Leafy North Oxford — independent shops, family restaurants, and the academic heartland.
Summertown is a one-mile-square residential suburb in North Oxford, about two miles from the city centre along Banbury Road. It extends from Squitchey Lane and Hernes Road in the north down to Moreton Road and the Marston Ferry roundabout in the south, with Woodstock Road marking the western edge.
Most of North Oxford including Summertown was built up after 1877, when the university first allowed college fellows to marry and live in private houses; much of the land belonged to St John's College and the houses were originally sold leasehold. The parish itself was created earlier, in 1833, when the northern part of the large St Giles' parish was hived off as a separate parish. Today Summertown is where many academics, university staff and families live — it has its own distinct village-within-a-city character.
Banbury Road carries the main spine of independent food and shops in Summertown, with a second cluster on the North Parade side street.
North Parade Market runs fortnightly on the 2nd and 4th Saturday — produce, makers, hot food and live music in the middle of the North Parade run.
University Parks runs along the southern edge of Summertown; Cutteslowe Park sits at the northern end. Between them they make Summertown Oxford's most family-friendly area for walks, playgrounds and weekend afternoons.
Summertown has the densest concentration of independent schools in Oxford: Dragon School (prep), Oxford High School (girls' day), St Edward's School (senior boarding), and the sixth-form colleges d'Overbroeck's and St Clare's Oxford.
Three Oxford colleges sit in or beside Summertown: Wolfson College (graduate, riverside), Lady Margaret Hall and St Hugh's College on the Woodstock Road side.
The two most prominent Victorian-era buildings on Banbury Road are Summertown United Reformed Church, a Gothic Revival church built in 1894, and Saint Michael and All Angels, the parish church built 1908–09 to replace an earlier chapel. The Roman Catholic church of Saints Gregory and Augustine on Woodstock Road was founded in 1911. In 1898 the City of Oxford Tramways Company extended its Banbury Road horse-tram route to a new Summertown terminus — a useful clue that this stretch of road was the original commercial spine of the suburb.
Past Summertown residents include J.R.R. Tolkien, Iris Murdoch, Colin Dexter (creator of Inspector Morse) and the zoologist Desmond Morris.
Summertown is in North Oxford, about two miles north of the city centre along Banbury Road. It is a one-mile-square residential area running from Squitchey Lane and Hernes Road in the north down to Moreton Road and Marston Ferry Road in the south, with Banbury Road and Woodstock Road as its two main arterials.
The Oxford Bus Company 2 and 2a and the Stagecoach 7, 7A, 7B, 17 and S5 all run up the Banbury Road from the centre; the Heyfordian 25 and 25A also serve Summertown. It is a 25-minute walk from Carfax up the Banbury Road, or a flat 10-minute cycle.
Independent food and shops on the Banbury Road and North Parade, the densest cluster of independent schools in Oxford (Dragon, Oxford High, St Edward's, d'Overbroeck's, St Clare's), three Oxford colleges on its edges (Wolfson, Lady Margaret Hall, St Hugh's), and the North Parade fortnightly market.
The North Parade Market runs fortnightly on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, on the North Parade side street between Banbury Road and Bardwell Road.
Top picks: Gee's for a Victorian-glasshouse modern British dinner, The Oxford Kitchen for Michelin-listed tasting menus, Branca for casual Italian, and BREW on North Parade for specialty coffee.
The North Parade outpost of Barefoot — coffee and the cake counter from the Jericho bakery.
Specialty coffee and pour-overs on the corner of Banbury Road and North Parade — Oxford's serious coffee destination since 2013.
Bubble tea, waffles, smoothies and ice cream from a bright-green shopfront on North Parade.
A no-frills sandwich cafe on North Parade — breakfast wraps, baguettes and paninis with bread baked through the day.
A pub and bistro on North Parade serving sweet and savoury crêpes alongside the regular drinks list.
Inspector Morse's local, perched over a weir on the Thames at Wolvercote — come for the view, stay for the atmosphere.
Seasonal British cooking in a Victorian glasshouse — an unusual and distinctive dining room.
A wine bar and small-plates restaurant at the eastern end of North Parade — by-the-glass list, seasonal kitchen, sushi counter.
A family-run Bangladeshi and Indian restaurant on North Parade — quiet room, careful kitchen, the same hands behind it for years.
A small Italian pizzeria on North Parade — eat-in, takeaway or delivery.
Seasonal produce, British farmhouse cheese and small-supplier wines from a deep-blue shopfront on North Parade.
Riverside gardens and pioneering history, away from the tourist crush
14 acres of gardens in North Oxford — one of the largest college grounds in the university
Isaiah Berlin's riverside graduate college — Powell & Moya's Grade II-listed modernist campus
A fortnightly farmers' and artisan market on North Parade Avenue — bunting overhead, jazz quartet on the pavement, and stalls from sourdough bakers to Ugandan street food.
Known as 'Teddies' — a proper boarding school with a surprisingly warm, unpretentious culture.
A traditional boys' prep school with a strong record of scholarships to Eton and Winchester.
A well-known co-ed prep school in North Oxford — large campus, broad curriculum, strong alumni network.
Tiny, nurturing, and deliberately different — Oxford's smallest senior girls' school.
A village green pub in Wolvercote — proper ale, proper food, properly relaxed.
Fine dining on the Banbury Road — tasting menus with ambition and precision.
Oxford's alternative independent — first names, no uniform, strong sixth form.
The GDST's Oxford flagship — academically rigorous, no-nonsense, and proudly day school.
Oxford's International Baccalaureate specialist — global student body, liberal ethos.