visiting the oxford botanic garden

Right around a month has passed since I moved to my new home in Oxford :) It’s surprisingly been warm these past few days here, and I’ve been enjoying the sun when it manages to show itself in the puffy clouds. I’ve had some uneventful weekends of reading texts for lectures since we entered October but I finally did something touristy I can share! Last Sunday morning Simone, Anna, and I visited the Oxford Botanic gardens, known to be the oldest botanic garden in Britain :)

The garden is near the city center so I cycled down the hill for about 15 minutes to get there. The entrance to the garden is a beautiful gateway built in 1632 which gives a prestigious welcome to all the visitors. Before we entered the garden, we didn’t expect to see too much considering the season, but we were surprised to see some flowers here and there in full bloom. The majority of the flowers and trees are imported from all over the world, including countries half way across the world like Brazil and Japan :) We all loved the tree called the English Yew Tree that was planted all the way back in 1645!

** photo credits to Simone :)

Apart from the main gardens, we also got to see the greenhouses with some tropical plants and a vegetable garden with little cubicles of each veggie. With the river and all the punting boats nearby, the antique fountain at the center, and the view of the church in the back, the setting was hands down perfect. It’s a great place to take a stroll around the garden on a weekend morning or maybe even to wind down after a day. We definitely will come back in the spring to see all the other flowers we didn’t get to see this time.

Do pay a visit to the gardens if you ever come down to Oxford!

More info about the garden is here!