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Oxford Outsider's Guide to Tourism

**Note - the Oxford Outsider's Guide is written by an American living in Oxford whose husband is a post-graduate student. This guide is intended for entertainment value and, if you want, a little information. It should not be used as a basis for selecting a college or for a decision about applying to Oxford. The guide is written by an Oxford newcomer and meant simply to convey things as I see them.**

I grew up in Sunny Florida. It was an hour and a half from my house to Mickey's, and about 10 minutes from my front door to the white sandy beach. So tourists are nothing new to me. I have spent years fussing at rent-a-cars in traffic jams, laughing at European tourists with white socks and sandals, and scoffing at the Eckerd Drug store on Clearwater Beach that charges 3 times the price for anything you might need, and 5 times the price if it's beach-related.

But I must admit that the tourists in Oxford are a different breed altogether. They stick out more, they move in packs, and (well, this isn't so new) they seem to stop and stare in wonder at things for long periods of time - often in the middle of a busy sidewalk.

And so, dear reader, in this latest installment of the Oxford Outsider's Guide, I bring you some insights on Oxford's tourist trade. I'll tell you about how tourists are perceived here, a bit about the shops and sites that cater to tourists, and then give you a list of Do's and Don'ts.

Oxford tourists, as I said, tend to travel in packs. There are many tour companies which do all-Oxford tours, England tours that feature Oxford, or European tours that feature Oxford. Our tourists come from all over, but the biggest groups are Western Europeans, Japanese and Americans. I find that the warmer the weather, the more tourists are out on the streets and in the shops. The tour groups generally have one guide and move slowly through the streets near the city centre. This is where a great deal of the University is - especially the oldest and most picturesque parts. Unfortunately, it's also the area most students need to move around in on a day-to-day basis; not to mention the members of staff of the various colleges and departments in the area. Since this area is not at all car-friendly, most people walk. So do the tourists. The only problem is that the tourists are in even less of a hurry than the Englishmen. It can make for a frustratingly slow walk down the pavement.

Tourists tend to stop at every building that looks old or remarkable. Hertford College's main gate is a beautiful set of wooden doors (decorated with this gorgeous, colorful carving) directly across the street from the "Great Gate" to the Bodleian Library. Not surprisingly, a lot of tourists are interested in taking pictures in front of Hertford or coming in to see it. Like all of Oxford University's colleges, Hertford has a large sign (ours is about 3 feet by 2 feet and bright red) on an easel just inside the doorway. It is easily visible from the street and tells people whether or not the college is open for visitors on a given day. Additionally, the sign is written in about 8 different languages.

Surprisingly, people are more likely NOT to come in when the college is open than to come in when it's closed. When the college is closed, you might get one or two people who come in pretending to be members of college. They almost always just take a lap around the quad and leave. Far more frequently, I see people approach the sign, study it, start to come in, and then get scared and walk away. It cracks me up.

More often than not, during the day, the college is open to visitors. This just means that tourists are allowed to walk inside the gate and around the Old Quad. They can also walk into our chapel, but the rest of the buildings and entrances require a key or a code to open.

When the college is open to visitors, it is almost never crawling with tourists. Most of the time, one or two people - or maybe a family - is standing on the sidewalk (it surrounds the central green of the quad) looking around, or taking pictures of the buildings. They tend to be quite timid and don't try to get into any buildings or anything. Maybe that's because there are about 3 CCTV cameras just in the quad, but they are really shy about breaking the rules. (Let me be clear that I think this is a GOOD thing. I am merely pointing out that if you break the rules you WILL be caught and it WILL be a big deal.) Most of them don't even realize the lovely chapel is there, let alone go into it. They'll just make a very slow lap around the quad with their cameras, mabye sit in a bench and read from their tourist guide, then wander back out to Catte Street, often slowing to wave a "thank you" to the porter on duty in the lodge.

American and English tourists are the funniest, I think, because they tend to try very hard to look like they belong here. While the Japanese tourists, especially, will often act very excited and take lots of posed pictures, tour books in hand, the Brits and Americans tend to carry backpacks (I guess they figure it's a college town, so it must be the way to blend), walk with forced nonchalance, and pretend it's not very impressive.

For example, today as I was enjoying a latte in the Old Quad when a guy came out of the chapel. I knew instantly, despite his best efforts, that he was a tourist. For one thing, he was coming out of chapel in the middle of the day. This is unusual for students. But that's not the only thing that gave him away. He was probably about 20 years old, dressed like a student, and carried a backpack, but even that disguise couldn't hide is tourist-ness. Something about the way he came out of the chapel and looked around gave him away. He came out, then stood for several moments at the archway, gazing out at the sky and the quad, sort of rocking back on his heels. Then he sauntered around the quad (the long way) and out the door. The students take the shortest route. They have things to do. And they rarely take the time to soak up the atmosphere by this time of year. Although they do often sit in the quad and talk, or snack, or just soak up the sun, you won't see Hertford members savoring things the way this guy did. To confirm my suspicions, the young man did nod at the porter on his way out of college.

For the most part, students don't pay much attention to tourists. Occasionally, they can be annoying to students - blocking the sidewalks, walking slowly, trying to take a photo in front of the building a student needs to enter, etc, but normally students are pretty well used to these things, I think.

Traditionally, there have been three groups in Oxford: students, residents and tourists. Also traditionally, all three groups have disliked the others. While I haven't seen much evidence of this, the locals do complain sometimes about the tourists.

However, a great deal of the local economy rests on the tourism trade. There are two tour bus companies, at least a dozen walking tours, lots of t-shirt and souvenir shops, museums, landmarks, and restaurants all counting on tourist dollars. Some of these are worth doing, even if you're only in Oxford for a day or two. And there are others to which I would not subject my worst enemy. Well, maybe Evan.

Tours - I can't say that I've been on more than one tour of Oxford myself, but you do hear about them working at a place like the Bodleian. I can personally recommend the walking tours given by Blackwell's Bookshop. I took the Literary Tour of Oxford when we were here in 2000 and it was wonderful. A real highlight. They also give a Tolkien tour and a few others. Their prices are good and the tours are very interesting. The Blackwell's tours are also very unique and specific, which is nice. There are two bus tours in town. I haven't taken either, but I have heard they're good. They're pretty similar (both on open-top double-decker busses), but I recommend the green bus, Guide Friday tour. This one goes a lot more frequently than the other, has nicer busses, and seems to get more local "buzz". There are tons of University walking tours around town. Look for little easels on the sidewalks around the middle of town and you're sure to run across one. I haven't heard much about them, but some do come through the Bod while I'm working. I imagine they're all pretty similar. Most tour guides here are locals and many have been doing it for years. The tour guide market here is quite good, so most tours are going to give you a lot of information. Go for price, time span and topic you want and take your pick. There are also about 100 different guides to Oxford (if you don't have one when you arrive in Oxford you can pick one up at dozens of gift shops). I suggest you get one with a good map and have at it.

Attractions - Attractions are many here in Oxford. The longer you can stay, the more you can see. I suggest you see as many colleges as you can. Like Hertford, most of them close at night and some days. Some are open a lot more than others (I don't think I've ever seen Baliol or Trinity open). In particular, if you can get into any of the following, it's worth a look: Hertford (sorry, had to say it), Christ Church (they do charge, but it's well worth it), New College (one of the largest), Trinity (don't count on it), Exeter (go to their back garden for a lovely view of the Radcliffe Camera) and University (Shelley's creepy memorial is there). I also suggest you visit the Central Bodleian Library while you're near the center of town. You can't get in to most of it, but you can see the Divinity School and, unless it's closed to change exhibits, the exhibition room. Additionally, there are tours (2 per day in the cold months, 4 per day in the relatively warm months) that take you to several other areas. I strongly recommend this since it's only £3.50 per person and it takes you into many non-tourist areas. I do NOT recommend that you attend The Oxford Story (unless you're into really touristy stuff, then go for it. It's like a terrible pseudo-Disney ride about Oxford's history), which is a "ride" attraction on Broad Street.

Museums - There are lots of museums in Oxford. I absolutely insist that when you come you visit the Ashmolean. Set aside several hours to do so. It's free (FREE!!! - but donate a £ or two anyway) to get in and has the most amazing treasures. My favorite is the music room, which features several Stradivarius violins as well as a guitar and a cello by Stradivari. There are also rooms and rooms of fine art by greats including Michaelangelo, Rafael - heck, all the Ninja Turtles. That's not to mention the majority of the museum, which includes countless archaeological treasures from Roman coins to Native American costumes (I kid you not!). It is really amazing. You must go. There are lots of other museums here, too: Pitt Rivers (natural history), The Museum of the History of Science (includes Einstein's blackboard complete with is writing still on it), a museum of musical instruments (mostly brass and woodwinds), and a bunch of others I can't think of at the moment. I can't say I've been to many except the Ashmolean and the one with the musical instruments. I understand that Pitt Rivers is excellent. Unless you are here for a while or really into saxophones or clarinets , I wouldn't bother with the musical instruments.

Shops - There are dozens of shops that call themselves "Oxford University Stores". The "official" one (slightly more official than the others) is on the High Street, but they're basically all pretty similar. Each one does have a slightly different selection of t-shirts, postcards, and other junk, so if you're looking for something very specific, shopping around might do. Also, they tend to offer special deals at some of the stores (especially those on Broad Street, I think), so it's worth a look, but it's your usual, overpriced souvenirs at all of them. I can't really recommend any over the others, although I do think the ones with more square footage tend to be a lot better. If you're souvenir shopping, it's a good idea to cover High Street (between Cornmarket Street and New College Lane), Turl Street (a small side-street which connects High Street and Broad Street) and Broad Street (between St. Giles and Catte Street). If you want "regular" shopping, try Cornmarket and High Street, especially west of Cornmaket, but be warned the prices are unreasonable. This is also a good area for restaurants of every kind.

OXFORD TOURIST DO'S AND DON'TS

DO
- be aware that there are people around you who aren't on vacation
- stop and enjoy the scenery
- take a bus or walking tour toward the beginning of your visit; it will help orient you and give you ideas of what you might want to visit (especially a bus tour); if you have a map or tour book on the tour, you can highlight what you want to see more of
- have lots of film or digital camera space; Oxford is very picturesque
- wear very comfortable, soft-soled shoes; Oxford is pedestrian-friendly and most people do a lot of walking here, but the frequently cobblestone pavement is very hard on poorly clad feet (don't wear heels!)
- read signs; when you go to a place you are interested in visiting (the library, the Sheldonian Theatre, a college), LOOK for signs before you go in to tell you whether it is open to the public; almost all landmarks are well-marked, but often tourists ignore the signs
- follow the posted or spoken rules (there are typically posted signs about whether photography is allowed, for instance)
- check out Blackwell's Bookshop (on Broad Street) and the Ashmolean Museum (on Beaumont)
- If you are in town on a Sunday, attend church services if they are open to the public. Hertford's services (at 5:45 on Sunday evenings) are open to all, as are some other colleges'. OxBridge (Oxford/Cambridge) is well known for its fantastic church choirs. It's worth a visit to an evening service to hear them.
- say "please" and "thank you" as often as you can; it's the English way
- get a good map

DON'T
- take up the entire sidewalk, especially if you're walking at a slow rate
- expect people to stop and get out of your way while you take a picture
- try to blend in with the locals; enjoy being a tourist
- take a lot of taxis; Oxford is best enjoyed on foot
- take pictures of students without asking first (some it bothers, some it doesn't - although I think just about everybody under 25 in Oxford is used to it)
- walk on the grass
- stop in the middle of the sidewalk, unfold your map, and navigate around town

Oxford is a beautiful place and rich in history. If you're interested in literature, history, architecture, religion or academics in any way, it's a must-see. I think, ideally, you'd need to stay in Oxford for at least 3 or 4 days to get the most out of it. It is also a good "home base" if you want to visit places like Stratford-Upon-Avon, Reading, or even London. It's only a 30-minute train ride to Stratford and Reading and an hour to London; and close to tons of other places which are easy day-trips from here.

If you're visiting and using this guide, feel free drop me a line and ask me any questions you might have. Bon voyage!

Posted by Erin at March 10, 2003 08:39 PM