![Tristan Upton]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1618998460/zurich/licmt4ugczkvwyt99hfh/Tristan_upton.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1618998460/zurich/licmt4ugczkvwyt99hfh/Tristan_upton.jpg","width":400}])
... to do in Oxford. Tristan Upton Class of 2014 (2007-2014)
Studying Law at Oxford University.
1. VISIT – THE COLLEGES
Most tourists visit Christ Church but it’s £7 to get in and very busy. Most of the others are free or you just pay a £1 donation. As well as Jesus, Exeter, Balliol and Trinity, I’d recommend Wadham. It’s a traditional quad, with rooms around a grassy square, and it has a meadow where there’s an annual student festival called Wadstock.
2. STROLL THROUGH – THE COVERED MARKET
The market is off the high street. It’s a great place to have lunch – try the Alpha Bar for rustic food with loads of flavour – then potter about the little independent clothes and souvenir shops. There’s a shop called Nothing and, just by it, Next to Nothing! There are great cake shops – it’s a real foodie place.
3. VISIT – THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM
It’s the world’s first university museum and one of the oldest in the country. I’m not a history person but I found it really interesting. There are artefacts from periods like the Egyptians – sarcophaguses and mummified animals – and old maps and diagrams of Constantinople, which I loved because I visited Istanbul five years ago.
4. DO – PUNTING
Hire a Venetian-style boat from Magdalen Bridge and punt slowly down the River Cherwell to the Thames and back. You can fit up to five people in a boat but sometimes we hire a few and hold on to each others’ oars. It’s really relaxing just drifting along, although one person has to steer!
5. EAT – THE GLOUCESTER GREEN MARKET
Students and locals use this market five minutes from the town centre, off George Street. On a Wednesday there’s fresh fruit and vegetables at good prices and on a Thursday it’s cooked food, with global stalls like Thai and Greek selling delicious dumplings, noodles and pastries. On a Saturday, as well as food, there are clothes and antiques.
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