Hello friend! Alex and I recently spent the holidays in England and I thought I’d share the beauty of Oxford with you here on the blog. We based ourselves in London for the week and decided to spend two nights in Oxford to give the city a proper visit. Before heading to Oxford, I led Alex to my favorite city in England – Bath – and showed him all my favorite spots, which you can find in this blog post  and then we boarded an hour train from London to Oxford station.

We stayed at the cutest bed & breakfast called Head of the River, where they served us a delicious traditional English breakfast, nestled next to a cozy fire in their restaurant. Our two days in Oxford were spent wandering, getting lost and admiring the general splendor of the city. Oxford’s architecture is a marvel to behold! A treasure is found in every corner. Even the alleys are pretty to look at. Not being much of a big city girl, I found solace in the quiet streets of Oxford after spending the past week in busy London. With my camera in tow, I marveled and clicked away, while Alex rolled his eyes and laughed at the number of times I exclaimed, “This place is so beautiful. I’m so inspired!”

Our hotel was steps away from Oxford University’s Christ Church, so we stopped there first. After booking tickets on our phone, we wandered in and took in the beauty of Oxford’s Great Hall, where author J.K. Rowling found the inspiration for the Great Hall in the Harry Potter books. Wandering the grounds and climbing the staircase where the Harry Potter movies were filmed was such a treat! We then wandered over to one of my favorite cafes, Society Cafe on St Michael’s Street and indulged in a warm cinnamon roll and hot chocolate with 71% dark chocolate – so good! The baked goods were stocked, black and white photographs lined the monochromatic walls, and the minimal Scandanavian design calmed my mind. Sitting there, I admired all the students and creators making things, doing things, talking with friends, tapping away at keyboards. One elegantly-dressed student was studying a film script. Another writing a paper. Two university students chatted warmly in the corner, nursing coffees. I enjoyed my time people-watching and reading the local Society Cafe newspaper so much, I came back the next day.

We walked over to Catte Street & Broad Street, and I ended up getting a short haircut at a delightful salon called Blush. We then wandered over to Ship Street to see Radcliffe Square and the stunning Radcliffe Camera building. The entire time I felt like I was in the film Theory of Everything or Tolkein. I loved popping into my favorite British boutique, TOAST, and we grabbed hummus and falafel sandwiches at the laid-back, vegan-friendly cafe, The Missing Bean on Turl Street (highly recommend for a no-fuss meal).

We ended the evening at Ashmolean Art and Photography Museum, which is free to visit (!!) , and I’m so glad Alex dragged us over there – the Impressionist painting collection was plentiful! Alex and I then ended up going to the local 2-theatre Odeon Cinema, as he was eager to see Spider Man: No Way Home. I decided to split and go see House of Gucci (one of my favorite films of the year!)

The next day, while at Society Cafe again, a girl sitting next to me overheard me talking to Alex about how I wanted to find a neighborhood where the locals hang out. As the area we were spending time in was more touristy, I was curious to see where the locals live. She told us to visit the Jericho neighborhood and I’m so glad she did, because it was one of my favorite spots in Oxford! The small quiet streets were filled with quirky boutiques, an independent art house cinema, eclectic grocery stores and beautifully decorated homes. We spent some time rummaging through books at the very cozy and quaint, The Last Bookshop and I snapped away on my camera.

For the Next Visit to Oxford…

Oxford was the highlight of my trip this year, and I hope to return again someday and see more of the different colleges at Oxford University (there are 39 of them!) I would have loved to have seen Duk Humfrey’s library, the Divinity School, New Colleges Cloisters and Courtyard (they were closed over the holidays) and the Bodley Tower staircase.

Oxford is the perfect haven for gentle hearts, creatives and romantics and a delightful day trip from London. My heart felt so renewed and inspired after a long week in the city.

Have you ever traveled to Oxford? I’d love to hear from you about your experience in Oxford in the comments.

Travel Postcards from Oxford, England