Travel to Oxford
OXFORD GUIDE
A near-millennium of scholarship at Oxford (pop. 120,000) has seen the education of 25 British prime ministers and numerous other world leaders. A scholarly community initially formed in the 11th century by Henry II, Oxford is not only Britain’s first university, but the world’s as well. TTie university’s distinguished spires have since inspired the imaginations of luminaries such as Lewis Carroll and C.S. Lewis. Today trucks barrel, buses screech, and bicycles scrape past the pedestrians choking the streets. Despite the touring crowds, Oxford has an irrepressible grandeur and pockets of sweet quiet that lift the spirits: The basement room of Blackwell’s Bookshop, the impeccable galleries of the Ashmolean, the serene lily ponds of the Botanic Garden, and the perfectly maintained quadrangles of Oxford’s 39 colleges.
TRANSPORTATION
Trains: Botley Rd. down Park End. Ticket office open M-F 6am-8pm, Sa 6:45am-8pm, Su 7:45am-8pm. Trains ( (08457) 484 950) from Birmingham (lVihr. every hr. £22-37); Glasgow (6$ hr. 8 per day, £86); London Paddington (lhr. 2-4 per hr. round-trip £15); Manchester (3hr. 13 per day, £50).
Buses: Bus Station, Gloucester Green. Stagecoach ((01604) 620 077) runs from Cambridge (3hr.; every hr.; day return £8.75, concessions £6.50) and operates the Oxford Tube ( 772 250) to London (2hr.; every 12min.; next-day return £10, students £7.50). The Oxford Bus Company runs CityLink ( 785 400) from: Gatwick (2hr.; every hr. during the day, every 2hr. at night; £21); Heathrow (lVihr, 2 per hr. round-trip £14); London (l34hr. 3 per hr. next-day return £10). National Express ( (08705) 808 080) travels from Cambridge (4hr. every 2hr. £16) and London (l%hr. 3 per hr. £8). Public Transportation: Most local services board around Carfax. The Oxford Bus Company Cityline (785 410) and Stagecoach Oxford (772 250) offer swift and frequent service to Iffly Rd. (#3 or 4 to Rose Hill), Banbury Rd. (#2A, 2B, 2C, 2D), Abingdon Rd. (#X3,16, 35, 35a), Cowley Rd. (#5, 5A, 52), and elsewhere. Fares are low (most 80p-£1.20)
Taxis: Radio Cars (242 424). ABC (770 077).
