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Staying in an Oxford Guest House
Oxford is most famous for its colleges which are known collectively as Oxford University. The oldest colleges of the university date to the 13th century, and give Oxford its aura of intellectual stimulation and academic tranquility. The town itself predates the University, and has its roots in 8th century Anglo-Saxon Britain.
A Guest House can help you stay close to the Oxford City Centre without breaking your budget. Oxford itself has an attractive shopping district that is well worth a few hours visit. The areas located along the High and Cornmarket Streets are very pedestrian friendly. Be sure and check out Blackwell's books while you are there. The highest point in the Centre City, Carfax Tower, is also open for tourists. From the top you will be able to see the beautiful college spires of the university's college chapels. You may even be able to pick out your own Oxford Guest House!
For an unforgettable English experience, hire a boat and go punting down the beautiful River Ox from which the town gets its name. The ‘back side’ of Oxford viewed from the river is in some ways even more attractive than the city that can be seen from the streets. Your Guest House hosts can help you with this.
Visitors to Oxford staying at a Guest House have the advantage of being able to get tips from their hosts on the best places to eat. Certainly Oxford, being a university town, has a great selection of pubs offering good food and great drink, although not always at the most reasonable prices. Oxford Guest House visitors will want to ask their fellow visitors about good (and bad) experiences they have had with the local food.
Of course no visit to Oxford would be complete without a tour of at least one of the colleges. Each college of Oxford University has its own history, architecture, and academic specialties. Visit the oldest colleges, like Merton and Baliol, or the newest, Wolfson, established in the 1960s.
The Ashmolean Museum and Oxford’s Bodleian library should also be visited. The Museum contains an extensive collection of art and archaeological artifacts dating back more than four thousand years. The Bodleian library is actually housed in several buildings around Oxford, and has copies of every book published in Britain since 1610. Although visitors do not have access to the collections’ reading rooms, guided tours are offered.
Get out of your Guest House in Oxford and travel by hired car or, for the more athletic, by bicycle to nearby Blenheim. There you will find the beautiful estate and boyhood home of Winston Churchill. The grounds themselves are worth the visit, and include a giant maze.
For those people using their Guest House as a base of operations for seeing other places in England, Oxford has excellent transportation options. Frequent and inexpensive train and bus services are available to and from London, as well as points to the north and west of the city.
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