Media

Thames Travel Pledges to Help Reduce Loneliness With New ‘Chatty Bus’ Campaign

Thames Travel has pledged to help support a national drive to tackle loneliness and social isolation with the launch of a Chatty Bus. The Thames Travel 41 service which operates between White Horse Leisure Centre and Abingdon town centre in Oxfordshire has been selected for the launch of the Chatty Bus on Tuesday (January 29th)….

Blenheim Palace Launches Search to Find Lost Fire Engine

Blenheim Palace has launched a nationwide search to try and track down one of its old fire engines. The Oxfordshire UNESCO World Heritage Site is appealing to anyone who may know the whereabouts of the Merryweather steam fire engine. Blenheim Palace had its own brigade from the mid to late 1800s and owned a variety…

Fairytale Farm Launches Winter Sale

Fairytale Farm, Oxfordshire’s magical farm attraction, is offering 12-month annual passes at a 25% discount off the 2018 price, which is its biggest ever sale. Farm owner, Nick Laister, explains that this offer will only be available for a limited time: “On 16th February, the price of our annual passes will be increasing to bring…

UK Expecting Boost in Visits from China as Chinese New Year Approaches

The UK is expecting a boost in visits from China as Chinese New Year approaches on Tuesday 5 February. Forward flight booking data showed that bookings from China to the UK were up 24% from Wednesday 30 January to Tuesday 12 February, compared to the period when Chinese New Year fell last year. Longer term…

Thames Travel Buck National Trend to Expand Great Western Park Service

Thames Travel has launched a new off-peak service between Didcot town centre and the southern neighbourhood of Great Western Park. The new Connector 97 service operates Monday to Friday with buses running hourly, connecting residents of Great Western Park to Didcot town centre. Additionally, the Connector 98 service from Didcot Parkway to the Great Western…

Thousands of Items Left on Oxford Bus Company Services per Year

The Oxford Bus Company have revealed the unusual items which were lost by passengers last year. Among the thousands of items left on buses and coaches in 2018 were a light sabre, a fireman’s hat, vampire teeth, a man’s toupee and a letter detailing sexual fantasies. And for the second year in a row a…

Oxford Bus Company Announce Additional X90 Stop in London

Oxford Bus Company has introduced a new stop in the capital on its X90 luxury coach service between Oxford and London. From 27 January Coaches will now also stop at White City to drop customers off towards London and pick them up travelling towards Oxford on the A40 Westway. The additional stop between the existing stops at Hillingdon…

Oxfordshire Artweeks 2019 set to be the UK’s biggest ever open studios event

Around 1000 artists and designer-makers – including two hundred new faces with fresh ideas – are preparing to hold their biggest ever festival this spring (4th-27th May). For 24 days, a colourful spectrum of artists, artisans and designers will be opening hundreds of studios and spaces, presenting pop-up exhibitions and giving demonstrations in interesting venues…

Leading Chinese designers to feature in first-ever pop-up curated by Susie Bubble at Bicester Village

For the first time, a unique edit of 10 cutting-edge young Chinese designers are to be featured at Bicester Village, to mark Chinese New Year. ‘Celebrating China’, a pop-up curated exclusively by leading fashion influencer Susie Bubble, will be hosted by the Oxfordshire-based shopping destination from 29 January to 17 February. Housing well-established designers such…

Cotswold Wildlife Park Welcomes New Cassowary

The Cotswold Wildlife Park were delighted to receive the Park’s first Cassowary, a young male. The Cassowary is an impressive member of the flightless ratite family which also contains Ostrich, Emu, Rhea and Kiwis. The Cassowary has been known to attack humans with the odd fatality recorded, due to its huge legs and razor-sharp claws which…

Oxford Bus Company ‘Brand the Bus’ Competition Winner Announced

Girlguiding Oxfordshire scoop first prize to have bus branded in its colours. Oxford Bus Company confirm competition is to become an annual event. Oxford Bus company have confirmed GirlGuiding Oxfordshire as the winner of the hotly contested Brand the Bus competition. GirlGuiding Oxfordshire have been invited to work with Oxford Bus Company to design a…

Macdonald Randolph Hotel - Ballroom Revamp

Macdonald Randolph Hotel Unveils New £100k Ballroom

Oxford’s leading five-star hotel, Macdonald Randolph Hotel, has transformed its grand ballroom after a £100,000 investment. The extensive remodel, which took just three months to complete, saw the spacious function suite undergo a complete refurbishment, including customised carpets and wallpaper using the Acanthus leaf, the plant which inspired the name of the hotel’s restaurant. Beautifully…

oxford-visitor-info-centre-wins-top-award

Oxford Visitor Information Centre wins Top Tourism Award

Oxford’s Visitor Information Centre has been named Information Service of the Year at last night’s Beautiful South Awards for Excellence which were held at the Grand Hotel Brighton, while Experience Oxfordshire’s ‘Oxford Official Walking Tours’ was awarded Highly Commended status for Guided Tour of the Year. The awards recognise and celebrate excellence in the tourism…

USA Tourism Leader Visits Oxford

Experience Oxfordshire were delighted to welcome Gavin Landry, the Director and Executive Vice President of VisitBritain Americas, to Oxford on the 28th October 2018. The visit was negotiated by Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire, Hayley Beer-Gamage, following on from increased activity in the USA market and a recent travel trade mission on territory. The VIP…

Oxfordshire is Home to UK’s Third Best Restaurant

Oxfordshire’s Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons has today been named third best-rated restaurant in the UK, according to the 2018 Travellers’ Choice Awards, announced today by the world’s largest travel site, TripAdvisor. As well as finishing up third in the UK fine dining restaurants rankings, Raymond Blanc’s Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons is named eighth…

Oxfordshire Exceeds Target for Visitor Spend

For Immediate Release: The recently published Economic Impact Report for Tourism in Oxfordshire, a report commissioned by Experience Oxfordshire, has shown a significant increase in visitor spend in 2017. The study shows an impressive increase in spend of 6% taking the value of the visitor economy spend to £2.17 billion, exceeding the target of 5%…

New Augmented Reality App Brings Oxford to Life Like Never Before

England Originals from England’s Historic Cities, has launched its very first app, bringing to life 16 historic destinations in England, including Oxford, using the power of augmented reality (AR). Created by Hex Digital and aimed primarily at international millennials looking to explore England, the app combines emerging technology and powerful storytelling to provide a fun…

Christmas Shopping Country Homes & Interiors Style

Discover a world of festive country style and gorgeous shopping at Country Homes & Interiors Christmas, returning to Stonor Park this November after a sold-out show last year. In collaboration with the magazine, this boutique event presents a handpicked collection of makers and country brands, with more than 100 stands brimming with beautiful home and…

Autumn arrivals: Largest rodent species in the world produce their first litter at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens

Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens is home to a diverse collection of over 1,500 animals from 250 different species, many of which are instantly recognisable, like the iconic Rhinos, Lions or Giraffes. Some of the creatures at the Park, particularly the more unusual looking or lesser-known species, incite a far more curious reaction from visitors…

New Exhibition at Pitt Rivers Museum: Intrepid Women: Fieldwork in Action 1910 to 1957

Why intrepid? The six women featured in this exhibition undertook ground breaking fieldwork at a time when women were not expected to excel. They all defied conventions, travelling to places where ‘ladies’ didn’t go, learning local languages and establishing relationships across cultural barriers. These women were all leaders in different ways and many survived physical…

Huge Project to Save Finest View in England Gets Under Way

One of the biggest civil engineering projects ever undertaken at a British stately home has got under way in Oxfordshire this month. Blenheim Palace is embarking on a rescue plan which will cost in the region of £12m to safeguard the future of its iconic Capability Brown landscaped grounds. Dubbed the finest view in England…