Oxford, GB

A tiny, much-loved Japanese spot on Holywell Street serving home-style dishes from a short, changing menu to a near-constant queue. It's been a student-and-local institution for decades, cash-friendly and no-frills. Best for an honest, cheap Japanese lunch if you're willing to wait.

A small, fiercely booked Thai restaurant off the Cowley Road end of town, turning out vivid, properly spiced cooking that locals rate as the best Thai for miles. The jungle curry and the massaman have a cult following. Best for a serious Thai dinner, if you can land a reservation.

A buzzy all-day Italian bar and restaurant on Walton Street in Jericho, doing seasonal pasta, risotto, and stone-baked pizza in an airy room. It's a reliable, sociable neighbourhood spot with a good-value set menu. Best for a relaxed Jericho dinner or a long weekend lunch.

A destination gastropub on the Cowley Road side known for big-flavoured British cooking, generous sharing dishes, and a famous steak-and-ale pie. The handsome, lived-in room and the changing blackboard menu draw a loyal crowd. Best for a serious pub dinner, especially a Sunday roast.

A relaxed Jericho gastropub in a converted backstreet boozer, serving wood-fired pizzas and pub classics in a cosy, candlelit warren of rooms. It's a neighbourhood favourite that's easier to get into than the city-centre spots. Best for a casual dinner of pizza and a pint in Jericho.

A perennially popular Cowley Road tapas bar fusing Spanish and Moroccan small plates, from patatas bravas to slow-cooked octopus, with strong mojitos and a warm buzz. It's been a local fixture for years. Best for a sociable dinner of shared plates and cocktails.

A buzzy modern French brasserie in Summertown, with a short, confident menu of bistro classics and a smart wine list. It's the grown-up neighbourhood dinner spot north of the centre. Best for a relaxed but considered French dinner away from the tourist core.

A vibrant Caribbean restaurant on Cowley Road doing jerk chicken, curry goat, and inventive starters like jerk-chicken spring rolls, with strong veggie and vegan options. The flavours and the warm room make it a Cowley standout. Best for a lively, flavour-packed dinner with rum cocktails.

A long-running Cowley Road curry house from the days when the road was Oxford's curry mile, still turning out dependable North Indian classics in an old-school setting. It's the kind of neighbourhood Indian locals have relied on for decades. Best for a classic, comforting curry night.

A Jericho institution of more than 30 years, with a striking red front and a blackboard of locally sourced brunch and lunch that the Sunday Times once ranked among Britain's best. The bacon-and-egg waffles are the signature. Best for a leisurely weekend brunch on Walton Street.

A buzzy Cowley Road all-day cafe open since 1992, with vintage decor and a wide menu of hearty English breakfasts, mezze, pizzas, and salads. It's a long-standing local hangout with a fun, slightly chaotic vibe. Best for a big breakfast or a casual catch-up over a long menu.

A pioneering specialty coffee bar and roaster on Turl Street in the city centre, a favourite of students and coffee snobs alike for its careful espresso and pastries. It helped set the bar for Oxford coffee. Best for a proper flat white in the heart of the colleges.

An artisan bakery known for stunning window displays, seasonal cakes, exquisite pastries, and wood-roasted coffee, with spots in Jericho and on North Parade. The bakes are as beautiful as they are good. Best for a pastry-and-coffee stop or a celebration cake.

A warm, social-enterprise restaurant on Turl Street serving a daily-changing menu of seasonal British cooking, with profits going to local causes. The candlelit, mismatched room feels distinctly Oxford. Best for an ethical, ingredient-led lunch or dinner in the city centre.

A cosy backstreet pub near Jericho that serves an entirely vegetarian and vegan menu of comfort food, from meat-free burgers to hearty pies, alongside a proper pint. It's a rare fully veggie pub that even committed carnivores enjoy. Best for a relaxed, plant-based pub meal.

A homegrown Oxford ice-cream cafe institution scooping its own ice cream late into the night, with a few branches across the city and a devoted student following. The bagels-and-ice-cream combo is pure Oxford nostalgia. Best for a late-night scoop after dinner or a film.

A vast, ancient riverside common northwest of the centre where horses and cattle still graze freely beside the Thames, never ploughed in over a thousand years. Flat paths lead to the ruins of Godstow Abbey and the riverside Perch and Trout pubs. Best for a flat, open walk with big skies and a pub at the end.

A tranquil flood meadow in the very centre where the Cherwell meets the Thames, college-owned but free to walk by day. The tree-lined paths pass the college boathouses and grazing cattle within sight of the spires. Best for an easy central loop combining greenery and dreaming-spire views.

A manicured 70-acre park north of the centre along the River Cherwell, with broad lawns, mature trees, and the university cricket ground. It's a calm, central spot for a stroll or a riverside picnic. Best for an easy green break between museums and colleges.

A big grassy hillside between St Clement's and Headington that rises to one of the finest free panoramas of Oxford's spires. The slope is a favourite for picnics, sledging in snow, and the city's bonfire night. Best for a short uphill walk rewarded with the classic skyline view.

A 117-hectare expanse of woodland and heath on the hill beyond Headington, laced with trails and bridleways and offering views over Oxfordshire from the top. The climb up gives way to genuine countryside rambling. Best for a longer, hillier walk in real woods close to the city.

The riverside path south from the centre follows the Thames (locally the Isis) past the college boathouses to the weir and lock at Iffley, a pretty riverside village. It's flat, easy, and lined with rowers in season. Best for a gentle riverside walk to a historic lock and a country pub.

A hidden path that runs along a strip of land between the two channels of the River Cherwell near the University Parks, so you walk with water on both sides. It's a quiet, leafy secret most visitors miss. Best for a short, peaceful riverside stroll away from the crowds.

Britain's first public museum, founded in 1683, with free entry and half a million years of art and archaeology from Egyptian mummies to modern paintings across elegant galleries. It's world-class and rarely overwhelming. Best for a half-day of culture, or a focused hour on the rooftop restaurant after.

A soaring neo-Gothic glass court housing dinosaur skeletons, the dodo remains that inspired Lewis Carroll, and rows of specimens under a cathedral-like roof. The building itself is half the experience. Best for a family visit and a look at the famous dodo.

An extraordinary, dimly lit anthropology museum behind the Natural History Museum, crammed floor-to-ceiling with objects grouped by theme rather than place, from shrunken heads to totem poles. It's a Victorian cabinet of curiosities at full scale. Best for an atmospheric, browse-by-torchlight hour for the curious.

A respected free contemporary-art gallery in a converted brewery off the city centre, with ambitious rotating exhibitions of major international artists. It's a sleek, calm counterpoint to the historic museums. Best for a quick, current art fix and a good cafe break.

An immersive, whimsical museum near the centre devoted to storytelling, with enchanted galleries, dressing-up, and interactive sets that bring children's literature to life. It's imaginative and genuinely fun for families. Best for a rainy afternoon with younger children.

The central spot to hire a punt and pole yourself along the Cherwell past Magdalen and the Botanic Garden, the quintessential Oxford pastime. You can take a chauffeured punt if poling sounds daunting. Best for a sunny afternoon on the water, drink in hand.

Christopher Wren's grand ceremonial theatre, used for university degree ceremonies and concerts, with a painted ceiling and a cupola you can climb for city views. It's a working historic venue rather than a museum. Best for a classical concert or a quiet daytime visit and the cupola view.

The city's main producing theatre, staging touring drama, dance, comedy, and student productions in a handsome central auditorium. It's the heart of Oxford's live performance scene beyond the colleges. Best for an evening of theatre or comedy in the city centre.

A music pub on Walton Street with a long pedigree as a live-gig venue, famous as the place Radiohead played their first public show. Downstairs is a proper pub; upstairs hosts touring and local bands. Best for an evening pint and live music in Jericho.

A charming independent cinema in Jericho, one of Britain's oldest, screening art-house, foreign, and select mainstream films with a bar upstairs. It's a civilised alternative to a night out at a chain multiplex. Best for a rainy evening or a film-lover's escape.

The honey-stone domed rotunda at the heart of the university, Oxford's most photographed building and a working Bodleian reading room. You can't usually go inside, but the circular Palladian exterior framed by the surrounding squares is the quintessential Oxford view. Best for a slow loop of Radcliffe Square and the lanes around it.

One of the oldest libraries in Europe, a complex of medieval and Jacobean rooms including the vaulted Divinity School and the Duke Humfrey's reading room used as the Hogwarts library. Guided tours get you into spaces closed to the general public. Best booked as a tour to see the painted ceilings and ancient reading rooms.

The grandest of the colleges, with a cathedral, the vast hall that inspired Hogwarts' dining room, and the staircase where scenes were filmed. The picture gallery and the meadow beyond add to a substantial visit. Best for Harry Potter fans and anyone wanting the most cinematic college in town.

Arguably the prettiest college, with a 15th-century bell tower, medieval cloisters, a deer park, and riverside walks along Addison's Walk where C.S. Lewis strolled. It feels more like a country estate than a city college. Best for a peaceful wander away from the busier central colleges.

The official university church in the heart of the city, whose 13th-century tower you can climb for the definitive view over the Radcliffe Camera and the spires. The climb is narrow and steep but the panorama is the best in town. Best for the rooftop view, ideally in late-afternoon light.

Hertford College's enclosed skyway over New College Lane, popularly called the Bridge of Sighs for its resemblance to the Venetian original. It's a quick photo stop, but the lane beneath leads to one of the city's hidden pubs. Best combined with a duck down the alley to the Turf Tavern.

A surviving Norman tower, a Saxon-era mound, and a former prison now opened up with costumed tours of the cells and crypt. Climbing the motte gives a different rooftop angle on the city. Best for a change from colleges, with a tour into the city's grittier history.

A historic Victorian market hall trading since 1774, a warren of butchers, bakers, florists, and food stalls between the High Street and Market Street. It's an atmospheric place to graze and shop among genuine independents. Best for a wander and a bite, especially the famous cookies and pies.

The oldest botanic garden in Britain, founded in 1621, a walled garden by the Cherwell with glasshouses, herbaceous borders, and the bench made famous by Philip Pullman's novels. It's a compact, calming green retreat in the centre. Best for a peaceful hour among the plants beside Magdalen.