6 Family Friendly Day Trips From London - 4

Oxford

A journey to the “dreaming spires” is a delightful day trip from London. Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland fans won’t be disappointed. The medieval colleges exude history and learning, and the students give Oxford an air of youth and vitality.

To get a lay of the land, take an open topped bus tour of Oxford right from the train station. Your ticket is valid all day, and you can hop on and hop off as you see the sites. If your children are old enough to handle a walking tour, Oxford-on-Foot offers excellent themed tours, including ghost walks, Inspector Morse walks, J.R.R. Tolkien tours, and of course, Harry Potter sojourns.

Wild about Harry? Take a tour of the Duke Humfrey, part of the Bodleian Library. Named after Duke Humfrey of Gloucester, it served as Hogwarts library and is all old bookstalls, manuscripts, leather folios chained to the shelves, and medieval stained glass. Downstairs the chapel for the Divinity School became the Hospital Wing where Harry recovered from his jousts with Voldemort. For older travelers, the Bodleian Library store is a splendid place to get stationery, postcards, bookstands and fabulous scarves. The Duke Humfrey is available for viewing only via private tours, held daily. Details are on the Bodley Shop’s Web site or contact: tours@bodley.ox.ac.uk.

The cloisters at Christchurch College were also used in the Potter films, and its Great Hall was reproduced by movie magic. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll and author of Alice in Wonderland, was a mathematics professor at Christchurch. His dean Henry Lidell introduced Carroll to his daughter named Alice, and the rest is history. If you’d like to visit Christchurch yourself to follow the footsteps of Carroll or the boy wizard, check out the “Behind the Scenes” tour, which must be reserved. Contact the Head Custodian at +01865-276492 or email: tourism@chch.ox.ac.uk.

• Inside the Oxford Great Hall.
• Nathanael

Alice fans or dinosaur fanatics should see Oxford’s Museum of Natural History, one of Carroll’s frequent haunts. Surrounded by giant prehistoric skeletons and stuffed fish, a display case in the Great Hall contains the most complete remains of the dodo bird, which inspired Carroll to create a dodo character in the Alice adventures. The Natural History museum also has a collection of his letters and illustrations, and there are numerous children’s activities. When I was there recently, children’s book illustrator Korky Paul was signing books and drawing animals to the delight of many young visitors. Next door, the Pitt Rivers Museum of Archaeology, a treasure trove of artifacts arranged in delightfully old-fashioned cases, also has “Pitt Stops” or drop-in family activities the first Saturday of the month and during school holidays. Kids can make totem poles, learn to play the African game of mancala, make Native American dreamcatchers or learn about medieval armor. 

Lastly, if the weather is fine and your children are older, consider punting down the Thames. (Punts are shallow-bottom boats propelled by long poles). Punting is Oxford’s classic recreational activity and a great way to explore the city and surrounding countryside. [Read about a family of four's first-hand punting experience.]

Practicalities:

Getting there:
Trains to Oxford leave frequently from London’s Paddington Station; the trip takes under an hour. There is excellent bus service from the train station into the city center. National Express also has frequent coach services from Victoria Bus Station to Oxford’s Gloucester Green Bus Station.

• Thanks to Oxford’s location on the Thames, punting is a popular way to travel through the city.
• Brian Jeffery Beggerly

During your stay: 
As a town oriented to the tastes of university students or well-heeled professors, restaurants that are family-friendly can be more of a challenge to find. Try these:

• The News Café: This little sanctuary of friendliness, healthy, tasty food, and delicious coffee away from bustling Cornmarket Street has selections to make the kids happy (like burgers and fries and a scrummy dessert waffle with bananas and chocolate sauce). Yet it also features cuisine to satisfy an older palate, like grilled vegetable paninis and lovely bangers and mash (sausages and potatoes). There are also free worldwide newspapers, magazines, and a bulletin board advertising Oxford Events, so you can browse while having you eat.
• Try the Queen’s Lane Coffee House on the intersection of Queen Street and High Street. Reputed to be the oldest coffeehouse in Oxford (1654), it offers some nice Greek specialties for lunch, and the window seats are great for people-watching.
• Browns is an Oxford institution featuring traditional English food prepared with care. Their Beef Wellington and Steak, Mushroom, and Guinness pies are wonderful, as is the surf and turf. Moderate in price, the kids can have a bacon cheeseburger or fish-and-chips.
• Our favorite pub in Oxford, the The Turf Tavern was a hangout for Bill Clinton when he was a Rhodes Scholar. Down a hidden lane near the Bridge of Sighs, it dates from the fourteenth-century and features chestnut and marshmallow roasts on outside braziers during the winter months. In the summer, it is a pleasant place to have a pint and a snack while sitting outside in its enclosed courtyard.

The Watercress Rail Line and Thomas the Tank Engine

The Watercress Line is a steam engine heritage line that runs from Alton to New Alresford in Hampshire, named because it was used at one time to transport locally grown watercress to London. The normal steam train runs take you through 10 miles of glorious English countryside, with cream teas on board, or a “real ale” tour. At Easter and in August, a special train appears from the Isle of Sodor—Thomas the Tank Engine. Arrive early and bring a picnic lunch because this is an all-day event with Thomas racing Diesel, and visits from Mrs. Kindly, the Fat Controller, the Policeman and the Vicar. Best of all, Thomas will give you a ride in style.

• Come join Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends when they delight onlookers at Easter and during the month of August.
• Gemma Longman

Practicalities:

Thomas will visit the Watercress Line on Aug. 9-17, 2008. To get there via train: from Waterloo Station in central London, take South West Trains via Woking direct to Alton. The Watercress Line departs from Alton at Platform 3, and will take you to Ropley Station for the Thomas event.  

Via car from London, follow A3 (crossing M25 at M25 Jct10) out of London to Guildford, then via A31 to Alton. Ropley is on the A31 road between Alton and Winchester. At Ropley go up Station Hill and follow directions for parking (free).

Thomas is very popular, so reserve tickets via email: reservations@watercressline.co.uk or call +01962-733810.