Advantages I quiet place in a city where it can be hard to find a peaceful spot
Disadvantages It's not Kew Gardens
Detailed Rating
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It's typical of many of the city's attractions that they tend to be pretty much ignored by students and others who live there. I'm ashamed to say that the list of attractions I ignored was a shocking one. I never went to the Ashmolean Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum or the Museum of the History of Science when I lived in the city despite all of them being free. However when it came to the Botanical Gardens, you could hardly keep me away. It might have had something to do with being on my way home or more likely because of having a massive crush on someone who lived in the accommodation building adjacent to the gardens but then again, perhaps I had a middle-aged interest in gardening long before I should have.
From the end of the gardens you can look back across the entire space and see the tower of Magdalen College beyond. This is the tower where the famous May Morning singing takes place and where particularly low water levels this year meant a high police presence to stop revellers jumping off the bridge and into the river.
The gardens have a small shop at the entrance but it sells very little. There's a small gallery showing paintings or photographs for which entrance is free of charge but it will only take a few minutes to see it. There are no catering facilities – the classic attraction of teashop tourism is not played out in this centre of academic botany and study. Also be aware there are only two toilets for each sex and they are well hidden. As always happens the ladies' has a long queue and the facilities are not sign-posted or shown on the free map that you receive. Just for reference, when you leave the payment booth and the shop, turn left towards the river and left again past the conservatory and they are hidden out of sight.There are more impressive gardens in the UK but if you find yourself in Oxford this is the best there is to visit and it offers a quiet place for contemplation, picnics and sunbathing. Compared to the cost of many public botanical gardens I consider it a bit of a bargain and I recommend it highly as somewhere you can see great displays without needing half a day to look round.
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silverstreak 31/07/2011 05:22
KathEv 20/05/2011 16:21
brereton66 09/05/2011 14:11
tallulahbang 08/05/2011 19:20
I'm impressed you managed to work the phrase 'sweaty intensity' into a review that's not about porn. xx
Silverback 08/05/2011 08:08
How spooky - I was here a few weeks ago too, though on a rainy day, I had it virtually to myself. Highlight was seeing one of the staff stroll into the tropical house and pick a banana for his lunch! Paul (PS: I also took a picture of that lumpy lemon.)