Introduction
Things to do in Oxford 24 Hours in Oxford, UK
Well here we are, the Co-Vid restrictions have been relaxed, and we find ourselves in Oxford for 24 Hours en route to elsewhere.
Jurys Inn, Oxford
Booking the hotel earlier that morning, through their website, we stayed at the Jurys Inn, Godstow Rd, Oxford, OX2 8AL, jurysinnoxford@jurysinns.com +44 1865 489 988 https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/oxford
The hotel is located about 3 miles North of Oxford City Centre.
The cost was about £90 a night, plus £6 car parking. We checked in at midday, parked the car, checked in and dumped our bags.
The views from the windows were stunning!
Walk into Oxford
As you come out the main entrance, turn right onto Godstow Road, and just before the river turn left. Follow the footpath, along to the Plough Pub, over the river, and then walk down the Oxford Canal into the centre of Oxford. Wonderful properties along the way.
Took about an hour to the end of the footpath, and there we are in Oxford!
Turning left as you leave the canal we kept walking for about 200 Metres to Gloucester Green where there was an open air food market.
Lunch
Lunch was taken at the outside food area. I had a kebab, and Sue a Falafel. Be careful where you sit, I managed to get a bit of good luck by the local pigeon pooing on my shirt. I am not sure if any of it went in the kebab as I had garlic mayo with it. Tasted OK though.
Sightseeing Oxford
From there we googled the hop on -hop off bus, and found the stop by St Aldates junction with Pembroke Street. Bus Stop number 7. https://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/oxford-bus-tours The buses run every 20 minutes or so. The fare was about £15 each. It was quite a good tour so well worth the money. We do make a point of getting the sightseeing bus wherever we end up. Normally expensive, but you get to have a flavour of the area prior to setting off on foot.
The trip took about 90 minutes, after which we set off on foot for a deep explore.
If you have ever seen either Morse or Endeavour on television you will immediately spot some of the iconic Oxford sights.
Beer time
5 O’clock on a Friday evening so it must be time to sit outside a pub and watch the world go around. We went to the ‘The Plough at 38,’ 38 Cornmarket Street, Oxford OX1 3HA, http://theploughoxford.co.uk/ Located on the corner of Cornmarket and Ship Street. There is a very old building just opposite.
The attraction about ‘The Plough at 38’ is you can sit outside and watch the world go by. Beer and wine were good, try the local IPA, very nice.
Pubs, George Street, Oxford.
Around 6.30 it started to get a bit cold so we retraced our steps to the end of the canal path in the centre of town, George Street, and found the local ‘Spoons.’ For our non UK readers, ‘Spoons’ is the chain of public houses called JDWethespoons, dotted all over the UK, that sell great, cheap alcohol. The difficulty is that some places attract the wrong sort of clientele and as a consequence then place gets into a bad state. Well we walked into the Four Candles Pub and back out again! It was a bit of a dump, shabby, noisy, with some nasty looking characters in there.
Wig and Pen, Oxford.
We retraced our steps and went into the Wig and Pen. A fantastic pub selling great beer and wine. The atmosphere was friendly and we spoke at length to the staff and customers. We left around 9.30pm and got a cab back to the Jurys Inn.
Back to Hotel
It is fair to say that the Jurys Inn is mainly a business person hotel and geared up accordingly. The main Pierre Marco White restaurant was closed because of the Co-Vid 19 virus but the remaining bar served ‘bar meals’ albeit with a limited menu.
I had a toasted sandwich, it was OK, but then I was paying about £10 for it. The choice of beer was dire. No bitter, only Stella Artois lager, cider or Guinness. But that was the type of hotel we booked so can’t complain.
The room was nicely appointed. Breakfast was not included in the price, so we left once we got up.
Breakfast
We drove to the petrol station across the road for breakfast where there was a Marks And Spencer supermarket. Worth remembering if you end up at the hotel and want take away food and drink.
A fun day out.