Greetings students! Welcome to Oxford! You can find everything you need to know about Oxford life in our Freshers' Guide.To celebrate your arrival we have gathered up a few treats for you. Fancy a winning a free meal? Free cinema tickets? Free escape room session? Then enter the competition - here's what's up for grabs:
1. An escape room adventure for 2-6 people PLUS a downloadable play-at-home game to host a games night, courtesy of Escape Hunt!
2. A meal for 2 and drinks worth up to £40 at The Up In Arms!
3. A pair of tickets to see a film at the Ultimate Picture Palace!
4. Pie and pints for 2 at the Perch's Pop Up Pie Shop!
5. An unlimited Sri Lankan Feast For Two at The Coconut Tree!
6. 1 litre of gelato or sorbetto and a box of handmade chocolates from iScream Gelateria!
7. An NYC-inspired Lunch for two at at Dirty Bones!
8. A tour for 2 people including gin tasters (worth £40) at The Oxford Artisan Distillery!
9. An Italian dinner for 2 at Mamma Mia Pizzeria!
10. 3 chances to win: a 1-month gym pass at Buzzgym!
Competition deadline: 28th October. Please note that due to coronavirus some prizes may be subject to change (but they will still be awesome!). This competition is only open to Freshers (undergraduate and graduate), so please use your college/ university email address, otherwise we can't verify your entry!
The pressure’s on, the clock’s ticking, the adrenaline’s pumping. Step into new worlds and new adventures with an Escape Hunt escape room for up to six people - escape the Wild West, help the Mad Hatter without losing your head or save the human race with Doctor Who. Then, from the world's most audacious heist to searching for gold in an aztec treasure hunt, hey've got something for everyone with download, print and play gaming adventures filled with puzzles and riddles to enjoy at home.
The Up In Arms is part of the Dodo Pub Co, a family of pubs in Oxford which also includes The Rickety Press in Jericho and the Rusty Bicycle in Cowley. Their ethos is 'Eat, Drink and Be Social', and it shows, with their extremely popular menu of burgers and stone-baked pizzas, to enjoy in their stylish spaces and lovely beer gardens. At The Up, there's also a 'cake hole', open to serve delicious treats from Barefoot Bakery throughout the day.
Ultimate Picture Palace, located just off the Cowley Road, is the perfect independent cinema for students to unwind and watch a variety of mainstream, niche and classic films. A bar serving a range of drinks and snacks ensures your experience is complete with all the old-timey glamour of going to the movies. Plus, their auditorium is fully Covid-secure, with socially distanced seating, a one-way system, screens at the Box Office, and, of course, plenty of hand sanitizer, so you can enjoy your choice of film in safety and comfort.
Rewarding intrepid students who walk across Port Meadow to Binsey, The Perch is a traditional countryside pub with a lovely atmosphere, notable for fabulous food. To ensure that visitors can continue to enjoy everything they have to offer while maintaining social distancing, they've introduced a heated marquee to their popular garden, where they're hosting a Pop Up Pie Shop every Saturday between now and Christmas!
We've teamed up with Sri Lankan street food restaurant The Coconut Tree to offer you the chance to win a fabulous feast and some signature 'cocotails' for you and a friend, any day of the week except Saturday. The winning party will enjoy an explosion of flavours in The Coconut Tree's authentic Sri Lankan dishes - including traditional Hoppers, devilled dishes, delicious curries and an array of vibrant vegan and vegetarian treats. If you aren't lucky enough to be chosen as our winner, don't forget, The Coconut Tree is offering 50% off all food and non alcoholic drinks, Monday - Wednesday (eat in) until the end of January 2021!
Tucked away in the Covered Market is Oxford's first gelateria. Family-run iScream only use the freshest, free range ingredients to make their sumptuous sorbettos and gelatos while also selling gourmet chocolates from their sister shop, Wicked Chocolate (which transforms into a magical Egg Emporium in the run-up to Easter). It is the destination if you're looking for an indulgent treat.
Standing proud at the top of the swanky Westgate Centre, Dirty Bones offers inventive New-York-inspired cuisine and cocktails, making them a great choice for a special dinner, a boozy brunch or memorable pre-drinks. What's more, they're extending their Eat Out to Help Out offer through October - 50% off food and soft drinks (up to £10) when you book for their earlier dinner sitting, between 4pm and 6pm, Mondays-Wednesdays.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) is Oxford's first and most sustainable distillery - in their handmade stills, they produce delicious spirits from grains grown within 50 miles of the city. Their tours are a must for any lover of botanicals - particularly as they include lots of tastings - and have been reworked to ensure they're Covid-proofed. If you visit on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday you can opt to finish up by relaxing in TOAD's newly-established open air bar.
A frontrunner in the competition for 'best pizza in Oxford', Mamma Mia have been serving up perfectly chewy, crispy crusts with a mouth-watering range of toppings, and indulgently authentic pasta, for decades. With branches in Jericho and Summertown, it's a great place to take the parents when they visit, or grab a takeaway when you're in need!
Want to stay in shape without being restricted to normal gym opening times? Buzz Gym, located in the Westgate, is open 24 hours and has two studios, live DJs, a dedicated cross training area, and a state of the art free weight training zone, plus free fitness classes when you become a member. And they've taken a raft of measures to become fully Covid secure, so you can get all the physical and mental health benefits of exercise with confiedence that you'll stay safe.