Oxford guidebook

Oxford's spires So let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first: the dreaming spires and hushed libraries; the gown-wearing, boat-racing and bicycling on narrow streets; the punting, college quadrangles, and whiskery old dons in wood-panelled halls quaffing port like their lives depended on it. These tourist-board images of the oldest university in the English-speaking world, are, of course, all present and correct; and they all contribute to the unique atmosphere of the place and make living here a genuine delight. But Oxford is much more than a convenient location for Harry Potter adaptations (Christ Church College was Hogwarts in the movies). Yes, it's an ancient seat of learning that still echoes to the sound of Latin invocations; yes, it has gorgeous architecture and quaint historic streets. But it's also a modern regional city with a significant industrial base.

Motors and Modems Cornmarket Street Car manufacturing has a long history here, and despite some hard times in the 80s and 90s it's still a major source of employment thanks to the production of BMW's new mini at Cowley. Printing and publishing have also been an economic mainstay (Oxford University Press, Basil Blackwell), and, more recently, business and science parks have sprung up to tap into the University's cutting-edge research and supply of top-notch graduates. High-tech companies (Pipex, Vodafone, Sharp), and bio-medical and pharmaceutical firms (PowerMed, Prosidion, Oxford BioMedica) are a significant presence in a transforming economy, and the very busy tourist trade continues to attract visitors by the coach load.

City Limits Bridge of Sighs Given the city's international profile, its almost mythical academic reputation and iconic cultural status (it features in numerous novels, films, and TV series), it's a bit of a surprise to learn that Oxford is home to just under 150,000 people (including its 40,000 students). The city certainly punches well above its weight. But with so much happening in such a small space, the pressures can sometimes show: in the summer, the streets are often overflowing with tourists, and traffic is a persistent and hotly debated problem. House prices are also a big issue - the city's combination of green spaces, excellent schools, superb cultural facilities, access to the lovely Cotswolds, and easy commute to London (one hour) make it an immensely attractive and often an expensive place to live. This may be a city of other-worldly dons with their minds on higher things, but when it comes to the property market, the normal rules apply: Oxford possesses serious cachet, demand is high, and competition for the most sought-after properties near the best schools can be fierce.

Oxford is circled by a ring road (A40) and the city is mainly confined within its borders; but there are areas outside the circle that are part of the Oxford market, such as Cumnor to the West, Littlemore to the South, Risinghurst to the East, and Cutteslowe to the North.

The housing stock is diverse - everything from Regency crescents and classy Victorian suburbs to humbler Victorian terraces and cottages, 1930s semis (lots of them), council property and new-build developments.

The large student population, the growth in new companies and business parks, and the numerous medical facilities, mean that Oxford also has a very busy rentals market.

Those in search of country homes, executive mansions, a barn conversion, a bungalow, or a thatched retreat, will need to head beyond the ring road to the surrounding rural settlements.

Central Oxford

Radcliffe Camera Pic: Berkeley Homes Central Oxford is roughly bounded by the Oxford canal to the West, the river Cherwell to the East, Christ Church Meadow to the South and St Giles to the north. Carfax crossroads is in the very centre of the town and leads into Cornmarket Street and onto St Giles to the North; St Aldate's to the South; Queen Street and New Road to the West; and The High to the East. The area includes most of the colleges, university administration buildings and libraries, the main shopping thoroughfares and notable landmarks (Radcliffe Camera, The Bodleian Library etc). It also includes a substantial student population living in halls of residence. Those determined to live right in the heart of things will struggle to find accommodation. There isn't much, and what there is is mainly in new-build developments, apartments above shops, and the like. Expect to pay for the privilege.

The Freud, Jericho
Pic: Berkeley Homes
Jericho, west of St Giles and the Woodstock Road, is a prime residential area mainly featuring pretty rows of two-up, two-down terraces built for artisans.

Oxford University Press (1826) is here (on Walton Street) and has been a major employer since the nineteenth century. Many of the Victorian properties were built for its workers, and for the lucky souls who once toiled in the Jericho Iron and Brass Foundry (1825).

Jericho's narrow streets were almost demolished back in the 60s, but they now form a distinctive community (served by local paper, The Jericho Echo) and are popular with wealthy sophisticates, young professionals and commuters (it's very close to Oxford station).

Many of the houses have been developed and extended with basement and roof conversions, and residents are keen to retain their period features.

Pic: Berkeley Homes
When people move to Jericho they tend to stay - houses don't come on the market with great frequency, when they do they cost around £350-400,000, and competition is intense.

The vibrant local community here has earned something of a raffish and bohemian reputation, but in recent years the neighbourhood has become increasingly gentrified.

Walton Street is now a trendy metropolitan thoroughfare with cafes, restaurants, cocktails bars, an arthouse cinema (The Phoenix) and, a sure sign of the shift upmarket, Raymond Blanc's Le Petit Blanc restaurant.

Little Clarendon Street, off Walton Street, is the place to sit in the summer sipping cocktails and watching the world pass by - the vibe is distinctly Mediterranean, and none the worse for that.

Berkeley Homes
Jericho's western border is formed by the lovely Oxford Canal - colourful narrowboats, pretty cottages and picturesque walks along the towpath. It's now a prime target for redevelopment and there are several new schemes in progress on both banks.

The most notable are the Waterways by Berkeley Homes - a development of four-bedroom houses, townhouses and apartments on Frenchay Road, North Oxford - and Oxford Waterfront off Juxon Street in Jericho (townhouses and apartments).

Not all of this canal-side development is popular. Bellway Homes have been granted permission to demolish the Castle Mill Boatyard in Jericho but the decision has aroused local anger and protest.

Among those supporting the 120 boat-dwellers opposing the plans is the author Phillip Pullman. The canal features prominently in Pullman's work and he has castigated the proposals:

"To turn a living, active community into yet another bland and corporate dormitory would be a crime against civilised living." The campaign is ongoing.

Further south on Paradise Street (south of Hythe Bridge Street) is a smaller canal-side scheme, The Stream Edge, a development of 36 luxury apartments by local builders Kingerlee.

Paradise Street is in a neighbourhood for which there are plans to create a whole new city quarter, Oxford West End, between the canal and the railway lines, and east of the canal towards the city centre (Park End, Queen Street, Westgate and Oxpens).

Whether it will ever come to pass remains to be seen - but if you want to know more, check out the proposals on the development website Oxford West End.

For our purposes, North Oxford includes Walton Manor, Park Town, the Victorian suburb of Central North Oxford, Summertown, and, north of here, Wolvercote and Cutteslowe.

Central North Oxford Central North Oxford, between the city centre and Summertown, contains some of the most sought-after property in the city, and for those with the money to afford it, it's the only place to live in Oxford. Banbury Road and Woodstock Road are the main thoroughfares in an area of wide tree-lined roads and large Victorian Gothic-style detached and semi-detached houses with substantial gardens front and back (the North Oxford Victorian Suburb conservation area). North Oxford also contains older, and very expensive, Regency properties to the East in the graceful crescents of Park Town - famous residents here have included J.R.R. Tolkien and Iris Murdoch. The renowned Dragon School - John Mortimer, Tim Henman, Hugh Laurie and Raegh Omar are former pupils - is 'round the corner, sited on fifteen acres on the banks of the Cherwell. It's a major attraction for well-off parents and a key driver of the North Oxford market. Being close by can add 20 per cent to prices.

Park Town St Edward's on Woodstock Road, Cherwell School on Marston Ferry Road, and Oxford High School on Belbroughton Road also mean catchment-area competition has a big impact on the market. There are also several colleges in North Oxford, including Lady Margaret Hall and Wolfson College, both backing onto the Cherwell. The university parks, 75-acres of gardens with rare plants, parkland and sports fields, are close by and form a nice complement to North Oxford's tree-lined streets.

Walton Manor Walton Manor Also part of North Oxford is the Walton Manor neighbourhood, north of Jericho and the Radcliffe Infirmary. This conservation area is a distinctive network of streets with late Georgian terraces, larger Victorian properties in the style of the Victorian suburb and some recent infill developments. Properties are typically three and four bedroom three storeys houses. The area is bordered by the Oxford canal to the west and is close to the 350-acre Port Meadow.

Summertown Summertown Summertown is north of the North Oxford Suburb - Frenchay, Staverton and Belbroughton Roads form the boundary. The area features smaller (but still substantial) and less expensive Victorian and Edwardian houses than Central North Oxford. Proximity to North Oxford's schools make it popular with families. There's also a strong rentals market here - rents ease as you travel north. Good shopping on Banbury Road - M&S, Somerfield, pubs, and restaurants, classy bakeries etc add to its popularity. North of Summertown is Sunnymead, which has smaller and more affordable terraces of Victorian houses. Prices here are around £3-400,000, compared with £550,000 and upwards for Summertown.

Head further north, towards the ring road, and you come to Cutteslowe and Wolvercote.

Cutteslowe

Cutteslowe, on both sides of the ring road, is a mix of council properties, 30s, 40s and 60s development and some more recent stock.

If your budget is tight, it's not a bad spot to go in search of an affordable home.

One of Oxford's largest parks is here; it features a children's pool, a bowling green and tennis courts, crazy golf, a duck pond, flower gardens, a steam train and playing fields.

Cross the Banbury Road to the West and you enter an attractive enclave close to the North Oxford Golf Course and around the Linkside Lake (Linkside Avenue and Lakeside) featuring 50s-built three, four and five-bed detached houses with large gardens.

Hobbit fanciers take note: Wolvercote cemetery, opposite Linkside Avenue, is the final resting place of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Wolvercote
Cross the roundabout on the A40 and Godstow Road brings you into Wolvercote. This is one of several villages that have been absorbed by the city, but it still retains its own identity.

The village is divided into two parts, Upper and Lower Wolvercote, on either side of the Oxford canal.

Upper Wolvercote is flanked by Wolvercote Green and the canal and is bordered by the Woodstock Road and North Oxford suburb to the East. It contains the primary school (on First Turn) and St Peter's church.

Lower Wolvercote runs down to the Thames at Godstow, where you'll find the lovely Trout Inn nestling on the banks of the Thames. It's featured in the Inspector Morse series and is said to have provided Lewis Carroll with inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.

Lower Wolvercote was, for many years, the site of the paper mill that served Oxford University Press, but the mill closed down in 1998 and was demolished in 2004.

However, Oxford University has plans to build 200 new homes here for academics priced out of Oxford proper, and if this goes ahead it will increase the size of Wolvercote by a fifth.

Wolvercote is primarily a family area with a good supply of 1930s three-bed semis and a smattering of older Victorian properties. The river, canal and Port Meadow to the South make it a peaceful, popular and relatively expensive place to live.

West Oxford lies to the West of the train lines and includes Osney Island, Botley, Cumnor, Cumnor Hill, Boar's Hill, and North and South Hinksey.

The area is located on the Thames flood plain, is surrounded by greenbelt and pasture, and is criss-crossed by a pleasing network of smaller river and streams (the suffix "ey" in the placenames comes from the Old English for island).

Botley Road is the main thoroughfare linking the area to Oxford. The streets off it (Earl Street, Oatlands Road, etc) are lined with popular two, three and four-bed Victorian terraces with small gardens.

Botley Road itself is well-served with shops. There's the Co-op, newsagents, a deli, a bike shop, banks, a retail park with superstores (PC World, Habitat, Homebase etc), and a park-and-ride into Oxford at Seacourt.

South of the Botely Road is Osney, an island surrounded by the Thames which was once the location of a twelfth-century Augustinian abbey.

According to the informative community website, there are just 285 households on the island, a third of which have views of the Thames or the Osney Stream.

The housing stock is mainly two and three-bedroom Victorian cottages, many with well-maintained period features. Although much sought-after, they're not nearly as expensive as the cottages in Jericho.

The Osney community is served by two pubs but there are no shops so you'll have to head to the Botely Road to put a serious dent in your bank balance.

Bridge Street, which connects Osney to the Botley Road and the world beyond, runs thorough the centre of the island, which is ringed by west, east and south streets.

Mensa types will like it here and in Jericho: according to the council the two neighbourhoods have many of the most educated people in Oxford, scoring highest across the city amongst younger and middle-aged people.

Cumnor Hill Botley is bisected by the ring road and is now a suburb of Oxford city. It was mainly developed in the 1930s, so Botley is another good source of that great Oxford staple: the 1930s three-bed semi. There are also some 50s properties, estates from the 80s and more recent new-build developments to chose from - mainly four and five-bed detached houses. The village itself is a self-contained community with a local shopping centre at Elms Parade, banks, good schools, a couple of pubs and a library. Close by is Cumnor Hill, a road of large detached five-bed houses planted in grounds of up to three-quarters of an acre. The houses date from the Edwardian era and the 20s onwards and start at around £550,000.

Boar's Hill Cumnor itself, in the words of one agent we spoke to, is "a horrible little village" bisected by the A420, though he added the caveat that the beautiful older part features period houses, barn conversions, thatched cottages, and the like, that rarely come onto the market. Boars Hill, west of here is, like Cumnor Hill, the place to go if your tastes run to an eight-bedroom detached mansion in grounds of an acre. The styles are executive manor/footballers' wives and the prices run to seven figures.

North & South Hinksey House, South Hinksey East of here, back inside the ring road, is North Hinksey, another suburb rather than a village, with properties ranging from the turn-of-the-century up to the present. It has a pub, a church, and a primary school, but no shops. Venture out onto the ring road and head south and you'll come to a junction turning off to South Hinksey. There's a church and a mix of properties from the 50s to the 70s and some shops - though these are mostly selling farm supplies and the like. The countryside in West Oxford is governed by the Vale of White Horse local authority, who are keen to protect the Green Belt.

Strictly speaking it's South East. Headington and surrounding areas are more clearly to the East of central Oxford (discussed below) but the East Oxford name is regularly used by estate agents and is clearly defined.

East Oxford begins at The Plain and is made up of the network of streets between the Cowley Road and Iffley Road - some of the streets east of the Cowley Road (Union Street, East Avenue) and west of Iffley (Warwick Street) are also East Oxford.

The area is mainly terraces of three and four-bed Victorian and Edwardian houses, some with three or four storeys. There are lots of conversion flats, which, combined with its centrality, make it popular with students.

Berkeley Homes have been busy here too. Palladian Court is a new-build scheme of town houses and apartments on the Cowley Road (opposite Shelley Street).

Cowley Road, one of Oxford's, er, livelier thoroughfares, is a cheerfully dishevelled mix of shops, pubs, clubs, ethnic restaurants, health food stores, the occasional tatoo parlour, and a good arthouse cinema.

The council, in its rather earnest way, hopes to promote the Cowley Road as "a unique cultural quarter ... and to create a website as part of this marketing effort", which will surely be the kiss of death.

St Clements Back at the top of Cowely Road, St Clement's Street runs east from The Plain towards Headington. The surrounding streets make up a small but popular enclave with a mix of modern developments, 30s houses and some lovely early-Victorian properties. The Cherwell runs past here, and South Park is just across the road, so it's close to attractive green areas, but still very central.

Cowley The Cowley Road goes on and on, running into Oxford Road and Garsington Road, the latter of which crosses the ring road and runs into Watlington Road. On the right-hand side is the Blackbird Leys estate - to which we will return. Cowley, roughly speaking, begins where the Cowely Road meets the Oxford Road. The area has lots of terraces and semis built when the car industry expanded here in the 1920s and 1930s. It's a diverse community with a multicultural population (Irish, Asian, Afro-Caribbean). There's also a busy rentals market thanks to the student presence and proximity to the BMW factory and the Oxford Business Park.

Temple Cowley On your left as you head south is Temple Cowley, the best and most prestigious part of the area. This includes a conservation area bounded by the Oxford Road, Hollow Way and Crescent Road and features some picturesque stone cottages, some 18th century buildings and 19th and 20th century suburban development. The stock is a mix of four and five-bed detached houses, semis and smaller terraces, and is generally popular and well thought of. The Colwey Marsh recreation grounds are close by and include tennis, cricket and football facilities, a floodlit street-sport site, and a children's play area. The Temple Cowley swimming pools are also here.

Equally well regarded is the Florence Park area on the other side of the Oxford Road. This is a neighbourhood betwixt and between Iffley, East Oxford and Cowley.

It is, agents say, up-and-coming, and is a good source of relatively affordable and attractive houses, mainly terraces and semis from the 30s onwards with decent gardens and a dash of character.

It's also close to the lovely Florence Park, which has two bowls greens, six tennis courts, miniature golf, a children's play area, flower-beds and leafy walkways.

South of Florence Park, and running across the Garsington Road as far as Horspath Road, is a large swathe of property that makes up most of Cowley - the property here is mainly the ubiquitous three-bed 30s semi.

There's a large shopping centre at Templars Square that forms a focus for the community - it includes banks, estate agents, cafes and restaurants, a post office, Woolies, Iceland, Somerfield etc.

Journey down the Iffley Road to Rose Hill Road and Oxford Road and this neighbourhood is on the right. Rose Hill Road has three-bed bay-fronted semis; Oxford Road, larger four and five-bed detached houses.

If it's a bargain-basement property you're after, Rose Hill is not a bad bet. Glamorous it's not - there's a large council estate here centred around Easthurst Way that has an inevitable impact on prices.

Rose Hill Park has three football pitches, basketball hoops, five-a-side, a tarmac kickabout area, and a children's play area.

The streets referred to by local agents as Iffley Borders (Courtland Road, Hunsdon Road) are more salubrious - three and four-bed semis and terraces with bay windows and gardens.

Iffley village itself is a small but attractive area blessed by proximity to the Thames. There are lovely walks down to Iffley Lock and along the river that make this a popular and sought-after area.

The property market is a mix of period properties and more modern detached houses. The village has a picturesque twelfth-century church, some pubs, a hotel and some local shops.

Blackbird Leys These three areas are all located across the great divide - the ring road. Blackbird Leys' reputation precedes it thanks to the riots here in the 1980s, and it's still a deprived area. It comes with all the problems you'd expect of a large, under-resourced council development and the property on the open market here is typically sold to investors and first-time buyers. New-build developments can be found in Greater Leys, the more recent part of the estate. To the West is the more well-established Littlemore, a mix of council properties, Victorian stock, 30s semis and more recent developments. There's a village church, some pubs and some local shops.

Littlemore South-west of Littlemore is Sandford Village, which, like Iffley, benefits from a lovely riverside location. Despite its less salubrious neighbours, it's managed to retain its own identity and is a pretty, popular and sought-after area. There's a village hall, a village magazine, an annual river run, a village fete, a Neighbourhood Watch scheme, and a good sense of community. The parish council's village survey found that residents regarded the place as 'attractive', 'friendly', 'quiet', conveniently close to the city, and an 'excellent' place to live. There are a couple of pubs but no shops.

South Oxford consists of a narrow area off the Abingdon Road that stretches from Grand Pont and New Hinskey to Kennington on the far side of the ring road. From Carfax, follow St Aldates until you cross the river at Folly Bridge and enter Abingdon Road. The streets to the right, off Abingdon Road, contain Victorian and Edwardian terraces that have become increasingly popular.

This is the Grand Pont area, convenient for the city but still relatively affordable and well served by the shops and restaurants on Abingdon Road. The more extensive shopping on Botley Road is also close by.

South of Grand Pont is New Hinksey, which is mainly an area of 30s semis and smaller terraces. The city's outdoor swimming pool is just off the Abingdon Road in Hinksey Park, which also holds a variety of wildlife in its freshwater lake, and has tennis courts and a play area.

Access to West Oxford is possible from here via a walk across the lake and railway track through the countryside to South Hinksey, and from there, via the flyover, to Chilswell Valley and Boar's Hill.

South of the ring road, between the A34/Bagley Woods to the West and the Thames and its water meadows to the East, is the village of Kennington, a settlement of around 4,000 people.

The village has retained its identity and features some lovely period buildings - thatched cottages, the charming St Swithun's church and The Tandem pub.

It has a primary school, local shops and services, a library, large playing fields, and facilities for drama and indoor sports.

Although the A34 brings traffic thundering past, it's a community-minded place that supports more than 30 voluntary organisations and it's an attractive one to live in.

The market is mainly houses - some period properties, 30s-50s build, bungalows, substantial detached houses with large gardens, and recent new-build developments (large detached houses and an apartment development).

Headington is a large area to the East of Oxford and includes Headington Hill, Headington, New Headington, and Headington Quarry. Cross the ring road to the East and there are three other settlements: Barton, Sandhills, and Risinghurst.

If you're a hypochondriac, or are feeling a bit poorly, Headington is the place to live. There seems to be a hospital round every corner - the Churchill Hospital, The Manor Nuffield Hospital, the John Radcliffe Hospital, and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. Oxford Brookes University is also in Headington.

Before the area was developed in late-Victorian/Edwardian era, and more vigorously in the 20s and 30s, Oxford's border started at the point where Headington Road meets London Road.

Cowley's car works was a major catalyst: with it running at full throttle, building began in earnest and Headington mushroomed in the space of ten years.

The London Road, with its numerous estate agencies, runs through the middle of Headington, separating what was the original village around Old High Street from the newer suburbs across the way.

Travelling east from The Plain, Headington Hill is the area bounded by Marston Road and Headley Way, with the 50-acre South Park, and the smaller Headington Hill Park, at its southern end.

Headington Hill was developed in the late-Victorian period and is now a conservation area featuring large detached properties and semis.

On the other side of Headley Way is Headington, the older part of which is centred around the very attractive Old High Street and Bury Knowles Park (play area, tennis courts, crazy golf, sensory garden for the visually impaired).

There are some lovely old period properties here as well as good Victorian and Edwardian semis (3-4 bed).

This area was colonised by University intellectuals and writers in the thirties - Isaiah Berlin lived until his death in a large detached house (Headington House) on Old High Street.

Tolkein, the historian Godfrey (later Lord) Elton, and the Anglo-Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen were also residents. C.S. Lewis of Narnia fame lived across the way in Risinghurst.

The streets off Old Street and Bury Knowles Park are Headington's most expensive and include some large period houses. For beautiful cottages with clay-tiled roofs and white-washed walls, check out the listed seventeenth-century houses on The Croft.

Gipsy Lane, off the Headington Road, runs parallel to the Oxford Brookes campus. The streets off this contain ex-local authority properties and have, for the most part, been snapped up by investors and let to students.

North of Highfield Avenue, Bickerton Road, Stapleton Road, close to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, feature more upmarket homes - large detached Victorian houses with rambling gardens.

Similar can be found on Lime Road (as can smaller two-beds), but it's busy with traffic, as is Windmill Road. In the streets off Windmill Road and The Slade there are lots of Headington's most typical property type - 30s semis (some mock-Tudor).

Between The Slade and the ring road is another council estate - Wood Farm - in the streets off Wood Farm Road. Many properties are now owner-occupied and it's still close enough to Oxford Brookes to attract investors.

South of here is Magdalen Wood, and the streets that lead into Cowley - this area, Headington/Cowley borders, begins at Blackstock Close and features mainly 30s semis.

North of Wood Farm, on the other side of the Old Road, is Quarry Road, which leads into the heart of Headington Quarry - Quarry High Street and surrounds.

After Headington proper, this is the most attractive part of Headington - a conservation area with narrow winding streets, stone and brick cottages, including original quarrymen's cottages, and the ubiquitous developments from the thirties.

The charming parish church on Trinity Road is a focal point - C.S. Lewis is buried in the graveyard. Morris dancing goes back a long way here, and has remained a popular pastime.

, Three areas across the ring road - and crossing that boundary can mean more for your money (about a ten per cent reduction).

Barton is primarily a council estate, and like Blackbird Leys has some of the cheapest property in Oxford. However, it's not exactly a joy to behold - there are, amazingly, still wartime prefabs here with tin roofs housing some residents.

Sandhills is, like much of Headington, 30s semi land, as is its neighbour, the well-regarded Risinghurst, formerly connected to Headington Quarry but now separated by the ring road.

C.S. Lewis lived here, in a house called The Kilns, and the nature reserve directly behind his former house is named after him.

Below this lies the green expanse of Shotover Country Park - over 100 hectares of open country that has been designated as an area of special scientific interest. The Ridings running through all of this greenery is an exclusive enclave of large detached houses.

Rail: The station is on the west side of the city, near the centre of town. There are direct trains to London Paddington and to Birmingham. Oxford station is also served by Virgin Trains running from Scotland to the south coast.

Road: Oxford is connected to London, the M25 and the Midlands by the M40 motorway. Junctions 8 and 9 link directly to the city. The Oxford ring road provides direct access to the south and west coast ports of Southampton, Portsmouth and Bristol via the A34.

Bus: The National Express, The Oxford Bus Company and Oxford Tube operate frequent services to London and other towns and cities.

Air: The Oxford Bus Company runs services to Heathrow and Gatwick. National Express runs buses to Luton and Stansted. To the north, Birmingham International Airport is one hour away.

In the city: There are controversial access restrictions for cars within the city centre, particularly for traffic coming into the centre from the east, along the High Street. There are five park and ride services across the city and good bus services to surrounding towns and villages.

Oxford is hard to beat on the cultural front - theatres, art-house cinemas, art galleries, comedy clubs, numerous musical venues, museums and libraries, fine architecture and a rich literary and cinematic heritage: the place has the lot.

· Theatre: The New Theatre, The Oxford Playhouse, The Old Fire Station Arts Centre, The Creation Theatre Company, The Pegasus, and The Burton-Taylor Theatre all provide plenty of top-notch board-treading. Several of the colleges also have theatres.

· Cinemas: For mainstream offerings, the Odeon and the more recent Ozone Multiplex; for more art-house and independent fare, the Phoenix and The Ultimate Picture Palace.

· Music: Vibrant local music scene - Radiohead are probably the best known musical export - and outstanding for classical music: the Sheldonian Theatre, Holywell Music Room and Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, and the colleges.

· Museums: Six museums with collections covering arts, science, natural and local history, musical instruments, anthropology.

· Literary Oxford: The list of writers who have studied or lived here is long and impressive - Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, P.B. Shelley, Aldous Huxley, Joyce Cary, Iris Murdoch, T.E. Lawrence, John Fowles, Matthew Arnold, William Morris, C.S. Lewis, Louis MacNeice, Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkein, Philip Pullman, Tom Paulin etc. etc. There are numerous bookshops and many literary events.

· Shopping: Two shopping centres - Clarendon and Westgate - have the usual high street suspects - M&S, Boots, Next, Gap, HMV, Allders, Borders etc. More unusual and independent fare can be found in Jericho and on the Cowley Road.

The Covered Market in the heart of the city is an engaging jumble of fishmongers, florists, butchers, booksellers, delis, health-food shops and clothes sellers. Gloucester Green market - Wednesdays and Thursdays - is an open-air affair selling art and antiques, crafts, candles, books etc.

· Eating & Drinking: Excellent for pubs and restaurants, cafes and bars. Plenty to choose from in the city centre (The High, George Street), in Jericho (Walton Street, Little Clarendon Street), and on the Cowley Road.

Oxford is well supplied with abundant green spaces, parks and gardens. The main ones are:

The University Parks: Located to the north east of the city centre and to the west of the River Cherwell, the parks run to 75-acres of gardens with rare plants, parkland and sports fields.

South Park & Headington Hill Park: South Park runs to 50-acres of open space and is a popular location for events, parades, and the like. Great views over the city from the top of the park. Fitness trail and children's play area.

Headington Hill Park is separated from South Park by the main road to Headington and London. Contains a large number of unusual trees and hosts open air theatre productions by Creation Theatre.

Christ Church Meadow: Lying between the Thames and the Cherwell, this is owned by Christ Church College but is open to the public.

Attractive tree-lined walks and fine views over the city. Cattle graze on the meadow itself.

Port Meadow: 440 acres of common land to the north west of the city centre that has never been ploughed. Runs from Jericho up to Wolvercote along the banks of the Thames.

A government SSI, it is used for grazing cattle and horses. Floods in the winter and when frozen is popular with skaters. Great for walking and for viewing large flocks of birds and abundant wild flowers.

University of Oxford Botanic Garden: Located off the High Street opposite Magdalen College (deer graze in its grounds), on the banks of the Cherwell.

Founded by the Earl of Danby, Henry Danvers, as a physic garden in 1621, this is the oldest botanic garden in Britain. It houses a superb collection of trees and plants, has tropical greenhouses, a water garden and a rock garden.

Cutteslowe Park: Large park to the north of the city - features include a children's pool, a bowling green and tennis courts, crazy golf, a duck pond, flower gardens, a steam train and playing fields.

The Waterways: Oxford is flanked by two rivers - the Thames (or Isis as it's known here) and the Cherwell - and the Oxford canal. Lovely walks, boating and, of course, punting.

For more on parks, green areas, allotments, play areas, recreation grounds and nature reserves, see the council's Parks and Recreation pages.

Michael O'Flynn

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