HOW IT RATES

Oxford’s dreaming spires have been inspiring scholars for centuries and the city offers historical wealth and beauty at every chiselled corner.

ARCHITECTURAL GEMS

The university’s major gift to the city is the grandeur of its beautiful buildings. The Radcliffe Camera is the pièce de résistance of the Bodleian Library, a golden sandstone dome in the cobbled Radcliffe Square. The Sheldonian Theatre was Christopher Wren’s first major work and sits next to the Jacobean part of the library.

WHAT'S NEW

Palladian Court is a mock-Georgian development on Cowley Road; prices from £265,000 (Knight Frank, 01865 790088). New-build schemes in local villages include the Aquarius estate at Witney (Barratt, 01993 771471) First-rate. A decent choice of shops and an impressive array of cafés in the centre, with villagey local areas in other parts of town. Some of the university parks are open to the public and are beautifully kept. Go for a summer picnic and a punt down the river for the full Brideshead experience.

TRAVEL

Trains to Paddington take 50 minutes, and the Oxford Tube coach service is regular, comfortable and cheap. On a good day you can drive to London in 1½ hours, Heathrow in an hour. A total of 138,600 people in the city of Oxford itself. Oxfordshire is the most rural county in the South East, with 46% of the population living in settlements of fewer than 10,000 people.

SMARTEST STREETS

The Norham Manor area between Banbury Road, University Park and the River Cherwell has huge properties. A detached house in this old haunt of Tolkien’s now sells for between £2 million and £4 million, while Jericho and Summertown are also in demand.

BEST RESTAURANTS

The Lemon Tree is lovely for summer dining, while Gee’s is the romantic hotspot. Quod is a firm favourite for a family Sunday lunch and the Chiang Mai Kitchen does good Thai. A tiny treasure is the family-run Japanese, Edamame, on Holywell Street. The Grand Café is the best place for tea.

TOP NIGHTLIFE

Little Clarendon Street has pretty fairy lights, an ice-cream parlour and a good choice of bars. The Turf Tavern has chestnuts roasting in the courtyard. Freud is a striking cocktail bar on Walton Street. The Oxford Playhouse runs a mix of professional and student productions.

EDUCATION

The reason for Oxford’s existence, excellence pervades the schools as well. The renowned St Edward’s School is on Woodstock Road and Magdalen College School is a boys’ choir school with high academic standards. Oxford High School for girls also has a good reputation, as does the Dragon School.

WORKING LIFE

20% of the working population is employed in education, followed by 16% in property and 14% in health and social work. The motor trade (wholesale, retail and repair) is Oxford’s major industry, providing 12% of Oxford’s jobs.

UPSIDE

The Ashmolean is England’s oldest museum, with an extensive collection of Oriental, Middle Eastern and European art. If you visit only one college, make it Christchurch for the Harry Potter dining hall, the porters’ traditional bowler hats and the sublime Evensong in the miniature cathedral. Oxford is a haven for bookworms, with scores of secondhand bookshops, while vintage fashion at its most haphazard can be found in Unicorn on Ship Street.

DOWNSIDE

Traffic can be unbelievably bad for such a small city. If you are not linked with the university you have to pay to enter most of the colleges, and many areas are closed at certain times. Cornmarket and Queen Street let the general aesthetic down.

£342,324

The average property price in Oxford

13%

The increase in house prices in Oxford over the past three months

235%

The increase in house prices in Oxford over the past decade

22%

The percentage of people in Oxfordshire who live in the city of Oxford

Explore Property

• Buying & Selling

• New Homes

• Overseas

• Interiors

• Investment

• Gardens

• Cool In Your Code

• Specials

• First-time buyer

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers