A Journey from Shanghai to the UK to Send My Daughter to Study in September 2023 - Oxford and London
From Conwy to Oxford, we still had to change trains in Birmingham before arriving. We reached Oxford at 7:30 PM, and Oxford was bustling with vitality. Taxis lined up one after another at the station entrance, instantly giving me a sense of security even without a local ride-hailing app installed.
Saturday, September 23
The day before, my daughter said her orientation week was over and she could come from Bristol to meet me on the weekend. That was great news. I told her to check the route and we agreed to meet at the Oxford train station entrance.
Accommodation in Oxford was expensive. After careful comparison, I chose a bed and breakfast about 3 km from Oxford Station. It had high ratings, convenient public transport to and from Oxford, and shops nearby. Not far behind the hotel was the River Thames. In the early morning, I walked along the river into central Oxford, where locals strolled with their dogs and jogged in the dawn light—peaceful and beautiful.
Both Oxford Station and the bus station had the S3 bus, which went directly to the gate of Blenheim Palace. The journey took about 30 minutes, with buses every half hour. Tickets could be bought on the bus, and round-trip tickets were slightly cheaper.
If traveling by public transport, you could show your bus ticket at the ticket office for a 30% discount on admission. My daughter bought an annual pass because it cost the same as a single-day pass. Who knows if she might visit again in the coming year?
Blenheim Palace (Churchill Manor) is the residence of the 12th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It is the only non-royal residence that is called a palace. This 18th-century Baroque building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The outer grounds of Churchill Manor were merely vast grassy slopes surrounding a lake, but the natural scenery under the blue sky and white clouds, with few tourists, amazed us. Trees of various shapes, a distant towering monument, winding dirt paths, and even the drifting clouds in the sky all gave a fresh feeling. The inner garden near the palace was a neat French-style small garden. Fountains, sculptures, and ponds each showed their charm; lawns, trees, and flowers were arranged in layers, lush and sunny under the gaze of the palace. Passing the small garden, we saw the vast lawn and dense woods behind the palace. Leaving the garden and returning to the palace entrance of the manor, we officially entered the palace for a tour. The grand hall was the three-hundred-year-old ducal manor, where opulence and historical vicissitudes coexisted. Having seen the splendor of palaces in different countries, the layout of these rooms was not particularly striking, but considering it was a private manor owner's palace, the overall impression was still quite stunning. The interior decoration was magnificent, preserving a large number of oil paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and many exquisite pieces of furniture. Photography was not allowed inside, so we could only feast our eyes.
We exited through a side gate of the manor and happened upon a station that seemed to lead back to Oxford city, encountering a lively yet cautious rabbit. It turned out that station was for long-distance coaches, and regular buses did not stop there. Fortunately, the kind driver let us board. We slept all the way back to Oxford. Before dinner time, seizing the gap before reserved guests arrived, we enjoyed authentic Thai cuisine at a delicious Thai restaurant, then returned contentedly to my hotel.
Sunday, September 24 - Bicester Outlets
The S5 bus stop was a 5-minute walk from the hotel. We had already checked the bus schedules and stops the day before after returning from Blenheim Palace, so the next morning we just needed to time our arrival.
If going to Bicester Village or another city, buying train tickets a few days in advance could save a lot of money. Do not buy tickets to Bicester North; buy them to Bicester Village, which includes the connecting bus fee.
The outlets opened at 10 AM on Sunday. We had checked in advance that the Information Center offered free luggage storage, but space was limited. Since my daughter would take her suitcase to the outlets and then go directly back to school from there, we arrived at the Information Center 15 minutes early and checked in her luggage.
As expected, the proportion of Chinese people in the outlets was quite high, and there were promotional activities for China's National Day. So we shopped until my daughter had to catch her train back to Bristol.
After she left, I wandered a bit more for another hour, then went to the Information Center to pick up my luggage and took a bus directly to Oxford's long-distance coach station, from where I took a coach to London's Victoria Station and then the subway to my hotel. The hotel in London was a 6-minute walk from Earl's Court Underground Station. Compared to a B&B, one advantage of the hotel was its 24-hour front desk, so I didn't have to worry about missing the check-in time.
Monday, September 25
London is a place full of history, culture, and modern vitality, with abundant museums, art galleries, historical sites, and world-famous attractions. I recalled that I had been to the UK four or five times before; my last visit to London was ten years ago. The treasures in museums were my favorites, so this time I had to include them.
In the early morning, I took the subway and strolled through the universities LSE and KCL. It was the start of the semester, and I saw students coming and going with energetic figures. Then I walked to Trafalgar Square and spent a full four hours in the National Gallery, even then only selectively viewing representative masterpieces. All art museums in London are free, which is rare among major world cities. The London government does a good job in promoting culture and arts. Inside, I saw many students sitting on the floor with a teacher lecturing. It felt like the gallery was just a bookstore by the roadside—you could enter whenever you wanted to read. That felt particularly wonderful.
The space was spacious, the crowd was manageable, and the exhibition layout allowed us to appreciate the works up close.
The Wallace Collection: The Wallace Collection is a small museum often overlooked by tourists but very much worth visiting. It is a museum accumulated through five generations of the Marquess of Hertford family, primarily collecting European paintings and antiques from the 15th to 18th centuries. The entire museum, from the outside to the inside, reflects the exquisite and ornate aesthetics of that period. Stepping inside felt like time travel. It is open seven days a week, and admission is free. Museum hours: daily 10:00-17:00, except December 24-26.
Among the collection, the painting "The Swing" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard is famous, while the porcelain highlights are Sèvres porcelain. The Wallace Collection is now one of the world's major collections of such porcelain. The rooms are themed by color, all in Rococo style, noble and luxurious. The museum building itself was the Hertford family mansion, so while viewing the exhibits, you can also get a glimpse of the lifestyle and aesthetic taste of the wealthy back then. All kinds of crystal chandeliers sparkled under the reflection of mirrors; the finely crafted furniture and porcelain complemented each other perfectly. Walking on the creaking old staircases felt like traveling through time.
The Wallace Collection was not far from Oxford Street on foot. That day I kept going from morning to night, cherishing my last day in the UK. In London, every brick and tile seemed built from history. Walking on the bustling streets, ignoring the passersby, was like traversing historical time and space.
Key points for independent travel:
1. You can buy an Oyster card in London for convenient travel, though it may not be cheap. You can keep it for next time instead of refunding it.
2. Trainline offers passes. If you take a lot of trains, the pass is well worth the money. It is advisable to estimate in advance.
3. Having visited London and Oxford many times, I am very attracted to their numerous humanities museums and art galleries.
4. The UK no longer offers tax refunds, and prices have risen this time. At the outlets, unless you buy clearance items, the price advantage is not significant. The benefit is that items are more genuine than from e-commerce.
