"Brimming With Students & Tourists !" Oxford by coceng

Oxford Travel Guide: 1,118 reviews and 1,984 photos

BURFORD<<<<<OXFORD>>>>>HITCHIN
ENGLAND11th June 2004 (Friday)
Arriving in Oxford in the early evening of 11th June, with Pat on the driver's seat; From Burford (our last destination in THE COTSWOLD). Feeling excited...
Took us 1 hour to look for the parking space.
Explored the night in Oxford. Not much to see around 'the old sights' although lights came out from windows maybe by students doing their preps...
Had a KFC meal with Pat & it was the first KFC meal for him ! I feel guilty; Sorry Pat...
After the meal, another hour walking around & walked back to the car park, from the direction of Christ Church's Tom Tower. Back to our hotel, a few miles from Oxford & had a good night sleep...
12th June, had breakfast at the hotel; Checked out.
Pat dropped me off at Oxford Train Station & bought the train ticket back to London. Must reach there by noon, to meet up with Reg & Steve...Patrick drove back to Cheltenham, missed him. Thanks for EVERYTHING Pat !
In Oxford, I would have 2 hours or so to explore the city on my own...
Didn't really want to see the (dull) 'Cornmarket' area that I had been the night before; Didn't really have a good map to explore Oxford either...
'Follow The Tourists !...Follow The Spires !' My motto on that day (in Oxford)...
I must have got lost when I saw something, The Bridge of Sigh...
Recognized it from some guidebooks, memorized in my head.
That led me to more great sights !
Follow the tourists...
Tourists : All ages, all skin colours.
We don't really recognize the tourists (at least in this city); They could be students, lecturers, even Oxfordians running their daily chores around the city.
To me at least, everybody looks like a tourist except maybe those guys in suits who have that white curly wig over their heads, hurrying up somewhere...the 'magistrate' students !
My feet & eyes put me in front of The Radcliffe Camera; Excellent !
In Oxford, not all buildings welcome tourists; It's more like 'For Tourists - At Certain Hours', sign-boarded at most 'old buildings' around the city.
Nevertheless, 'Follow The Tourists' rang loud to my eyes ! I could easily sneak in to the old colleges !
Even if I get caught, I'd be forgiven for being, errr... a tourist !
I didn't dare to sneak in though because I had 2 short hours; Not enough to do some hanky-panky...
Instead, I went up St. Mary's Church & snapped Oxford from the best top !
I nearly didn't pay for this top views as there's nobody by the spiral-winding steps going up...
Of course I paid later otherwise I would be called 'cheeky' by you lot !
The views are just amazing !
Managed to catch world-famous Oxford spires views as shown by my photos :

MY OXFORD-SPIRES PHOTOS...
Slowly, descended down. Walked back to the train station. Reg & Steve will be waiting for me in London...
In my humble opinion, I managed to do Oxford a justice, judging from all the photos shown here on my Oxford page...~*~

Carfax Tower at night...

Do you notice something weird ? Well I do !
I was in Oxford on the evening of 11th June, but my digital photos seemed to be showing the date 12th June instead !
How that happened, I really didn't know...
Maybe my digital camera was following the time of my country, Malaysia ! Any other explaination ?
Anyway, just ignore the date on my photos but look at the photos instead !

MUST SEE...

Oxford is an old city.
It has a fascinating history :
The Romans made Oxford a pottery centre; The Saxon princess by the name of Frideswide set up a religious community on the site of Oxford Cathedral; The Oxenford, the original Saxon crossing point, gave the city its name !
Now, Oxford is a city of learning known all through thw world. 39 colleges spreaded out over the city, ranging in age from 50 to 600 years old !
Oxford also boasts the best of British architectures, guarding quadrangles,, courtyards & gardens...

Radcliffe Camera...

I have divided my photos & tips of what I saw in Oxford, according to these pages :
PAGE 1 : My Night Photos in Oxford...

~PAGE 2 : Some photos as I approached Oxford; The sights that I saw as I walked from The Train Station, passing Balliol College, Sheldonian Theater, Bridge of Sighs, Radcliffe Camera...~PAGE 3 : More photos of Radcliffe Camera, The Church of St. Mary, Bodleian Library, Brasenose College...~PAGE 4 : Here, you can see the top views that I captured from the top of St.Mary's Church Tower !~PAGE 5 : Here, you can see the sights that I captured as I slowly walking to The Train Station, to catch my train back to London !~
Please click HERE to see the map of ALL the colleges in Oxford...

Pros and Cons

Pros:An Old City; Beautiful But (Yet) Old...
Cons:Brimming With Students & Tourists ! What Do You Expect ?...
In a nutshell:Go Up St. Mary's Church For A TOP View Over Oxford !

Last visit to Oxford: Jun 2004
Intro Updated Feb 16, 2005
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (44)

Walking Back To The Train Station... Favorites (18)

This was my lasy photo in Oxford... Passing this flowery building, could be a restaurant or pub. So, I was in Oxford... more travel advice

Gate Tower of Brasenose College, Oxford - Oxford

Walking Back To The Train Station... Favorites (18)

Now, I took another photo. This is The Gate Tower of Brasenose College, from 1512. Very nice looking indeed ! This... more travel advice

Walking Back To The Train Station... Favorites (18)

I continued on walking along High Street, coming to St. Mary Church again...Feeling good looking at the tower as an... more travel advice

Walking Back To The Train Station... Favorites (18)

Walking along High Street, I came to the entrance of another well-known Oxford college - Queen's College. It's dated... more travel advice

Things to Do (20)
See All The Views From St. Mary's Church...

Nightlife (6)
See All Oxford Night...

Comments (3)

myurdan Oct 29, 2009 at 7:39 AM Report Abuse

It's the Sheldonian THEATRE not Theater and the building has nothing to do with New College of any other building. It's a separate University department in its own right.
nickandchris Feb 5, 2005 at 8:50 AM Report Abuse

Amazing!! Our son started Oxford University (Magdelen College) in October this year and keeps promising to send us photos. So far he has managed four of the university, too busy having a good time for any more!!!
matcrazy1 Aug 29, 2004 at 12:41 PM Report Abuse

Good suggestions and many beautiful pictures!