Ramblings of a Clueless Student

24 hour escapes form London

UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 26 March 2012 | Views [1075]

With the sun shining and essay (and dissertation) deadlines looming ever closer, all I want to do is get out of the city and forget university stress. Sadly jetting off to Thailand or Barbados to lie on a beach and drink overpriced cocktails isn’t a possibility right now but here’s my alternative suggestion: day trips which I will entitle ‘a day trip out of London – escape an essay for the day’. Rather clunky I know but seriously, my brain is in essay hell! Apparently the London underground was invented to allow people to get out of London into the countryside for the day; I vote we reclaim this idea of occasional escape...

My first suggestion is Oxford. Just an hour outside London and from as little as £6 (advance ticket prices on nationalrail.com), Oxford is an ideal day trip destination – especially now the weather is on the turn and we are getting sunshine!

My all time favourite summer activity in Oxford is rowing. Slightly pretentious I know but honestly it’s amazing. There are several places in the centre offering pedalo, row boat and punt hire, all about £13 an hour. Nothing relieves stress like floating along a river and bathing in the sun as you sip a cool glass of something – I recommend Pimms because there is a Pimms boat (yes you heard correctly, a Pimms boat) which may sail on by!

Oxford has loads of beautiful green spaces, two of the best are University Parks and Christchurch Meadows, both in the city centre and perfect for lying in the sun, people watching, picnics and walks by the river which you’ve just mastered on your boat (potentially)!

Of course Oxford is famous for its university and to just walk through the cobbled streets through beautiful buildings is just magical. As well as this Oxford has some very interesting museums: The Pitt Rivers Museum happens to own the shrunken head which talks away on the ‘Knight Bus’ in the third Harry Potter film! There’s also a natural history museum which has an impressive collection of animals and the Ashmolean Museum that has pretty much everything else you could possibly want to look at!

After all this what more could you need than a cheeky drink before heading back to the big smoke? Well Oxford has a multitude of nice cosy pubs. There is The Eagle and Child which is where C. S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien used to drink or The Turf which has been visited by the likes of JFK, Stephen Hawking and David Mitchell.

After a day like this you’ll feel a million times more relaxed. Maybe enough to feel like writing a bit more of that essay. Maybe

Tags: day trips, escape, london, oxford, pimms, punting, sun