Shopping & Gifts
Bicester Village
http://www.bicestervillage.com/bicester/home.asp
High Street
The High Street in the centre of Oxford is one of Oxfords greatest streets.(“The stream like windings of that glorious street” – William Wordsworth c1820)
A vibrant, slightly curved street that is host to a number of Oxford’s finest restaurants, jewellers, Fashion outlets, antique dealers, the famous Oxford University shop and of course St Mary’s church. There are a number of small cobbled streets and alleyways that are evidence of hundreds of years of development and building along this street with a number of these alleys still cobbled and untouched for hundreds of years. The buildings are much older than they look and some of the architecture is simply stunning.
The street and this short intro to the High street ends at Magdalen bridge known in the past as May Day bridge where academics in the city would gather for the May Day ball on the 1st of May each year. (A number of the public houses still open around the clock on the 30th of April through to the early hours of the 1st of May to help in keeping this jolly tradition alive.)
Cowley Road & St Clements
Cowley Road and St Clements are both Arterial roads in to the heart of Oxford. Both of these roads are literally a five minute walk from the Magdalen Bridge at the bottom of the High street in Oxford. The area is home to a multi cultural and an economically diverse population. This part of the city is also host to a large academic community. Cowley Road and St Clements are vibrant and colourful places and this is epitomized with a carnival that is held here each year and brings together all the wonderful diversity of the city, the area is littered with wonderful places to eat and drink, is the hub of the Oxford music scene and has a large number of sometimes quirky but always interesting shops and boutiques.Little Clarendon Street
Little Clarendon Street is a short shopping street in central Oxford. It runs east-west between the foot of the Woodstock Road to the east and Walton Street to the west. It forms one of three notable streets in North Oxford off the Woodstock Road where the variety of shops and cafes make them particularly trendy and bohemian places, the other two being North Parade and South Parade. The street is sometimes nicknamed Little Trendy Street.City Centre
Oxford city centre is marked by the awesome Carfax tower which is a great starting point for an overview of the city before checking out the myriad of things to do and see. The tower also marks the centre point of Oxford, joining Cornmarket Street, Queen Street, The High Street and St Aldates together. North, West, South and East respectively. There are a large number of nationally recognised shops together with Bars, Café’s, Clubs, the famous Covered market and the main bus terminal (George Street).The Covered Market
The Covered Market is a wonderful, unique experience in the town centre of Oxford. A thriving, bustling, quirky and colourful epicentre for some of Oxford’s finest independent traders. Fashion Boutiques with a difference that are colourful and individual from footwear to headwear, Fresh food suppliers, from quality fruit and vegetables through to conventional and organic meat outlets that would put the larger national chain suppliers to shame in both quality and service. A number of warm and cosy café’s, food houses and delicatessens add to the ambience and provide a tempting whiff for the senses. It is easy to find the market; it has five entrances, Cornmarket Street through the Golden Cross, Two on the High Street and two on Market Street. All in all a 232 year old market place that is as wonderful and original today as it was when it was opened on November the 1st 1774.