Christ Church Meadow

The classic Oxford meadow walk — cattle, tree avenues and the college skyline reflected in two rivers, all a few minutes from Carfax.

Christ Church Meadow is a broad flood meadow owned by Christ Church, filling the triangle of land where the River Cherwell joins the Thames (the Isis) just south of the city centre. A small herd of English Longhorn cattle grazes it, and three formal tree-lined avenues cross it: the Broad Walk running east from St Aldate's, the New Walk dropping south to the river, and the Poplar Walk. Together they give some of the best views in Oxford — the meadow foreground with the college towers and the cathedral spire rising behind. The towpath along the Isis passes the college boathouses, busiest in the rowing season, and connects to the Botanic Garden and Magdalen Bridge at the eastern end. It is free to walk, open from early morning until dusk when the gates are locked, and flat and easy underfoot — a gentle loop of about a mile that turns the space between two rivers into the calmest walk in central Oxford.