A long time ago…well, it was more than fifteen years ago to be precise, I spent a Valentine’s day in Oxford, England. It sounds like an opening of a love story, doesn’t it? And it was a love story at the time. To add to the romantic feeling of it all, it’d snowed a few days before so there was still some snow left on the ground on our way to Oxford. Suffice to say, the snow only added to the omnipresent magic of that Valentine’s day trip.

I didn’t have a fixed plan of things to do and see or a tight sightseeing plan for our day in Oxford. We strolled around and had some food and I took a bunch of photos. This happened before my blogging days but back then I wrote a travel journal so I do have concrete notes about this very special Valentine’s day day trip to Oxford.

Oxford is a small town famous for its old university, much like Cambridge. Since I’ve already visited Cambridge a few times before going to Oxford it was hard not to make any comparisons between these two illustrious cities. Nevertheless, Oxford lived up to its grand reputation. I fell in love with Oxford as expected.

There were a lot of people around Oxford. Tourists, students in their old-fashioned robes, locals. Almost everyone was on their bicycles. The most important sights in Oxford are practically all in one place. We first visited the magnificent Radcliffe camera which is the reading room of the Bodleian library. Right around the corner is the famous Bridge of sighs which looks like a replica of its namesake Venetian bridge sans the sea under it. There is also the striking Sheldonian theater. I felt like I stepped into a book or a movie recognizing all those iconic sights from reading about it/seeing it on the telly. There’s so much to marvel at in Oxford. I wish I studied in Oxford (or in Cambridge)! What an incredible experience that must be!

We retraced our steps back to the Radcliffe square and decided to climb the tower of the University church of St Mary the Virgin to take in the beautiful views of Oxford spires. There’s an entrance fee to climb the tower. The stairs were very steep and narrow but we made it to the top and got rewarded with stunning views of Oxford. As I’ve already stated above, Oxford does deliver on its promises. Of course, I bought a couple of souvenirs at the university shop. We had to queue for our lunch but after we got enough sustenance to keep us going we went to see the Christ church college. However, the dinning hall wasn’t yet opened so we wandered around a bit and stumbled upon Alice’s shop. What an unexpected treat! After perusing the shop for a while, we proceeded to the Ashmolean museum but then we encountered our second disappointment of the day. The museum was closed due to renovation (this was before I had a smart phone so…).

views of colleges from the University church of St Mary the Virgin

So, we decided to go back to the Christ Church college and see the college from the inside. The highlight of our visit was the famous dining hall which was used in Harry Potter movies. Can you believe that lucky students still have their meals in such a divine room? We’ve also wandered around the college’s courtyard and peeked inside the chapel. It was well worth the cost of the entrance fee. After pretending to be in one of Harry Potter movies, we went in search of a very special cheesecake in Oxford Covered market. However, that particular pastry shop no longer existed so I had my much craved cheesecake in Patisserie Valerie. And with that, finished our sightseeing of Oxford. We took the free shuttle back to the car park as part of the park & ride system and said our goodbyes to lovely Oxford. It was a truly beautiful Valentine’s day exploring Oxford at leisure.

This article is also featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Oxford.