We wanted to go away for a few days during February Half Term and chose Oxford - partly because it's nice, and largely because we've been enjoying His Dark Materials - both the novels and the BBC adaptation.
From a bit of research before we left - and I mean, just a bit, as it was a last minute get away, I found that one of the several Park and Rides would be our friend. We were staying in the Oxford Premier Inn, Botley (there are several Premier Inns in the area) meaning we were a 7 minute drive away from the Redbridge Park and Ride, and then only a 10 minute or so (depending on where you're going) bus ride into the city centre. Now, I'd read that parking in the centre was really tricky and the park and ride really was very easy, with buses every 10 minutes or so, and routes that took us very near to everywhere we wanted to go. But on Saturday morning, we drove past (on a bus) George Street Carpark at 11am and I saw a lot of empty spaces so I wonder how hard it would be if you decided to chance it and drive in.
The park and ride was around £2 for parking and £4 for a family of 5 to go on the bus - there were lots of ways to pay though, so that's another blog post. We arrived on a Thursday and headed straight to Redbridge Park and Ride, knowing we couldn't check in to our hotel until 3pm. I had a link of bus times and a map of the route I could follow in Google Maps, but the bus drivers all seemed very helpful anyway.
Once we got into the centre, we headed for Christ Church College to see the birth place of Alice in Wonderland, the inspiration for Hogwarts and - ideally - view the Cathedral. However, after strolling down Broad Walk with Christ Church Meadow on our right, the only gate we could find to get us near the Cathderal was a very narrow "kissing gate" that we couldn't get the pushchair through. So we ate the sandwiches we'd brought on a bench and just wandered around admiring the very impressive architecture inside the college grounds.
The Story Museum, Oxford
We were booked to begin a session at the Story Museum at 1:30 so we arrived there and looked around the Galleries. The "Galleries" are the core part of the museum, with other seperately bookable experiences available. It was a perfectly pleasant afternoon, but by the time we'd all booked into various bits and pieces there it came to £90 which we think was too steep considering what was there. (I'm going to write a more detailed review of the Story Museum soon so check back another time.)
We headed back to Westgate shopping centre, a very large modern shopping area with a big John Lewis, Primark, lots of eateries and a pleasant airy feel (but lacking a toy shop, much to our kids' dismay, as it seems Hamley's have recently left) to catch our bus. We couldn't find the stop to get back to Redbridge at first but that's where another nice bus driver came in handy (it's on the same side of the road as Westgate, but lower down the hill past the Social restaurant). Dinner was at the Premier Inn - and was actually pretty good and very reasonably priced - and then bed.
The Ashmolean
On Day 2, everyone was exhausted having not slept that well and having had a late night (by 5 year old standards) the night before. But we headed back to the Park and Ride and into the Ashmolean to catch the 11am Family Tour of the Ancient Egyptian exhibits.
There was quite a crowd of people on the Egyptian tour, and it didn't work out well for us that we were early. We signed up / got our stickers (I forget the procedure now), and then stood back for everyone else to do the same - meaning we were then at the back of the crowd. The result was we couldn't hear anything being said or see anything that was being discussed. I thought our 8 year old would love it, having been interested in Egyptians at school (and being a studious sort of guy) but it just didn't hold his attention at all.
The Ashmolean itself, whilst a wonderful building, is quite dark - understandably, when you've got super ancient artefacts to protect from natural light. I think parts of the museum might be brighter, but the first part is certainly quite dark and that didn't sit well for a tired 5 year old; it just made her want to lie down and nap. We went to the cafe in the basement - which was showcasing some wonderful cakes - for a drink, and when that didn't revive everyone, we headed off in search for another adventure.
Oxford Botanic Gardens and superb coffee
We wandered, trying to find somewhere for lunch with a pushchair, and struggled to find anywhere that didn't look VERY busy. We headed for a park which we thought had a cafe, just to read whilst we were en route that it was currently closed. Then we hit upon the Botanic Gardens, so headed for there.
On the way though, our 5 year old desperately needed the loo so we dashed into a coffee shop and promised to buy a drink on the way out if we could use their facilities. The coffee shop was Jericho Coffee Traders - and my husband tells me their coffee was absolutely outstanding. We now have a new bench mark for good coffee.
So on we went to the Oxford Botanic Garden. Tickets are around £7 per adult and free for under 16s. Going in February, we felt the odd part was closed (although this wasn't super clear that they'd be open at other times of year) but there was still space for the kids to run around and various interesting greenhouses to look in. It ends up it was more an attraction for my husband who likes gardening / growing things, but that's not to say we didn't all find it a pleasant visit. I don't think it would have been worth paying for the kids to go in, but was a nice way to spend an hour or 2 seeing's they were free. There was no cafe though - there was a Jericho Coffee Traders cute little van, but they didn't sell any food. So we raided what we'd brought with us in the way of snacks, and headed off again looking for a (by now, late) lunch.
The oldest coffee shop in England
Eventually, we found 2 places that didn't look super busy (as it was now mid afternoon), on either side of the road from each other, both claiming to be the oldest coffee shop in Oxford. I haven't yet gotten to the bottom of these claims - on one side of the road, The Grand Cafe claims to be on the site of the oldest coffee house in England, whilst opposite the Queens Lane Coffee House says it was established in 1654 and is the oldest coffee house in Europe.
The Grand looked lovely, it really did. But it had a slightly more upmarket menu than we were looking for, plus a step up to the door which would have meant lifting the pushchair. So, tired and weary, we crossed the road and found the Queens Lane Coffee House to have a very accessible menu with something for everyone (including some rather special smoothies).
Unfortunately, I took an unexpected pause in writing this post - it's now September and I've found an hour in which to finish it! So I can't remember what we did after our late lunch, before catching the bus home. I think it was just more wandering and soaking in the sights - maybe this was the day we went into Smiggle in the Westgate shopping centre. There is an amazing doughnut shop in there by the way - they look phenomenal, but they are about £5 each.
The day ended with us heading back to the hotel and eating there again. There are loads of great looking places to eat in Oxford, but we were aiming for easy with our arms full of kids, plus as our journey back included a park and ride, it was nice to eat at the hotel and be able to have a glass of wine with our meal.
The next morning, we got up and packed up and headed out for our last day. We considered heading straight home - the kids were still desperate for a toy shop (I think there was Christmas money burning a hole in someone's pocket) and so we thought we could go bowling in Cribbs Causeway or similar back in Bristol. We also considered Harcourt Arboretum but it was in the wrong direction for home. But I encouraged everyone to try just one more museum - and we were so glad we did.
Pitt Rivers Museum and the Oxford Museum of Natural History
I'll be honest, my homework before we went to Oxford was abysmal. So much so, that I only found by chance that there was even a natural history museum in Oxford. So I dragged everyone there - everyone who claimed they were done with museums and just looking at stuff. And they just gasped when they stepped inside.
If your kids like animals or the natural world, you need to visit the Oxford Museum of Natural History. You are actually encouraged to touch some of the exhibits and everything is just stunningly presented. The main hall too, is beautiful. It was VERY busy when we were there but we still managed to dodge and dive (and not lose anyone) to get to read most of the signage we wanted to and see everything that grabbed our interest. We couldn't have lunch there - they've got a lovely cafe on a higher floor that overlooks the main hall - as it was packed, but the kids got souveniers from the gift shop.
In the same building is the Pitt Rivers Museum. The reason this was another highlight was because our visit to Oxford had been inspired by our son watching the BBC's adaptation of His Dark Materials and the museum had some of the props and costumes from the tv show in their exhibition. There was a trail to follow to find the items - some large, some small - amongst the very strange displays in the collection. Oxford University are gradually reviewing the collections in the Pitt Rivers museum, aware that many things there may have been taken from other countries in rather unsavoury ways.
And that was pretty much that! 3 very busy, very interesting days in Oxford with 3 kids during February half term. Overall we would highly recommend a visit to Oxford, staying slightly further out for cheaper accommodation, and using the park and ride to explore. Leave plenty of time for rest to little ones don't get too exhausted (or bored) and make sure you visit the Museum of Natural History.
