Come, gather round friends, and heed my wisdom. I have lived in Oxford for 15 years, and taught summer schools in Oxford for 4 years, and been asked what the best vegan restaurant is more times than I can count (it’s the Oxford Blue). Here is all the info you need to either put together your own Oxford writing retreat, or to make the most of a summer school you have booked in. Ask me anything in the comments and I’ll answer!
Where to Stay
College rooms
You can stay in an Oxford college out of term time (which is a LOT of the time) for surprisingly reasonable rates. I would seriously consider this! It’s basic, I suppose (you’ll probably have to sleep in a single bed) but it’s fun, and these rooms are built for study, so they will be appropriate. This website offers central booking.
Fancy hotels
Now, I’m not going to try to talk you out of staying in the Randolph. If you want the fanciest hotel in Oxford - there it is. But I will also suggest that, if you have a high budget, for my money the best hotel in Oxford is actually The Old Parsonage. They have a private library up there with a direct phone link to the bar so you can order yourself up a bramble while you’re reading. I’m just saying.
Other
If your budget is tight tight tight, have a look at Trusted Housesitters - a lot of people use it, and a lot of academics have nice houses, cats to feed, and tend to go on long summer holidays.Also obviously there is always air bnb, but I would advise against it in most cases - a lot of the properties are just crappy hotels on there. But maybe you’ll find something nice like a narrowboat to rent or similar.
Where to write
Cafes
There are LOTS of nice cafes to write in in Oxford. Obviously you can just follow your nose here, but I would direct you to Common Ground in Jericho (very much a common room vibe, but open to all) The Weston Library Cafe on Broad Street (airy and huge - a public space in the newest library) and The Blackwells Cafe, also on Broad Street (upstairs in the bookshop, offering lovely views and literary vibes). It’s not a great place to write because it’s tiny, but for actual great coffee, you want The Missing Bean on Turl Street. But maybe get a takeaway and take it to one of the…
Libraries
The Bodleian Library System is ENORMOUS. HUGE. I am in one right now and even that is a 5 storey monster of a place, and it’s such a small part. My favourite libraries to work in in Oxford are the Radcliffe Camera (top floor), the Old Library (Duke Humphreys is amazing if you can be bothered to follow the special rules that apply, like putting your bag in a locker) the Taylorian and the American Institute. But there are LOTS and with just a readers pass you can explore to your hearts content.
If you have an Oxford University card, this is your readers pass and you just beep it on the doors for entry. If you don’t, whether you have a student card from another uni or not, you need to visit the offices in the Weston Library on Broad street to sort access. Anyone can access the libraries but if you have no academic association, you will have to fill in a form “declaring your research interests” (ie telling them which books you need that aren’t available in the county libraries) and take an oath not to set the books on fire. Oh, and pay them some money. But it’s worth it.
Oh, and do note, if you really DO want to bring a coffee in, it needs to be in a reusable cup not a paper one. No idea why.
Where to eat
Just a note - I am vegetarian. A few of the places I’ve listed below are vegan, many sell meat, but I’m never going to recommend you a steak, house (oh, okay then - Porterhouse, but I’ve never been there, that’s second hand advice).
Lunch
For a quick lunch in town, I’d head to the covered market. There’s lots of varied stuff in there, such as a banging salad bar and a nice cheap Thai place and many decent sandwich shops. I also highly, highly recommend the falafel stall on St Giles - there’ll be queues and you’ll have to pay cash but it’s excellent. The very best place to get a wrap in Oxford is a Lebanese place in Summertown called LB’s - but summer town is miles away from the centre sadly.
Dinner
A fair few of Oxford’s pubs do decent food. My two favourites are both exclusively vegetarian/vegan - the Oxford Blue and The Gardeners Arms on Plantation Road (please note there are TWO pubs called the Gardeners Arms within a couple of streets in this area - no I don’t know why. They are not a chain). For the BEST vegan burgers (although expensive and ethically questionable) you can go to Brewdog on Cowley Road. Any of the Dodo pubs (the Rickety Press or the Rusty Bike) will do you a nice pizza and a nice vibe. There’s an excellent noodle bar called Red Star on Cowley Road - the lighting is very fluorescent but the noodles are great.
In terms of nicer places to go for dinner, there is a great Thai restaurant on the High Street called Chang Mai (remember to book, it’s popular). There’s a fantastic tapas bar on the Cowley Road called Arbequina (again, book), and I’ve been meaning to try Dosa Darlings (but I failed last time I went because… I didn’t book). I very much rate Mowgli on the roof of the Westgate centre. You could try Sticks and Sushi there as well - it’s normally out of budget for me, but it’s nice. The Ivy falls into the same category - fancy, but nice, as is Gees. And ONE MORE vegetarian gastropub - The Punter. It’s a way out, on Osney Island, but it’s a little oasis of a place.
Where to drink
With a caveat to say - if you have access to a college bar, the answer is always there - they are subsidised, so cheap, and are in beautiful surroundings. But assuming you don’t…
Proper pubs
The best pubs in the city centre are the Lamb and Flag (one of Tolkien’s haunts, and, sorry, but the Eagle and Child is currently shut), the Kings Arms and the White Horse on Broad Street and The Bear on Blue Boar Street. These are all historic boozers - pints pints pints in a very old room. If you’re a little more East, it’s worth the effort to go to The Star, which is a lovely community pub just off the Cowley Road. If you’re up for an adventure and the weather’s nice, you can go to either Port Meadow to visit The Perch or The Medley or up East along the river to the Isis Farmhouse. Also note all the pubs I mentioned for food, above, are also great for drinks.
Fancy bars
There are a lot of cheap cocktail bars dotted around Oxford, especially in Jericho, and you know what, you do you but that is no longer my vibe (I went to the happy hours a LOT in my 20’s). For fancy in Jericho I like Linacre, which do both a cocktail and a wine bar opposite each other. There’s a nice wine bar on the High Street. Up the Cowley Road there’s a quite fun cocktail bar called Bigfoot, where they also sell tacos. Many of the nicer hotels have nice bars. Freud’s in Jericho is lovely but never seems to be open. That’s it. Sorry! I recommend the pubs instead.
Things to do
Days
Obviously during the days you will mostly be WRITING, but perhaps you would like to take a bit of time off now and then. If you fancy some kind of nice wandering, I recommend the Botanic Gardens or a turn around one of the colleges - my favourite is Magdalen, where you can see the deer, take a surprisingly long walk around the water meadows, and have (basic, not fancy! but affordable) tea and snacks overlooking the Magdalen Bridge punts. You might like to go on a punt trip, from Magdalen Bridge (there’s a supermarket just beyond the bridge for your Prosecco and strawberries). For any history enthusiasts, I recommend a walking tour - Lady Gargoyle Tours are my favourite. I’ve been on several of these now, and bearing in mind I’ve LIVED HERE FOR 15 YEARS, I was absolutely astonished by how much I learned, and how much fun I had.
Nights
Oxford doesn’t have the BEST nightlife, I will not lie to you. People mainly just go to the pub, and then at about 11ish they go home. But that’s okay, because you have to get up early to write, yes? Yes. One thing I will point out is that there’s a 24 hour coach service to London for if you really DID want to go out out. There are the odd specialist club nights, which tend to be music driven, a smattering of live music and comedy and really quite a lot of classical music. Someone is almost always performing a Shakespeare play in the grounds of one of the colleges. Check the mighty Daily Info website for listings of all of this.
One last thing - there’s a late night piano bar on King Edward Street (Sandy’s) where you pay a fiver to be allowed downstairs. There you will find many gay men and straight women in their 30’s gathered around a piano, throwing post it notes at a poor beleaguered pianist and screaming along to Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift songs. This is where I go if I don’t want to go home after I get kicked out of the Lamb and Flag.