Oxford On A Budget

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 230
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With the economic recession hitting our pockets hard this year, many holidaymakers have chosen to holiday closer to home at traditional British holiday destinations like Oxford. Oxford is a great place to visit on a budget too, with so much to see and do without having to spend a single penny.

Oxford, as you might expect, is a town filled to the brim with fascinating museums and galleries. Many of the museums in Oxford are free to visit too, including the vast Museum of Natural History. Those with an interest in science will find much to enjoy at the Museum of the History of Science too. It is free to explore and tells the story of science as it has evolved through the centuries, paying particular attention to the role that Oxford and its students have played in shaping science, as we know it today.

If you fancy taking a tour of one of the many renowned colleges in Oxford, you may well have to pay a small fee, as these are unfortunately seldom free. If you do pick one, make it Christ Church, perhaps the most famous of the colleges here, it was founded in 1525 and its Great Hall inspired the Hogwarts Hall in the ...
... Harry Potter books.

By far and away the cheapest way to eat in Oxford is to head to the much-loved Covered Market. You will find a whole array of local produce at affordable prices. Perfect for making your own packed lunch with the freshest local ingredients, or grab something to cook for supper instead.

With your bag of goodies from the Covered Market you will be hard pressed to choose between the variety of parks and riverside stops that make ideal spots for your summer picnic. For fantastic views over the city, we recommend heading to South Park at Headington Hill, or Christ Church Meadow for a riverside picnic.

Oxford is a relatively small town, and as such is easy to navigate on foot. This is great news for those travelling on a budget as it is easy to walk anywhere in Oxford. The bus services are excellent and relatively inexpensive, but if you fancy giving your feet a break, why not try hiring a bike. These can be rented cheaply, or you can bring your own on the train or bus, and are a favourite method of transport among the Oxford students and residents.

If you are a book lover, then a visit to the Norrington Room of the Blackwell bookshop in Broad Street is a must. Located beneath Trinity College there are a staggering 3 miles worth of bookshelves crammed into a 10,000 ft2 book room. Our guide to visiting Oxford on a budget was written by Bonny Kominek, an experienced travel guide. They recommend checking the Octopus Travel website for the latest Oxford hotels and accommodation deals all year round.