Oxfordshire Activities

Worth getting out of bed for

Viewpoint

Take a hot-air-balloon flight (most hotels, including Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, can arrange one for you; otherwise, try Virgin Balloon Flights on 0870 420 7300) and float above the dreaming spires.

Arts and culture

One of the world’s most respected universities is here, so there’s enough arts and culture to keep your mind and soul tingling for decades. The Ashmolean on Beaumont Street (+44 (0)1865 278000; www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk) is the world’s oldest public museum, a beautiful building containing a cornucopia of artefacts. Pitt Rivers Museum on South Parks Road (+44 (0)1865 270927; www.prm.ox.ac.uk) houses an ever-growing collection of anthropological and archaeological treasures. Head to Modern Art Oxford for Tracey Emin and Gillian Wearing (+44 (0)1865 722733; www.modernartoxford.org.uk).

Something for nothing

If you crave a bit of intellectual hush, head to the Norrington Room, in the cellar of Blackwell’s bookshop on Oxford’s Broad Street, and browse its three miles of books.

Shopping

Pootle about in the smaller villages and you’ll be rewarded with antiques shops and nursery gardens. The Swan in Tetsworth has dozens of traders, and will have you swooning over antique jewellery and vintage fashion (+44 (0)1844 281777; www.theswan.co.uk). For newer garms, try Lacy’s and Sassi in the centre of Oxford.

Daytripper

Cookham was a ‘village in heaven’ according to the famously religious British painter Sir Stanley Spencer, who was born and buried here and often featured village scenes in his paintings: see them at the Stanley Spencer Gallery (www.stanleyspencer.org.uk).

Walks

The Ridgeway – Britain’s oldest road – is an 87-mile National Trail through two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It crosses the Thames at Goring, hugging the riverbanks for five miles before branching off into the Chiltern Hills (www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Ridgeway).

Activities

Try punting in Oxford (from Magdalen Bridge), or rowing in Henley, where you can pick up boats and oars from Hobbs Boatyard (www.hobbs-of-henley.com). You can also hire a little electric launch from the Swan Hotel in Streatley (www.swanatstreatley.co.uk) and head either upriver to Oxford or down to Henley, passing several locks in both directions. It’ll cost you about £25 an hour for up to eight people (and one dog). Like any university town, Oxford has a thriving live-music scene: check local listings to see who’s playing. The Playhouse theatre, on Oxford’s Beaumont Street (+44 (0)1865 305305; www.oxfordplayhouse.com) has some excellent performances if you’re feeling a bit too calm and quiet for a gig.

And...

Head to Woodstock and take a walk around the beautiful stately gardens of Blenheim Palace, landscaped in the 1760s by Capability Brown or, if it’s rainy, head inside for a look around the lavish palace rooms (+44 (0)8700 602080; www.blenheimpalace.com).