Is Oxford worth a visit
 

Here is another question. I will be in London in February for 8 days. I have always wanted to see Oxford - the University, Morse county, and Thames. Is it worth a side trip? We have already arranged a day trip to Paris and are thinking of a trip to Bath/Stonehenge.

8 days is not even enough to scratch the surface of London. If you must, do Bath, etc and Oxford. Skip Paris this time . A day trip is not even a taste of the city, in MHO it;s a total waste

I like Oxford more than Bath but the To Bath Or Not To Bath issue has been debated at length here recently. <BR><BR>I did the day trip to Paris 2 years ago with a friend who hadn't been there. It was a very long day but a fun whirlwind tour of the city. We went in June so the daylight hours were longer than those you'll have in February. But, heck, the least you'll discover is that you will want to return to Paris for a longer visit. Not a waste of time.

Oxford is wonderful....a great and so interesting one day trip. Walking the historic streets, seeing the students, and possibly a city tour giving an overall picture and history of the lovely city. Lots of good shopping also. Cambridge is also interesting, and somewhat different than Oxford...but of course also beautiful.

My husband and I just returned from a 10 day trip to London. We went to Oxford for the day-I liked it, my husband thought it was good. I loved the countryside on my very first visit to England many years ago.<BR><BR>So, we think five days in London and three consecutive days out in the country. Depends on if you enjoy cities or country exploring.<BR><BR>Have fun.

On a day trip to Oxford, which was under a lot of construction in 1999, we took a Guide Friday bus tour. I felt it was the only way to view the colleges in such a short time. The colleges (scattered) were beautiful but I felt the town itself wasn't worth the stop. Also, on a day trip to Paris you will just touch the surface and spend way too much time on transportation. You might think of adding Canterbury as a day trip.

Oxford is a wonderful stop, and an easy day trip. If you leave from London and take the train, you simply catch one of the &quot;fast trains&quot; (ie fewer stops) to Oxford which takes about an hour. I used to live about 30 minutes outside of Oxford, and I strongly feel Oxford is one of those towns where it helps to have picked a few places of interest in advance. And, DO ask locals for recommendations of pubs to try, what might be going on at the moment. Exploring the &quot;nooks and crannies&quot; can be very rewarding. If your time is limited, try a guide for a few hours. Oxford has layers. Pick the ones that iterest you most &amp; try to get someone to guide you a bit. You won't be punting on the river near Magdalen in February,of course! Enjoy.

I'd drop Paris and save it for another time. Go to Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle instead of Bath and Paris. Both places are close to London and easy to get to via train or bus.

<BR><BR>I liked Oxford more than I thought I would, but I'd pick Bath over Oxford any day. <BR><BR>Interesting how both of England's two great university towns take their name from some kind of river crossing: Cam Bridge, and Ox Ford.

Agree with the drop Paris view - you are mad to do just a day trip, just do it properly another time.By the time you get there you will have little time to see anything and there is so much to see. Any large city then takes time jsut getting from point A to B. Oxford is a nice day trip and easy and cheap to get to by bus (cheaper than train and lots of choice for times). Colleges will not be totally accessible as it si term time.

Hi Maria<BR> One more voice to the chorus of &quot;don't do a day-trip to Paris&quot;.<BR><BR> Oxford is a lovely town, and well worth a day.

Is &quot;worth&quot; the right word? What would an Oxford citizen think if you asked him/her that question? Isn't this the place the young Clinton lady attended school? And her father? Can you find a school/subject tie to look into? We bought a rail pass. Many mornings we would leave London and travel somewhere, late in the day we returned to London in time for West End show. We thought Oxford quite wonderful. There are also special bus tours that include Oxford...

&gt;Isn't this the place the young Clinton &gt;lady attended school? And her father<BR><BR>Not to my knowledge. They did however attend courses at Oxford University. I thought they both went to school in the US.

Chelsea Clinton went to Stanford in California.

George, I agree with you - it does sound a wee bit arrogant when people ask if it's &quot;worth&quot; visiting places of cultural heritage.<BR><BR>To Ms Clinton - yes, she did study in Oxford, but I'm not sure whether she stayed long enough to graduate.

Chelsea graduated from Stanford and then went on to Oxford.<BR><BR>I agree George, I always think the &quot;is this worth it&quot; question such a naive question. I am sure Maria didn't mean to be insulting but everything is &quot;worth&quot; it in one manor or another.<BR><BR>I liked Oxford. And I could see a day trip to Paris being &quot;worth&quot; it as well.

I think that Oxon is pointing out that Universities in England are never referred to as &quot;school&quot;. School is where you go before you go on to a college or university. We also only graduate from a college or university. I can remember an American asking when a certain author graduated from high school. The author in question had been to Harrow. Try explaining to an American what a &quot;public&quot; school is and that you don't graduate from one.

&gt;I agree George, I always think the &quot;is &gt;this worth it&quot; question such a naive &gt;question<BR><BR>I suppose that the answer should be &quot;no&quot;. If the person has not bothered to find out about a place like Bath or Oxford then they'll get very little out of them.

Maria - go to Paris for a few hours, then you can impress your neighbors. In all seriousness, however, Oxford is the most architecurally beautiful city in the UK, but I enjoy English Gothic and my greatest pleasure in the UK is exploring ruined abbeys. Make sure you time your trip correctly, as Nick says as the &quot;colleges&quot; might not be open to tourists. Bath to me was a total nothing. Save Paris for another trip and do it right!