We recently enjoyed a mini break and whistle-stop visit to Oxford and Bath. Here’s what we did during our romantic weekend away.
Between lockdowns, house moves and new jobs, my partner and I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to both Bath and Oxford. This was thanks to a cheap Wowcher deal and the determination to get a change of scenery!
I’d booked one one-night stay at Landsdown Grove Hotel (Bath) back in March for my boyfriend’s birthday. Our short break rolled around just in time for restrictions to ease. That’s not to say, however, that life is even back to normal yet. Although we spent a couple of days exploring these cities, we took necessary precautions the entire time.
Our original plan was to visit Mollie’s Motel & Diner drive-through on our way to Bath, But upon discovering just how affordable the rooms are, we added another night away to our trip.
Here’s what we got up to at a glance.
A brief Mollie’s Motel & Diner review
I’d wanted to visit Mollie’s Motel & Diner for a long time, ever since I saw it pop up on Instagram as the place to visit. I’m not really one for expensive hotel rooms or anything overly fancy (bar Crazy Bear Hotel! So Mollie’s affordable prices paired with sophisticated decor was the perfect pick for an overnight stay. Although I must admit, it was the American diner that really drew me in more than anything else..!
We managed to get in our room early (after a little confusion) as we arrived before check-in. Then we headed into Oxford once we’d brought our bags in and freshened up. Later, once we were back, we enjoyed a meal (and a few too many cocktails) in the diner, before retreating back to our room with a bottle of wine (which we quickly swapped for a cup of tea – we’re so old!) and the latest zombie offering on Netflix, Army of the Dead.
What I loved about Mollie’s was the style and decor, the affordable price and how forward-thinking it all is. I particularly loved that you could check in on your phone. We could basically watch whatever we wanted by linking my phone to your TV. This meant we had a plethora of options from Netflix to NOWTV. This is perfect for people like us who barely watch live TV.
There were a few small downsides. On the day of our stay I was given the option to check in on my phone, I couldn’t anywhere, for the life of me, find out what our check-in time and check-out time was. Which is a pretty obvious thing that should be easy to find. Of course, this wasn’t a huge issue as we just asked, but it did mean we arrived too early for our room. We were lucky that it was available, else we would have had to arrange another option. This was partly my fault too. I just assumed because I was able to check in on my phone, we were able to check in at any time.
I felt slightly let down by the food too. There was nothing wrong with it – it was perfectly fine. But for such high prices, it wasn’t anything special – apart from the Oreo milkshakes of course. I also found that my breakfast the next day was missing a key ingredient. Again, these aren’t huge issues – just things you wouldn’t quite expect for the price.
I enjoyed our stay regardless and would definitely return – so perhaps I need to explore the food menu more. That being said, the Mojitos weren’t half bad either..!
Discovering Oxford
After we’d checked into our room and freshened up, we headed back out to Oxford. Leaving my car at one of the park-and-ride stations, we took a short bus ride into the city centre to explore. I’d never been to Oxford before and as our decision to visit was pretty last minute, we didn’t plan ahead. I looked up some quick places online, but overall, our aim was to just explore.
We made sure to get some photos at/of Radcliffe Camera and the Bridge of Sighs. We also spent around an hour slowly strolling around the grounds of Christ Church Meadow – just before the weather turned! After a quick pit stop for lunch, we ducked into Alice’s Shop (The Original Alice in Wonderland Shop). And the sort-of-vintage covered market. We’d hoped to find time for Pitt Rivers Museum but, with most things at the moment, you had to book ahead.
We finished our afternoon with a hot chocolate in some random cute pub. Then we spent a short hour exploring Westgate shopping centre. Partly because I wanted to check out the rooftop bars for views of the city and spot The Breakfast Club (which I had no idea had branched out of London!) and partly to have a quick look in Primark for a coat. Because on a weekend away in England, I’d somehow forgotten to pack a coat?
Exploring Bath
The following morning we got up nice and early to continue our drive to Bath. We stayed at the Landsdown Grove Hotel, which was really lovely. What I didn’t realise, upon booking, was that it was at the top of a GIANT hill! This was perfectly fine to walk down to get into the centre of Bath but walking back up? Not so much!
The hotel was really beautiful! The reception area was really glamorous but once we got to our room, we found it was more modern and stylish, which worked just as well! It was a cosy little room at the very top of the hotel, offering beautiful views of the city. Also, the breakfast at Lansdown Grove Hotel was also tasty and very filling. I can’t comment on price as it was included in our stay, but the servings definitely were not stingy.
Much of Bath was spent exploring and walking around in awe at how pretty it was – just like Oxford! We did book tickets to visit the Roman Baths of course and I absolutely loved this. It was really interesting with lots of fantastic history to learn. I feel it’s definitely one of those places to visit at least once in your life.
Unfortunately we didn’t have time (and it was fully booked until July anyway) to visit Thermae Bath Spa. But it’s definitely on my list for next time. Instead, we spent the remainder of the day sightseeing spots like Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge and the famous ‘The Circus’ road.
After a quick nap back at the hotel, we visited The Giggling Squid for dinner (which unintentionally was the same place we went to for dinner at our last weekend away!). The food was delicious – particularly the spring rolls and chicken satay skewers for starters. Unfortunately, despite ordering the mildest curry on the menu, it was still too spicy for me (hahaha!) so I can’t say much in regards to that! It was my own fault for being too adventurous despite knowing my limits though.
We’d planned to visit a couple of cocktail bars and even came across the very intriguing-looking Opium bar, but we were too tired so headed back to the hotel.
After checking out the next day, we decided to drive down to a more central car park (rather than braving the hill for a third time!) and spent a slow morning doing a bit more exploration. We caught the open-top bus tour for more views of the city and caught lunch at The Raven afterwards. Their pies, which I’d heard so much about, did NOT disappoint. I went for the Heidi Pie (goat’s cheese, sweet potato, spinach, red onion and roasted garlic). Shaun picked the more traditional Steak and Blue (gravy-soaked chunks of slow-cooked British steak with tangy Devon blue cheese). Both exceeded our expectations and I’ll certainly be going back for more pies in future.
All in all, we had a wonderful break and packed a lot in just two days. Epecially with some places still not open or only taking bookings in advance. Oxford, especially, I feel like we have so much more to still explore. Bath I’d happily return to time and time again, simply because of how beautiful it is.
In fact, I enjoyed our short visit/UK staycation so much that it even inspired me to sit down and write this blog post..my first blog post in five months!). So that’s always a win in my eyes.
Are you planning to explore any of the UK soon? Or are you waiting until things are a bit more safer? Let me know!
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