My top budget eats in Oxford

By Twenty Abroad - October 09, 2017

When I first started this blog, I made a list of things and places I wanted to write about but I completely missed out Oxford. A couple of days ago one of my friends who was planning her trip to Oxford asked me for some cheap eat recommendations around the city, since she knew I used to live there for one year. I immediately recalled my blogging list and couldn’t believe that I had totally forgot putting Oxford on it. How silly I am! Anyway, thanks to my friend it was much easier for me to decide the topic for this third post (and some extra motivation as well ^^).

Although Oxford is an expensive city you can actually find many affordable restaurants around the city centre. Below is the list of my top 5 favourite budget place to eat out in Oxford. All these restaurants offer really tasty dishes and generous portions that are only under £10. When I gave this list to my friend she told me there was too much Asian food haha. And I have to admit that she wasn’t wrong. This whole list is completely based on my taste buds so that’s why I added the word “my” in the title. Though they might not what you expected, I hope it will still give you some helpful information for planning your trip to this lovely city.

1. SasiThai

I loveeee this place! Whenever I wanted something quick, cheap, and delicious for lunch I always went to Sasi Thai. It is a small and cosy restaurant inside the Covered Market, where you can get a generous portion of hot dishes and rice with just £4.95 to £5.95. My favourites were all the spicy main dishes they have, especially the green curry and spicy chicken with basil (I haven’t tried other non-spicy dishes but my friends told me they were just as good). Just keep in mind that since the restaurant is quite popular among students and the locals, it can be a bit difficult to find a table during peak lunch hours. If you don’t want to take away go there around 11am when it’s not crowded and all the main dishes are still available.

2. Chiang Mai Kitchen

Another Thai restaurant on the list. It is pricier than Sasi Thai (Pad Thai £9.10, one main dish with rice £11-£12) but in return you get a warm and comfy place to dine in with your friends or family. The food is tasty and reasonably priced except for the starters, which I’m also not very impressed of. I loved the chili oil fried rice here but I couldn’t find it on their menu on the website so I’m not sure if they still have it or not. As the name suggests, it can be very spicy for some but it’s incredibly tasty and once you taste it you really don't want to stop.

3. The White Rabbit

I found this pub by chance when I was on my “Oxford discovery trip”. And I have to say that I became a huge fan of it right after the very first bite. It is an incredibly cosy pub that offers excellent pizza with super fresh ingredients at a great price (£6.5-£11.45). I think the previous sentence has summed up really well all the reasons why you need to go there. It’s a very popular pub among the locals so it’s best to avoid 12pm – 2pm period in the weekend since you may have to wait a long time to get a table.

4. Gloucester Green Market

It is Oxford traditional open air market that takes place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday every week. Here you can find several cheap and tasty food stalls such as Japanese dumpling, Indian curry, kebab, churros and fresh homemade bread. The dumpling was absolutely my favourite, it was surprisingly cheap and tasty (£2.5 for 5 huge dumplings). If you look beyond these amazing food stalls, there is also a variety of vintage jewellery and clothing, collectables, craft antiques and even music instruments. So I would say that this market is definitely a must-visit place when you are in Oxford.

5. Edamame

This is probably my favourite Japanese restaurant in Oxford. The restaurant offers really high quality and authentic Japanese food in generous portions at pretty reasonable prices (£7-£10.5 for lunch, £7-£8 for sashimi). The opening hours might be a bit odd but it’s one of their charms. Sushi is served exclusively on Thursday evening so prepare yourself to come early or stand in a long queue. Although this restaurant is not the most comfy place to dine in, the quality and tastiness of their dishes will never make you disappointed.

BONUS

1. Ben's Cookies

The best cookies I have ever tasted! They are crunchy on the outside but so soft and gooey inside. It was always impossible for me to visit the Covered Market without getting some triple chocolate and peanut butter cookies at the store. If you’re from the UK or Singapore you may have known about this irresistibly yummy cookies brand. But if you aren’t familiar with it don’t forget to try these incredible cookies when you visit Oxford. They will make you the happiest person in the world at the very first bite!

2. George and Davis

After leaving Oxford I have tasted pistachio ice cream in so many different places but I have yet found one that can beat G&D. Their ice cream is extremely delicious and creamy with tons of flavours for you to choose from. Honey and Greek yoghurt ice cream was my second favourite here, before they added ginger into it :(. At G&D they also serve pretty tasty cookies and sandwich so you can go there for a simple lunch and finish your meal with one or two scoops of their excellent ice cream. A day always feels lovelier with these tasty and creamy friends ^^

3. Formosan Tea Bar

A hidden gem in Oxford, where you can get amazing bubble tea. Different from teas at big chains like Chatime or Gongcha, which are full of sugar and artificial flavour, you can really tell that they use quality tea here. So even if you’re not a big fan of tapioca pearl you can have plain tea (with lemon and sugar or honey), it will taste just as good. I remember whenever I was tired or stressed out I made sure to get a cup of hot Jasmine green tea with lemon and honey at Formosan; it really helped calm me down and warm up my body even on the coldest day in winter.

While those are my most favourite budget eats in Oxford there are still many other popular restaurants and pubs where tasty food is served at a cheap price I didn’t mention here. For example, Will’s Deli, Atomic Burger, Byron or The Big Society. Although I hope this post will provide some useful information for those of you who are going to visit Oxford, I also encourage you to be a bit adventurous, simply pick a random restaurant or pub while walking around the city. The food might be a bit pricey or it might taste not really good but that will make your whole trip become much more exciting and fun! ^^

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Budget travel

Copenhagen on a student budget

By Twenty Abroad - September 02, 2017

Copenhagen so far is one of my most favourite cities in Europe. The city gave me a very pleasant and friendly first impression by greeting me with its typical colourful and lovely houses along the street. And the Danes are just as lovely as the city, at least those I have met. There were more than once a completely stranger came to me and my friend to check if we need any help when the two of us were trying to deal with the Google maps that was acting up. I mean it’s so amazing to realise how a simple act of kindness like that could make your day much much better. So after spending three days here I couldn’t find anything I didn’t like about it except for the prices (actually not only Copenhagen but Denmark as a whole). Copenhagen is undeniably really expensive, and if you haven’t known, the VAT in Denmark is 25%. Yes, twenty-five percent!

You may now have a rough idea how difficult it is to travel around the city on budget. But I made it with just €200 for three days! If you’re students who are short on budget or simply want to challenge yourself travelling on budget in one of the most expensive cities in the world, these little tips might be useful for you!

Accomodation

Crowne Plaza

I was really lucky because the friend I travelled with works in Crowne Plaza Geneva so she was able to get us a discount price for our room in Crowne Plaza Copenhagen. The amount we had to pay was roughly €30 per person per night. Considering it is a 4.5-star business hotel this price was really deal. Even without the staff discount the price here is still very attractive so I’d definitely recommend putting this hotel into your consideration list when you’re making plan for your trip to Copenhagen. The hotel also offers airport shuttle service so if you plan to stay here don’t forget to ask the reception about the service and book it beforehand.

Transportation

Single trip ticket | 24DKK (approximately €3.3) for 2 zones

In order to save money we decided to only purchase train ticket to and from the city and walk for the rest of time. The ticket price varies depending on the number of zones you travel and you can use the same ticket on bus, train, and metro the purchase time up to 1 or 2 hours (it usually states on the ticket). So if you want to save money like we did, you can purchase a single trip ticket then go to the furthest place in your plan by train or bus, spend less than 1 hour there and immediately take another train or bus back to the city and walk from there. Although it may sound like a pretty smart plan but in reality it’s not that easy to achieve. We tried to do it twice but failed once because we were so amazed at the Citadel that were completely lost track of time. So in the end we had to walk back to the city for 30 minutes, in a sunny 23-degree summer day.

Citypass | 80DKK (approximately €11) for a 24-hour pass

If you’re not very fond of long-distance walking I’d advise to get a city pass, which offers unlimited travel by bus, train, metro for 24 or 72 hours in zone 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Things to do

Museums

When you come to Copenhagen you’ll find that most of the major museums here charge admission fees, which can be quite pricey. However, don’t make that stop you from checking all the excellent collections they have. Like some other countries, museums in Copenhagen also have special free-admission days for everyone when you can enjoy magnificent architectural experience, beautiful galleries and exhibitions without spending a single kroner.

Tuesday

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Glyptoteket is the only museum that offers free admission on Tuesday and was also the only one I could visit on my trip. In the heart of the museum there is a Winter Garden where you’ll find yourself surrounded by tall palm trees, a little fountain and beautiful The Water Mother sculpture. This is not the biggest museum I have visited but it is still filled with high quality collections of classical Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and Egypt art as well as modern Danish painting and sculpture. When you go there do not miss out gorgeous decorative glass ceilings, which creates luminous and some kind of magical atmosphere in the stair hall.

Wednesday

We couldn’t visit neither of the museums that are free on Wednesday because we had another plan to check out the Little Mermaid and Christiansborg Palace. So I can’t tell you my experience there but when you click on the museum name it will take you to the official website where you can find more details about its collections, ongoing events and exhibitions.

Danish Architecture Centre (From 5pm to 9pm)

Thorvaldsen Museum

Attractions

Nyhavn

If you search for Copenhagen on Google I believe that half of the results for images are taken at Nyhavn. Although a lot of tourists gather here and restaurants by the river are more on the expensive side I still really enjoyed the lively atmosphere here. There are a few old sailing ships on the river where you can sit and chill out with your friends. Having a glass of cold beer while facing the harbour’s beautiful old houses, trust me, there is nothing could be more perfect.

Little Mermaid

The signature of Copenhagen. When I arrived there, exactly like what I expected, there were tons of people trying to take a photo with the statue so it was difficult for us to even come near it. If you want to take a photo with the Little Mermaid I’d advise to come early around 7 or 8 in the morning.

The Citadel (Kastellet)

This was probably my friend’s favourite place in Copenhagen. Just three-minute walk from the Little Mermaid you can see Copenhagen’s old star fortress that was found in 1662, remaining as one of the best preserved fortresses in Europe. It’s hard to tell that this is a military fortress because inside it looks more like a lovely small village in the past. Although it’s now open to public Kastellet is still a military operated facility, so keep it in mind that the fortress can be closed occasionally for military purposes. Otherwise, I’d say this is the perfect place to visit if you want to learn more about military history of Denmark or simply to have a walk in a sunny day.

The King’s Garden (Rosenborg Gardens)

Beautiful gardens in front of the Rosenborg Castle with Hercules Pavillon and Hans Christian Andersen statue on the side, and the vast flowerbeds during spring and summer months; this is more like a garden of fairy tales to me. In summer the park is always full of people but never get to crowded to secure you a place to relax and chill out with friends and family.

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These are a few places that are free to visit in Copenhagen I’ve discovered during my visit here. For sure that’s not all of them but I hope you guys find this guide useful for planning your own on-budget trip to this lovely city.

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