With delightful landscape all around, a river cutting through the heart of the city and honey-coloured buildings from centuries past most everywhere you look, driving in Oxford and beyond is a pleasure.

The centre itself is relatively small, and there’s a large student population, so free on-street paring is at a premium. In most areas you’ll visit, you’ll need to buy a ticket from a meter. There are car parks dotted across town, such as at Gloucester Green, Worcester Street and Oxpens, for longer stays. If you’re staying outside of the city and want to explore the centre on foot, you can use the ‘park and ride’ at Redbridge, located just off the A34 in Abingdon. Watch out for a number of bus-only lanes and one-way streets. Inside the town, the top speed limit is 30mph.

There’s an outer ring-road to Oxford, made up of sections of the A40, A34 and Eastern By-Pass Road – it allows you to avoid the centre, access it from various directions, and link up with the wider road network. The A40 links with the M40 just to the east of Oxford, the best way to head through the Chilterns to London. Take the M40 north for Royal Leamington Spa and the Midlands.

Take the A34 south and you’ll pass through the North Wessex Downs en route to Winchester and the south coast. The Cotswolds can be reached via both the A40, which cuts through the centre and goes to Cheltenham, or the A44 which runs along the eastern edge, through Chipping Norton and Chipping Campden. The other major routes are the A43 north-east to Northampton, and the A420 south-west to Swindon.

You could easily spend a long weekend here just idling around the university buildings, pottering by the river and making an inroad into a museum or two. But there’s plenty more to see and do in Oxford, with brilliant places to dine, and both bold British landscapes and historical houses nearby.

Treasures of the past

The Ashmolean Museum may not have the instant name recognition of the British Museum or the V&A, but it’s very much in their league. It opened in the late 17^th century, although the building that houses the present collection was built in 1845. It’s a place of constant addition and innovation, with new galleries being added to bolster the already impressive old ones.

Here be fine pre-Raphaelite paintings, archaeological finds and the 9^th century Alfred Jewel, a rare piece of Anglo-Saxon jewellery. There are sketches from Michelangelo and da Vinci, and paintings by Turner, Picasso, Cezanne, Titian and countless more besides. It’s all-encompassing, with ancient pottery close by Cromwell’s death mask, a Stradivarius violin and Egyptian antiquities. It even houses Guy Fawkes’ lantern from the Gunpowder Plot. Best of all, this treasure trove is entirely free to visit.

Oxford’s dreaming spires

The numerous colleges that make up Oxford University each have their own story to tell, their own famous alumni and, more often than not, their own stunning buildings. Merton has claims to be the oldest and has been open since 1264. The exterior is bedecked with gargoyles, while there’s a 13^th century chapel with a rich atmosphere. Poke your head in the Old Library, here since medieval times, and you can picture JRR Tolkien writing The Lord of the Rings here.

There’s more splendour hewn from stone at Magdalen College, noted for its 15^th century cloisters, the lawns and deer park. On a summer’s day, the riverside walks here are sheer bliss, and you’ll be treading in the footsteps of Oscar Wild and CS Lewis, who both went here. Fans of Harry Potter will want to see Christ Church, parts of which were used as Hogwarts castle. Wander the quad and meadow, crane your neck to see the elements Sir Christopher Wren added to the Tom Tower and on into the Great Hall, where real prime ministers dined, and also fictional wizards – this was the inspiration for the Hogwarts Dining Hall.

A luscious library

The Bodleian is one of the world’s great libraries. Opened in the Middle Ages, it is a place where kings, authors and poets have sheltered and studied over the centuries. It’s a grand and venerable place, full of ancient manuscripts. You can tour some of them on your own, others you’ll need to be guided through – the stories are worth it.

Close by is the Radcliffe Camera (camera meaning, simply, room), a handsome landmark finished in 1749, which functions as a reading room for the Bodleian. You can only access it as part of the extended Bodleian tour, but it’s an absolute must for its Palladian styling.

With Oxford car hire you can ensure you see all the majesty of the university buildings before venturing forth to explore more of the beguiling countryside nearby.