Nightlife

The Performing Arts

Highly acclaimed orchestras playing in truly lovely settings mark the Music at Oxford series at the Oxford Playhouse Theatre, Beaumont Street (tel. 01865/305305; www.oxfordplayhouse.com). The autumn season runs from mid-September to December, the winter season from January to April, and the spring-summer season from May to early July. Tickets range from £10 to £37 ($19-$70). Classical music is performed by outstanding groups such as the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Canterbury Musical Society, the Bournemouth Symphony, and the Guild Hall String Ensemble of London. All performances are held in the Sheldonian Theatre, a particularly attractive site, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, with paintings on the ceiling. The Playhouse Box Office is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm (or half an hour after the start of an evening performance) and from at least 2 hours before a performance on Sunday.

New Theatre (formerly the Apollo), George Street (tel. 01865/320760 for administration, or call Ticketmaster tel. 0870/606-3500 for bookings), is Oxford's primary theater. Tickets are £10 to £56 ($19 to $106). A continuous run of comedy, ballet, drama, opera, and even rock contributes to the variety. The Welsh National Opera often performs, and the Glyndebourne Touring Opera appears regularly. Advance booking is recommended, though some shows may have tickets the week of the performance. Don't try for tickets for popular shows on the same day. The box office is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 8pm (6pm if there is no evening performance).

Pubs with a Pedigree

Every college town the world over has a fair number of bars, but few can boast local watering holes with such atmosphere and history as Oxford.

A short block from The High, overlooking the north side of Christ Church College, the Bear Inn, on 6 Alfred St. (tel. 01865/728164), is an Oxford landmark, built in the 13th century and mentioned time and time again in English literature. The Bear brings together a wide variety of people in a relaxed way. You may talk with a raja from India, a university don, or a titled gentleman who's the latest in a line of owners that goes back more than 700 years. Some former owners developed an astonishing habit: clipping neckties. Around the lounge bar you'll see the remains of thousands of ties, which have been labeled with their owners' names.

Even older than the Bear is the Turf Tavern, 7 Bath Place (off Holywell St.; tel. 01865/243235), on a very narrow passageway near the Bodleian Library. The pub is reached via St. Helen's Passage, which stretches between Holywell Street and New College Lane. (You'll probably get lost, but any student worth his beer can direct you.) Thomas Hardy used the place as the setting for Jude the Obscure. It was "the local" of the future U.S. president Bill Clinton during his student days at Oxford. In warm weather, you can choose a table in any of the three separate gardens that radiate outward from the pub's central core. For wintertime warmth, braziers are lighted in the courtyard and in the gardens. A food counter set behind a glass case displays the day's fare -- salads, soups, sandwiches, and so on. Local ales (including one named Headbanger, with a relatively high alcohol content) are served, as well as a range of wines.

Just outside of town, hidden away some 4km (2 1/2 miles) north of Oxford, the Trout Inn, 195 Godstow Rd., Wolvercote (tel. 01865/302071), is a private world where you can get ale and beer and standard fare. Have your drink in one of the historic rooms, with their settles (wooden benches), brass, and old prints, or go out in sunny weather to sit on a stone wall. On the grounds are peacocks, ducks, swans, and herons that live in and around the river and an adjacent weir pool; they'll join you if you're handing out crumbs. Take an arched stone bridge, architecture with wildly pitched roofs and gables, add the Thames River, and you have the Trout. The Smoking Room, the original 12th-century part, complements the inn's relatively "new" 16th-century bars. Daily specials are featured. Hot meals are served all day in the restaurant; salads are featured in summer, and there are grills in winter. On your way there and back, look for the view of Oxford from the bridge. Take bus no. 6A, 6B, or 6C to Wolvercote, and then walk 1km (a half-mile); it's also fun to bike here from Oxford. Open hours are Sunday noon to 10:30pm, Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm.

The Clubs: Blues, Jazz & "Celtic Rock"

As a sign of the times, Freud, Walton Street (tel. 01865/311171), has turned a 19th-century church, stained-glass windows and all, into a jazz and folk club with an expansive array of drink choices. The cover charge is £4.50 ($8.55) after 10pm on Friday and Saturday. Open Monday to Wednesday 11am to 1am and Thursday to Saturday 11 to 2am.

OFS, 40 George St. (tel. 01865/297170), covers all the bases, including live entertainment, a bar, theater, art museum, and a science museum called Curiosity, with a light show and other exhibits. Music cover charges begin at 9:30pm and are £5 ($9.50) nightly. Offerings change nightly but include 1970s disco, blues, jazz, and local bands. Open 9pm to 2am.

Zodiac, 190 Crowley Rd. (tel. 01865/420042), presents everything from easy listening to "Celtic Rock." The cover varies from £5 to £15 ($9.50-$29) depending on the group featured. It's usually open from about 7pm to 2am daily. Club ownership is shared by some major English bands, and local and big-name bands are featured along with DJs, so call ahead to be sure of what you're getting.