Favorite Spots or General Recommendations.

Banking | Dining | Fitness | Food Staples | Household Goods & Supply Stores | Mobile Phone | Tourist Gifts | Weather

The Weather: Rain

• The key to happiness is simply to be prepared for rain every day and to never expect sunshine! It is unanimously agreed upon - by hard-won experience - that the only day you forget your rain coat is the day you will get rained on =) Thus, seek the beauty in the mild, soothing greys and lush greens brought on by the ever present moisture, savor the majestic display of clouds, and react to any snippet of sunshine as a delightful gift.
• Also see the "Transportation - Bike Tips" section for tips on how to prepare for biking through the English weather

Tourist Gift Ideas

• Official University of Oxford shop on high street
• Covered Market off High Street- Oxford Aromatics, Cardews Coffee & Tea, Dragon Den (Kashmiri Crafts & Art)
• Postcards from broad street shops (send from post office on St. Aldates Rd, near Christ Church College)
• Blackwell's Book Shop on Broad Street
• Scriptum Fine Stationary
• Candy, game, and lotion shoppes (such as Neal's Yard) on High Street near the corner of Longwall Street

Dining

Scrumptious yet great value options

Open Late:

• Nando's
  • Wonderful chicken. there's a halal one on Cowley Rd, the vegetarian aubergine with holoumi burger is a great option if closest to George Street Nandos (non-halal)
• Burger stands in Gloucester Green (halal)
• Bodrum Kebab (halal)
  • Turkish food on Cowley Rd near Manzil Way
• Kebab Kid (halal)
  • In  Gloucester Green and on Cowley Rd
• Kebab Vans (halal)
  • I can't advise on favorites here. I didn't eat at them mostly due to their prolific use of Styrofoam which never bio-degra de and are thus very bad for the environment - but they remain a huge favorite among students as a meal-option.
• Nosebag off St. Michael's St
  • Veggie soups, the fruit salads, and desserts are scrumptious. Incredible atmosphere (wood and windows), great central location, and wonderful spot for small-lunch meetings.

Closed by 5:00:

• Covered Market:
• Georgina's cafe (great salads, amazing ambience)
• Ben's Cookies
• Moomoo's Milkshakes
• Crepes
  • Greek cuisine on Cowl ey Rd - amazing fresh hummous, rose biscuits, bak lava, and more
• Cafe Creme (halal)
• Locations on High Street and Broad Street
• Morton's
  • Not halal, but great discounts around closing time
• Meli (halal)

Closed by 6:00 or so:

• Maison Blanc - on corner of Little Clarendon and Woodstock Rd - (goat cheese baguette)
• Green's Cafe - Woodstock rd - (feta cheese and pine nuts on a brown baguette, toasted)

Practical:

• Green T empleton Lunch
  • 12:30-1:45 weekdays only - most gourmet and best priced meal anywhere in Oxford! - for students only
  • Generally student college's lunches are all great value
• Said Business School Cafeteria (halal)
  • Breakfast till 11am, Lunch 12:00 - 2:00, Dinner 6:30 - 8:00

Nice Restaurants:

• Gourmet Burger Kitchen 2 for 1 student discount - george Steert (discount doesn't work thursday-sunday) (halal chicken)
• Pizza Express with online coupon
• 4500 Miles from Dehli on park end street (higher end prices, no coupons, student menu but doesn't apply thursday - sunday, great authentic punja bi style food - chicken korma + pakoras)
• Saffron - very tasety chicken curry

Other:

• Obtain Oxford University Islamic Society discount card for full list of many halal places to eat

Food Staples

• Co-Operative
  • On Walton Steet - stays open till 12 at night
• Tesco's Metro
  • On St. Giles or on Cowley - open late
• Sainsbury's local on St. Giles near city centre (more expensive) or in the Clarenden Shopping Centre
• Many places in Cowley such as Simpli Fresh
• Covered Market
• Fruit discounts towards the end of the day (more discounted)
• Farmer's Markets
• In Gloucester Green, such as on Wednesdays


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• Argos
  • Electronics and other household goods
  • It's a great discount type store. you choose the product from a catalouge, pay for it, and then pick up an item.
  • They think it's strange when you ask to see the item before purchasing it!
  • Ordering online for pickup works really well
• Boswells
  • Electronics and other household goods
• Primark
  • Department store with low priced products
• Debenhams
  • Department store
  • On the corner of George St and Cornmarket
• Ryman's
  • School Supplies - on High Street
• Staples
  • School Supplies - on Park End St

• In the UK it's just about free to text (sms) and free to receive calls with any phone plan!
• "Top-ups" or adding more phone minutes can be easily done via the phone, online, at atms and almost any store you make purchases at.
• For short-term internatinal students I recommend either a pay as you go or month-to-month - I chose orange in part because it seemed to offer good value while coming well recommended for coverage. I could also easily cancel my month-to-month at any time.
• Note that the customer service isn't free to call from your mobile if you're on a pay-as-you go plan!!

• As of 2010, Lloyds is the only one that offers free banking for students
• Note: it takes a lot of documentation and time to set up a bank account before it your funds are easily accessible via a debit card. Make sure you take all necessary documentation with you (passport, proof of address, etc.) and plan to subsist on cash or an international credit/debit card for at least a week.
• The use of debit cards for purchases is the widespread norm.
• Cheques are not generally accepted and are very seldom used. Some banks don't even offer cheque books with your account type.
• It is not common to receive receipts for transactions done with the teller (customer service representative).
• Bank transfers are a common way to make and give payment - one just shares their account number and sort code number (can be found on your debit card)