City guides : Oxford

Oxford is famous for its dreaming spires and antiquarian watering holes frequented by academics. Scratch the surface of this place, though, and you’ll find that its inhabitants value the compact city for its vibrant atmosphere, cool bars and kebab vans.

Bars and clubs

If you like wood panelling and real ale, head to The Bear or The White Horse. If you’d rather not risk bumping into your tutors, head to Jericho or Cowley Road instead, both a 10 minute walk from the centre. Oxford University doesn’t have a central Student’s Union, but Brookes (up Headington Hill – take bus number U1) does and it plays host to some wild nights. Oxford’s pricing is pretty similar to London drinks-wise, so expect to pay upward of £2.80 a pint in most pubs. Clubbing is best described as cheesy. Venues like The Bridge offer the chance to dance to 80’s chart toppers, but if that’s not for you, seek out less well-publicised nights at smaller venues. The Cellar and Baby Love offer nights for cool kids, ranging from psy-trance through to indie.

Shopping

The town centre offers the standard high-street shops, but for blow-outs it’s better to head to London. It’s easy to find small independent shops, though; try The Covered Market if you want good food, or hit Cowely Road, home to ethnic supermarkets, curious jewellery and second-hand stores.

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Eating out

For cheap eating, Cowley Road is best: Red Star do great noodles, Oxford Thai sell just that, and CoCo’s make cracking pizzas; in the centre, Mission sells great burritos. You can happily feed yourself for £5-10 at any of these places. Every pub in town wants to sell food, but be careful: some are outstanding, some mediocre at best – peek at people’s plates before you order. If the parents are visiting, try The Old Parsonage or Brassiere Blanc in North Oxford. Finally, at the end of a night of drinking, look no further than the next street corner; Oxford is littered with kebab vans, so your best bet is to grab some chips from them.

Entertainment

The New Theatre and Oxford Playhouse offer all the drama you want, and there are lots of museums. Try the Natural History Museum, the Ashmolean, or Modern Art Oxford – all free and all fantastic. If music’s more your thing, you’re in luck. The birthplace of Radiohead sees big names playing at Brookes and the Academy (aka Zodiac); recently they’ve hosted Idlewild, The Magic Numbers and Spiritualized.

Accommodation

The city’s so small that getting around isn’t a problem and wherever you love, you’re a short cycle ride from everything. The majority of students live in University accommodation for half of their degree, but if you live out, Jericho and Cowley Road are both popular areas. The first is ‘cool’ and expensive, the second just as much fun, but cheaper. You’ll be spending upward of £300 a month on rent.

Top 3 places to see

• The Ashmolean
• Mission
• The Jericho

Oxford may seem overly traditional if you don’t know the place, but, after a few weeks, you’ll soon realise that there’s a lot of fun to be had here than first meets the eye. What’s even better is, you don’t have to go far to find it.