Oxford - dos and don’t.

[Riverlee]

i have a couple of days in Oxford in May. Can anyone suggest any must-sees, good (reasonably priced) restaurants, anything that’s over-rated?

Thank you.

Don't try driving they will fine you hundreds just to punish you for having a car.
Buses are quite good.
Punting is very expensive.
Many places accept Art Pass.

The Covered Market is a must.

Grumpy Old Person alert! The Covered Market was a must in the 80s and 90s! It’s a sad, empty ghost of itself now.

Worth a visit if you haven't been before though.

And I don't think I deserved an alert 🤣🤣🤣

The Nosebag has closed down I was sorry to discover last week.

Make a pilgrimage to the 15th century little shop (down St. Aldate's), where Alice Liddell (the little girl who inspired Lewis Carrol to create Alice In Wonderland) used to buy her sweets in 1871!

(No spectacles-wearing sheep knitting away behind the counter, you'll be relieved to know).
https://aliceinwonderlandshop.com/pages/history

Oh no! That's a shame.

More great ideas.

I reckon we should all get commission from the Oxford tourist board for these great ideas!

Another free thing to do on your way walking elsewhere is see The Narnia Door (good photo opportunity).

Local legend has it that it inspired C.S. Lewis to create 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe'.

Who knows if that's actually the case? I like to think it is, though!
https://thirdeyetraveller.com/narnia-door-oxford/

We too discovered this weekend that The Nosebag had closed down, but had an excellent brunch at The Handlebar Cafe. We had a lovely dinner at Cherwell Boathouse too. We like No 1 Ship Street but it's closed on Sundays (as is Arbequina, which is on our list though we haven't tried it yet). The Story Museum is charming and the Pitt Rivers interesting. University Parks and South Parks both lovely on a nice day, and a walk along the canal is also worth doing.

Thank you for all your brilliant responses. I had a fab time in Oxford, and took up a lot of these recommendations.

Saw the May morning morris dancers, are at Jericho, had a look at the wonderful architecture, went to some colleges. Almost missed the Pitt River museum as didn’t realise it was adjacent to the natural history museum, which was also fascinating (the crocodile is huge!). It’s a fabulous city to look around, and there was more I could have visited. Had very tired feet at the end, from all the walking.

Glad you had a good time. I live here, it's ace

We went to the Covered market and found it bustling. It wasn’t sad and empty. I hope it retains its variety of shops, and doesn’t become a food hall though. Also, compared to other high streets I’ve been to, Oxford still has a good array of shops.

The covered market's fab - did someone say up thread that it's sad?

It's not quite as good as it used to be as some excellent butchers and a huge fish stall (and cheese stall I think) have left but it's still excellent

The Old Bookbinders has a great French bistro menu.