Oxford visit

[Wishimaywishimight]

DH and I are planning to visit Oxford in April (have always wanted to visit, based on TV series Morse and Lewis largely!). We are travelling over from Ireland and spending 3 nights there.

Wondering if anyone could recommend a hotel? We would like to stay right in the city centre if possible as we won't have transport. Budget up to an absolute max of £250 per night, ideally a little under that.

Any recommendations of restaurants / bars / where to visit / what to do would also be most welcome 😀

Wow, thank you all so much - tons of ideas, we will certainly have a busy few days!

I am copying and pasting every response into my 'itinerary' so won't miss out on anything 😀

Go to Brasenose. Lots of Morse filmed there and more recently Saltburn.
I think you can stay there too out of term time??

The premier inn is central.
Randolph is the traditional 'fancy' hotel.

Covered market for independent 'shops'

Little Clarendon street and Jericho worth a walk to.

Crowley road also quite buzzy.

Ooh and Chiang Mai Thai restaurant (down an alleyway off the high street) is wonderful but you would definitely need to book in advance.

So many great recommendations already but I can add Vaults and Gardens for a coffee or lunch in the vault - next to the Radcliffe Camera.

Loved the Gees building but not the food so much.

Jericho via Walton Street for a Morse vibe and Brasserie Blanc - you might be lucky and see Raymond in there. Walk along the canal.

Definitely recommend Pierre Victoire - but suggest you book as it is quite small.

The covered market is interesting for a mooch.

……. and all the history, beautiful architecture and culture you could possibly want, viewed from the top of a tourist bus to get you started?

I'm old enough to remember Gees when it was a greengrocer's shop 😁.
Agree with the recommendations above but to umderline that the Pitt Rivers as a must see. My favourite museum in the world.

I’m local and lots have been covered here. We’ve stayed at the Malmaison twice for a treat - just make sure you get a prison room (they’re so quirky but extra)

I love to walk down the Oxford Canal from Jericho to Wolvercote, have lunch at The Trout (saw Colin Dexter there once and it features in one of his books), then walk back past Godstow (ruined monastery) on the towpath by Port Meadow.

Hire a punt from Magdalen Bridge. Climb the church tower by the Radcliffe Tower for fantastic views (it’s the church with the coffee shop). Venture down the Cowley Road for a more boho Oxford experience. Walk around Jericho for the Jude the Obscure vibe and try out the Bookbinders for a Victorian Oxford feel (you have to book).

Two great theatres, indie cinemas (Ultimate Picture Palace, Phoenix), university parks and Christ Church exterior which is the Harry Potter college.

Central/shopping Oxford is the least interesting bit (George St) and has declined sadly since the opening of the Westgate. I’d also say restaurants are a bit hit and miss (lots of chains). Quod is generally ok in the mid range. Top of the Ashmolean better for tea and I find all the chains on the top of the Westgate a bit grim (good view though). There’s a new Ivy opened up.

Oxford is a big city with an industrial part (mini plant at Cowley) and sometimes I feel you have to go and look for the fictional Oxford as all the colleges are built looking inwards away from the town. That town/gown divide is definitely there. So a walking tour could be good.

Most of my recommendation have already been suggested! The Covered Market has lots of quirky shops and eating choices.

A couple of niche ones: if you like books, go into Blackwell's and find the Norrington Room, and book on a tour of the Bodleian Library. Also the History of Science Museum on Broad Street is often overlooked and is a great little museum to poke around for an hour.

Bookmarking the thread as I am planting visit this summer with my 11 and 13yos. So many interesting suggestions!

No, the hall in the first HP film (possibly the next one also) was Christ Church, also the stairs and bits of the cloisters.

Agree with the suggestion of Christ Church sung Evensong, the Ashmolean, a walk through Port Meadow to the Trout at Wolvercote, taking out a punt in decent weather, drink in the Eagke and Child (where Tolkien met the Inklings),or the Turf, pay a visit to the Bodleian (as well as the Morse connection, the Divinity School played the Hogwarts infirmary in the first HP film, too, and the Radcliffe Camera was where Noodle meets her mother in the recent Wonka film).

Decide which college/s you would like to visit (Morse is in and out of lots across the series, though they’re often jumbled in that an interior is filmed in Brasenose but when he leaves, he’s shown walking out of Oriel — there used to be a drinking game where you took a shot every time this happened, or he drove the Jag the wrong way down a one-way street etc). From what I remember, in early series, he’s often in Oriel, Brasenose and Corpus, though they’re often playing Lonsdale College (Dexter’s invention).

Blenheim Palace is only a short bus ride away if you feel like a break from central Oxford, which can be overcrowded at tourist-heavy times.

They might be interested in the connections/locations from "His Dark Materials" (as well as Morse, Harry Potter, etc) if they've read or watched that!

@BadCovers
I stand corrected, New Hall College is Chapel and Oak were used in the filming of Harry Potter. However they are truly stunning and definitely worth a visit.

A few years ago I stayed at the Cotswold Lodge Hotel, which was very good.