Oxford Mini-Guide

I thought off the back of my recent trip to Oxford I ought to share a mini-guide with you. Considering I’ve been quite a few times now it seemed only right! Oxford is super-close to London, about an hours drive – or you can take the super-quick Oxford Tube (actually a bus).

MUSEUMS

The best thing for me in Oxford is definitely the museums; which I’ve covered in separate posts; my favourites are the Museum of the History of Science and the Pitt Rivers Museum but the NH Museum and Ashmolean are more than worth a look too if you have enough time.

FOOD

I like Turl Street Kitchen, for the excellent drinks and welcoming atmosphere, Georgina’s in the covered market, for the lovely atmosphere and homely food, Atomic Burger, for the incredible desserts and kitschy decor, Queens Lane Coffee House for warmth and REALLY cheap prices and the Hi-Lo Rum Shack for after hours FUN; seriously, that place is the best thing in the whole town.

SHOPPING

The whole of Cowley Road is worth a wander! If you’re more central than Objects of Use is BRILLIANT, insanely good visual merchandising, excellent products, just go. Scriptum is, to my mind, one of those experiences I associate with “the UK outside of London”, and is worth a visit even if you’re not a huge stationary fan (spoiler: I am). Blackwells is a legendary bookstore, musos should check out the sheet music – oh my WORD, it is good, and 2 North Parade is the shop of my DREAMS, food snob that I am!

AND ALSO

The other thing you should do in Oxford is just walk around! The Radcliffe Camera, the famous university buildings, the covered market and most of the museums are all within walking distance. I always think it’s so rare to find a city where you can just wander between everything and Oxford is surprisingly small given the amount of stuff there is to see. Have a great trip and add any oversights below for other people to check out. :)

Previous: Oxford / Christmas in Oxford / Museum of the History of Science / Pitt Rivers / Natural History Museum

Scouse

(Lucha Libre – a mexican restaurant we visited on the first night)

Have you ever been to Liverpool? The moment I set foot on scouser soil I felt strangely at home. Whether it was just being in a busy populated city following the rural Devon villages we’d been visiting or some vague part of my brain remembering happy primary school trips into Liverpool, I felt really happy to be back. One of my favourite people I met during university was from Liverpool and I was fondly reminded of him whilst surrounded by that distinctive accent. I spent most of my time in the Unity Theatre preparing and performing the show, but the hour or so I spent wandering around I explored nearby Bold Street and their HUGE array of aesthetically charming shops.

CLAUDIA PINK

(exterior and interior of Claudia Pink)

Claudia Pink was the most gorgeous array of unique necklaces, exotic earrings and dazzling brooches. It was lovely to chat to Claudia herself and find out more about the business and her design process.

LITTLE RED VINTAGE

Stellar visual merchandising from Little Red Vintage, I felt a little as though I had wandered into a fantasy, candy-coloured dressing room crossed with a Sofia Coppola film. I absolutely loved these neon, translucent plastic pom-pom chandeliers.

BOLD STREET SWEETS

(exterior and interior of Bold Street Sweets)

It’s a giant sweet shop. With old fashioned pick and mix. American sweets. Lucky Charms. Dark chocolate M’n’Ms (my personal all-time favourite sweet). Yay!

ARK

(interior and exterior of ARK)

Apparently Ark is not a one-off Liverpool independent store but a fairly large chain with stores around the country, so the fact I’d never come across it before is indicative of my own poor knowledge of the outside world (i.e. life past Zone 6). These photos were all taken in their vintage basement where I found the most amazing silver dress. I’m not sure if all the stores have a vintage section but this one was huge and laid out beautifully!

BOLD STREET COFFEE

Hendrix and coffee.