Regional Guide - East Oxford
St Clements
Our properties in this area are always hotly contested, being located at the end of the High Street, in between the city centre and colleges, and Brookes Gipsy Lane and Headington Campus’. Local buses are frequent to everywhere in Oxford, and you can also hop on coaches to London and the airports here.
St Clements itself is a vibrant area, boasting a selection of great restaurants, Fishers and La Cucina in particular, and also a couple of outstanding bars- Kazbar is a much loved favourite. Cowley and Iffley Roads are just a short walk away.
Cowley Road, including Temple Cowley
Cowley Road and the streets around here are where the highest concentration of the Oxford student population is based. Most of the houses here are Victorian, and many have undergone fantastic interior upgrades (see left) and now offer some of the best accommodation in Oxford.
Perfect for students at either university, the local buses run regularly into the centre of town and to Headington (but it’s also short walk or cycle if you like that kind of thing).
The Cowley Road is made up of a multicultural mix of vibrant restaurants, local bars and pubs, many of which run great deals for students. Among the places worth a look are the Hobgoblin, Café Baba, Brickworks, Café Tarifa and the Star.
The music scene here is very much alive, and you can catch everything from local bands and jazz nights at the Bullingdon Arms, to regular student nights, big name acts and DJs in the 0²Academy.
Temple Cowley is at the top of Cowley Road, and is a quieter area with some good local shops and a 24hr Tesco within walking distance. Pubs are scarce in this area, but there are several great takeaways and a very good curry house, Karma. Bus links here are excellent for getting to Headington, Brookes, and the city centre.
Headington
For many Brookes students, this is the perfect place to set up home, as it is where the Gipsy Lane and Headington Hill campuses are located. There is a wide range of housing available in this area, and most are within walking distance of the university. If you are a medic, this is a great place to be, as the John Radcliffe, Warneford and Churchill hospitals are all nearby.
The central area in Headington has a decent range of shops, good restaurants including Bar Meze and the Black Boy, and a few good pubs- the Britannia and the White Horse are two of the best.
You can catch regular buses into the city centre and rest of Oxford from outside the university and in central Headington, and the coaches to London and the airports also pass this way.
Marston
The houses in this part of the city are mostly 1930s and semi-detached, often much more spacious than the Victorian houses in the rest of the city. Favoured by Brookes and Oxford students alike, Marston has great links to both the city centre, Headington, and the hospitals. The cycle path through university parks makes getting to the Oxford science departments very easy, and the parks themselves are a fantastic retreat.
Although this is certainly a quieter area, there are local shops and a couple of friendly local pubs that serve great food- don’t miss the Somerset.
Iffley Road and Iffley Fields
With housing similar to that on and around the Cowley Road, Iffley Road is another area popular with all students. Accommodation is versatile in this area, ranging between 2 bedroom apartments and 7 bedroom houses. It is a short walk into the city centre, but you will also find regular buses running daily to both town and the train station.
Whilst the hustle and bustle of the Cowley Road shops and bars only a few minutes walk away, you can find some hidden gems on the connecting streets. The Rusty Bicycle, The Oxford Blue, and The Fir Tree are all worth a visit, and the Nepalese restaurant, Everest, on Howard Street will blow your tastebuds but not your budget.