2014-06-23

Oxford England


For those living in or traveling to London a 1-day trip to Oxford is definitely a great idea especially on a sunny day in summer months. It takes one hour by direct train to go from London Padding station to Oxford. Make sure you depart early and arrive in Oxford by 10:00, because all major attractions close between 17:00 and 18:00. The best way to get around Oxford is on foot or bicycle. We opted for the former for maximum freedom and ease of happy photographing. Oxford is really a small and compact city where you don’t spend much time walking around, but you may need more time visiting inside particular attractions like colleges or museums of your interests. Queueing time is not a concern, as we queued only once for 10 minutes for entry to the tower of The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin for the best bird’s eye views of Oxford. We do not recommend entry to Magdalen College that costs £5 but is worth £2. On the website it’s written “Magdalen is Oxford’s wealthiest, and arguably most beautiful college, with its own deer park and beautiful cloisters …. On the far right of the grounds, a bright blue wrought iron gate leads to Addison’s walk, a pretty riverside path.” Here’s our version: “Magdalen is one of the Oxford’s colleges, with its own spacious plain green with only trees and grass, and ordinary cloisters …. On the far right of the grounds, a bright blue wrought iron gate leads to Addison’s walk, a riverside path where you will see water and grass.”


Purchase of train tickets days ahead is generally necessary and we did book ours two days before departure. It would have been either a cloudy or rainy day according to the weather forecast on Thursday and Friday respectively, but we had a wonderful Saturday and we couldn’t believe our luck. Yes, what a reliable forecast! At some previous weekends the weather forecast said it was going to rain in London, but then the sun was shining for a whole weekend. Just book your train tickets and keep your fingers crossed!


Our route:
(1) Carfax Tower → (2) Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate → (3) Martyr's Memorial → (4) Ashmolean Museum → (5) Balliol College → (6) Trinity College → (7) Blackwell's Bookstore → (8) Sheldonian Theatre → (9) Clarendon Building → (10) Bridge of Sighs / Hertford Bridge → (11) New College → (12) St. Edmund Hall → (13) Queen’s College → (14) University Church of St. Mary the Virgin → (15) All Souls College → (16) Radcliffe Camera → (17) Bodleian Library → (18) Brasenose College → (19) Merton College → (20) Magdalen College → (21) University of Oxford Botanical Garden → (22) Christ Church → (23) Museum of Oxford → (24) Covered Market
***It was already 18:00 when we stepped out of Magdalen College, so we didn’t have time for 21-24. Botanical Garden closes at 18:00, Museum of Oxford at 17:00, and Covered Market at 17:30.

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