hotels etc in Oxford

It all depends how much you want to pay ( and how much you can slide onto your husbands business expenses ). When money is no object I stay at the Cotswold Lodge on the Banbury Road. If money is an issue I stay just around the corner at the Lintern Lodge ( part of the Best Western group ) on Lintern Road. Of course if you really want the best of the best you have to stay at The Randolph, but I’m not keen on it, on the rare occasions when I’ve stayed there I’ve never enjoyed it: I feel like an extra in an episode of Inspector Morse, but it is the place where CS Lewis met Joy Gresham and it’s steeped in history ( then again even the most humble building in Oxford has some history ).

As for places not to miss, in two weeks you’re going to see them all. Take a trip to ‘The Oxford Story’ on The Broad, it’s well worth the money and will give you a good idea of all the places that are going to be ‘must sees’ during your stay in Oxford.

When it comes to places to eat the answer is obvious. Eat in pubs. Two pubs really stand out for me: the first is The Eagle and Child on St. Giles ( known universally as The Bird and Baby ) the second is The Turf.

The Bird and Baby is where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien used to meet over a pint with the other ‘Inklings’. It’s now owned by St. John’s College and provides really good food at sensible prices, as well as a range of outstanding beers. The Turf is probably the hardest pub in the world to find, it is however worth the trouble. Its down at the end of Bath Place ( on the Bodleian end of Hollywell Street ) I know it doesn’t look like there’s a pub there but walk down Bath Place and duck into the passage at the end on the left – there’s a pub there and it sells really good, reasonably priced food and an excellent range of beers. There’s also a first class beer garden for those of us who smoke.

One other place you have to get food from is the Carfax chippie. Carfax is the central crossroad of the city. It’s where St. Aldates, Cornmarket, The High and Queen Street all meet. Just along The High is a little chip shop that sells great portions of Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas to poor students ( God Bless them ! ) grab your fish ‘n chips ( don’t forget mushy peas ) and walk up Catte Street and eat them on the back steps of The Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera.

Referring to Al's post above, I walked down Broad Street about two days ago and it looked like the Oxford Story had closed, but whether it was just for maintainence or because its not longer in business I don't know.