Date spot in Oxford

The Ashmolean

Browse Britain's oldest public museum, free to get in, from Egyptian mummies to paintings by Turner and Pissarro, then have a drink at the rooftop restaurant.

The Ashmolean's pale stone columned front with banners, seen across Beaumont Street

Beaumont Street, city centre

Address: Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
  • Culture
  • Rain-proof โ˜”
  • Free

Why it's a good date: Free, beautiful and big enough to get pleasantly lost in. Pick a gallery each and show each other your favourite thing.

More from our Oxford guide

  • The Museum of Natural History's soaring hall of iron columns and glass roof above dinosaur skeletons and display cases

    Pitt Rivers and the Museum of Natural History

    Parks Road

    Address: South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PP
    • Culture
    • Rain-proof โ˜”
    • Free

    Walk under the iron and glass roof of the Museum of Natural History, past the dinosaurs and the dodo, and through to the crammed, dimly lit cases of the Pitt Rivers.

    Why it's a good date: Two free museums in one visit, and the Pitt Rivers is gloriously odd: there's something strange in every drawer. A perfect rain plan.

    Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)

  • A wide gravel path along the edge of Christ Church Meadow, with trees, a low stone wall and college buildings behind

    Christ Church Meadow

    St Aldate's or Rose Lane, city centre

    Address: St Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1DP
    • Outdoors
    • Free
    • Romantic

    Walk the loop round Christ Church Meadow, down Poplar Walk to the Thames, along the river and back by the Cherwell, with the college towers above the trees.

    Why it's a good date: Countryside two minutes from the High Street, often with longhorn cattle grazing in the middle. Watch the rowers on the river, and finish at the Botanic Garden next door.

  • The River Thames running beside the flat green expanse of Port Meadow under a clear blue sky

    Port Meadow and the Trout

    From Walton Well Road, Jericho, to Godstow Road, Wolvercote

    Address: The Trout Inn, 195 Godstow Road, Wolvercote, Oxford OX2 8PN
    • Outdoors
    • Cheap and cheerful
    • Best in Spring, Summer, Autumn
    • Cosy

    Walk across Port Meadow, open common land where horses and cattle roam, and up the Thames Path to the Trout Inn at Wolvercote for a drink by the weir.

    Why it's a good date: Big skies and wide water barely a mile from the centre, with a riverside pub as the reward. Go for sunset on a summer evening, when the meadow glows.

From our guide to date ideas in Oxford

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