Student Life

Central: The heart of the city, this is where you’ll spend the majority of your time - at least in your first year. Most of the colleges, libraries, and other facilities are here, along with nightclubs, restaurants, and more! But it’s important to remember that there’s much more to Oxford than just the city centre. There’s also:

JerICho: It’s fancy, loads of professors live here, and it has an old church that has been converted into a cocktail bar. Burn a hole in your student loan with a brunch or hipster coffee. Further into Jericho, you’ll also find Port Meadow, a lovely place for a long walk, or for lazing about with friends in Trinity term.

CoWleY:

Full of private and student accommodation, mostly for those in their second and third years. Cowley is vibrant and fun, without the pretentiousness of Jericho, and there are lots of great independent places to try new food. However, the main attraction in Cowley is Big Tesco!

IFFleY: You probably won’t head this way much unless you’re into sports, as this is where you will find the University sports centre and swimming pool. Also home to the city’s THIRD Wetherspoons, found deep in the depths of the neighbourhood.

headIngton:

This is where you will find Oxford Brookes University (they have a Co-Op on their campus!) and the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford’s university teaching hospital. There’s a nice park and The Headington Shark - an art installation of a big shark that has crashed into the roof of a house. Not something you see every day... unless you live in Headington?

BotleY:

In my opinion, Botley is wildly underrated. It boasts a huge Home Bargains and an Aldi. Buy some Christmas decorations! Get some cheap food! Visit the Home Bargains cafe... actually, I think that’s something only my parents do. If you don’t mind a walk, Botley is a great place to go to save a little bit of money.

There are loads of great places to eat and drink in Oxford!

Food! There are three general areas that are particularly good locations to go to if you’re in search of food:

CoWleY road:

Although a little out of the centre on foot, Cowley Road is so worth the trip. The road hosts an amazing range of restaurants and cafes, and many of them are one-of-a-kind, independent venues. For food, I particularly recommend Za’atar Bake (Palestinian), Zhang Ji (Chinese), Antep Kitchen (Turkish), and Aleppo’s Falafel (Syrian). For coffee, Peloton and The Truck Stop are particular favourites of mine. The latter is nestled inside a record shop, which you can browse while you wait.

glouCester green:

One of the few places that can give Cowley Road a run for its money when it comes to choice and geographical spread, Gloucester Green is an outdoor food market which is open Wednesday-Saturday (a heads-up that it shuts at 4pm Wed/ Thur and 5pm Fri/Sat). Before writing this guide, I asked some of my friends what their favourite stall was. Opinion was divided, testament to the fact that we’re all spoiled for choice. The Goan curry stand and the Mexican taco stand got particularly glowing reviews but, in all honesty, part of the fun of Gloucester Green is trying as much of the food as possible for yourself and picking your own favourite!

george street and Cornmarket:

These two streets, which run at right-angles to each other, house many of the chain restaurants in Oxford. Franco Manca is a budget-friendly place that serves delicious pizzas. Cornmarket is home to Greggs: a famous UK chain which until very recently, Oxford students had to (rather controversially) go without. You will also find some of the most centrally located independent cafes and restaurants here. For instance, George Street Social, Handlebar Cafe, and TSE Noodle are all nearby and worth a visit.

Also check out Little Clarendon Street for cafes and lunch places, and Walton Street and the surrounding area for more restaurants and cafes.

...CoFFee

There are so many places you can go for coffee or other cafe drinks in Oxford. Some great independent, local cafes include The Jericho Coffee Traders (High Street), The Missing Bean (Turl Street, Magdalen Road), The Paperboat Cafe (near Folly Bridge), Tree Artisan Cafe (Little Clarendon Street) and 101 Coffee (Walton Street). The Queen’s Lane Coffee House is another Oxford classic.

...somethIng sWeet or ChoColateY

Barefoot Cafe (two stores in Jericho), Taylor’s (High Street and Little Clarendon Street) and Gail’s (Little Clarendon Street) all offer a great selection of sweet pastries and cakes. Knoops (which our Editor-in-Chief Lucy is a little obsessed with) is a specialist hot (or cold) chocolate shop.

...someWhere I Can Work on mY laPtoP In PeaCe

The Oxford Wine Cafe (Little Clarendon Street) is often quiet during the day, and before 5pm they are quite happy to have laptop workers (also, try their garlic bread). Common Ground (Little Clarendon Street) is also laptop-friendly, as is Branca’s in Jericho. Leon (Cornmarket) has lots of space upstairs (and delicious vegan cheese fries). But - and here I quote -“you can’t be an Oxford student and not go to big Pret” (Pret a Manger on the corner of Ship Street and Cornmarket - the other one on Cornmarket doesn’t have seating). Nero (High Street) and Vaults & Gardens (great scones: a British classic!) are also good options, and you might also want to check out the SSL (Social Sciences Library) Cafe.

...someWhere WheelChaIr aCCessIBle

The Old Fire Station on George Street is a great, independent option for breakfast, brunch or lunch, and it has step-free access and an accessible toilet. The kitchen is run by an Oxford-based social enterprise and serves Middle Eastern food made by refugee women. The Wig & Pen on also has step-free access and an accessible toilet. It serves classic British pub food. The Royal Oak (Woodstock Road) is another option for a wheelchair-accessible classic pub. If you’re after cocktails, you might like All Bar One. Many of the restaurants in the Westgate shopping centre (such as Mowgli and Pho) are wheelchair accessible. All three G&D’s are wheelchair accessible (with side entrances that can be opened on request). The White Rabbit is somewhat wheelchair accessible. Please note, judgements regarding the accessibility of these places has mostly been informed by AccessAble (www.accessable.co.uk), or from direct communication with the venue, rather than by personal experience.

...an oxFord ClassIC

Two of the most famous places in Oxford are Taylor’s and G&D’s. Taylor’s is great for made-to-order salads, hot pasta (20% off on Tuesdays), and pastries. Taylor’s has several other stores around Oxford, although the pasta and salad are only available at the Little Clarendon Street shop. G&D’s is similarly prolific, with stores on St Aldate’s and Cowley Road as well as Little Clarendon Street. Don’t miss out on Turf Tavern, Oxford’s worst-kept secret, or the White Horse, a pub on the doorstep of the famous Blackwell’s bookshop.

Gulp Fiction (also a bookstore) and the Truck Shop (also a record shop) are both worth a visit.

...a Budget-FrIendlY lunCh

Najar’s on St Giles is my #1 recommendation for a filling lunch that doesn’t cost the earth. I particularly recommend their falafel wraps.

...vegan or veggIe Food

The White Rabbit, the Gardener’s Arms (the one on Plantation Road - there are two pubs with this name in Oxford), George Street Social.

...InsPIratIon

Keep an eye on the Oxford Blue’s reviews (under the Out & About section) for restaurant and cafe reviews, which might inspire your next choice of food or drink! Check out this review of Al-Andalus for a taste.