Oxford

For any student of Western Architecture, or even anyone interested in buildings, Oxford is just perfect. Due to its lengthy, wealthy history, it contains fabulous examples of just about every style including Gothic, Renaissance, neo-Gothic, neo-Classical, Arts & Crafts, Modern, Post-Modern...the list goes on. It is fascinating for the fact that the periods overlap, so that you find virtually no gap between Gothic and Gothic revival. For those less academically inclined it is still a beautiful city with medieval lanes, quaint shops, coffee shops, bars and a few reasonable restaurants. However, due to its not undeserved popularity it is absolutely heaving with tourists and consequently rather stressful and extremely over-priced. Hotels are absurdly expensive for what they offer, in line with London prices. One option is to stay in rooms belonging to the colleges; not cheap, but around half the price of the central hotels, full of character and you wake up in a Gothic fantasy. To avoid the crowds, get up very early and try to visit the less "important" sights during peak hours; it is amazing how quickly you can get away from the noise and bustle, just a block or so from the main streets.

Magdalen	Keble	Radcliffe Camera	Florey Building

Streets	Botanics	Bodleian Library	University Museum