Looking for a day out? We had a great day in Oxford recently visiting Cutteslowe Park and having brunch at Jacob’s Inn. With Oxford being only an hour’s drive away on a weekend, it’s an ideal ‘day out’ distance. Both locations are near one another and away from the city centre, so there’s no need to battle the crowds or struggle for parking.
We were lucky to go on a sunny day and visited Cutteslowe Park first. There’s loads to keep young children occupied, including several play areas, a new splash park (suitable for toddlers), miniature golf, a duck pond and a miniature railway.
The park is large and is very pleasant to walk around. Our son enjoyed going on his bike and there was plenty to look at with ornamental beds and wildflower areas.
There’s also a garden centre which has a butterfly farm. We popped in there to have a look. It was like stepping into another world! You have to enter via a layered net door and be careful not to let any of the butterflies out. We enjoyed walking around trying to spot all the different varieties.
The miniature railway was closed to the public on the day we went due to a private event. It looked cool though, and we’ll definitely pick a day when it’s open next time assuming our son is still keen on trains!
After working up an appetite, we headed off to Jacob’s Inn, which is a short drive away from the park, in Wolvercote.
Tipped off by a work colleague that the pub had a little farm attached to it, we thought it would make a perfect place to be able to eat a nice meal and have a back up if a certain little person got bored sitting at the table.
We enjoyed a tasty brunch before taking a look at the outside area (the pub is deceptively large, inside and out). There were quite a few little animal pens and on a summer’s day, it would be a great place to eat outside.
After our brunch, we headed to the little playground just over the road from the pub before starting our journey home. We’d definitely do the day again – maybe on a day hot enough for the splash park to be open – there was loads to do!
For another Oxford day trip idea, take a look at our Oxford Natural History Museum blog post.