Page 212 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

£16.30/free; h10am-6pm AONB (Area of Outstanding declared a cathedral by
Mar-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Feb; Natural Beauty) to Oxford (59 Henry VIII.
tHigh St Kensington) miles in total). Other highlights
World-leading, often- include Oxford’s Bodleian
free museums and art 2 Oxford Library (%01865-287400;
galleries include the Tate www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley;
Modern (www.tate.org.uk; Oxford’s elegant honey- Catte St; tours £6-14; h9am-
Queen’s Walk, SE1; h10am- toned buildings of the 5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun),
6pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat; university’s colleges, scat- one of the oldest public li-
c; tBlackfriars, Southwark tered throughout the city, braries in the world, and
or London Bridge) and the wrap around tranquil Britain’s oldest public
British Museum (%020- courtyards and along museum, the 1683-
7323 8299; www.british narrow cobbled lanes. established Ashmolean
museum.org; Great Russell St, The oldest colleges date Museum (%01865-
WC1; h10am-5.30pm Sat-Thu, back to the 13th century 278000; www.ashmolean.org;
to 8.30pm Fri; tRussell Sq or and little has changed Beaumont St; h10am-5pm
Tottenham Court Rd). inside since, although Tue-Sun), second in repute
London’s drinking, there’s a busy, lively only to London’s British
dining and nightlife op- world beyond the college Museum.
tions are limitless (Soho walls. Christ Church The Drive » Head southwest
and Shoreditch make (%01865-276492; www.chch. on the A420 to Pusey and
great starting points), ox.ac.uk; St Aldate’s; adult/ continue southwest on the
as are its entertain- child £8/7; h10am-4.15pm B4508. You’ll reach the car
GREAT BRITAIN 15 THE BEST OF BRITAIN
ment venues, not least Mon-Sat, 2-4.15pm Sun) is the park for the White Horse 2.3
grand theatre stages largest of all of Oxford’s miles southwest of Uffington off
such as Shakespeare’s colleges, with the grand- the B4507, a 24-mile journey
altogether.
Globe (%020-7401 9919; est quad. From the quad,
www.shakespearesglobe. you access 12th-century
com; 21 New Globe Walk, Christ Church Cathedral 3 Uffington White
SE1; seats £10-43, standing (%01865-276150; www.chch.
ox.ac.uk/cathedral; St Aldate’s; Horse
£5; tBlackfriars or London
Bridge). admission free; h10am- Just below Oxfordshire’s
4.15pm Mon-Sat, 2-4.15pm highest point, the highly
4 p219 Sun), originally the abbey stylised Uffington White
church and then the col-
The Drive » Take the M40 Horse (NT; www.national-
northwest through High lege chapel, before it was trust.org.uk; White Horse Hill;
Wycombe and the Chilterns hdawn-dusk) image is the
oldest chalk figure in
Britain, dating from the
TOP TIP: Bronze Age. It was cre-
LONDON’S ated around 3000 years
CONGESTION CHARGE ago by cutting trenches
out of the hill and filling
Central London levies a congestion charge (www. them with blocks of
tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging) from chalk; local inhabitants
7am to 6pm Monday to Friday (excluding public have maintained the fig-
holidays). Entering the ‘C’-marked zone costs £11.50 ure for centuries. Perhaps
(in advance or on the day) or £14 (by midnight on the it was planned for the
first charging day after travel). You can pay online, at gods: it’s best seen from
petrol stations or some shops. the air above. It’s a half-
mile walk east through

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