Bicester Tourist Information and Travel Guide

Bicester Visitor Information Guide

Bicester is a Historic Market Town in the Cherwell District of the county of Oxfordshire, situated approximately 12 miles North-East of Oxford. Bicester has a traceable history of over a thousand years and was recorded in the Domesday book.

Places of historic interest includes the Market Square surrounded by a number of 16th Century buildings and St Edburg's Parish Church. Bicester's Market Square - which is actually a triangle - forms part of the town’s historic town trail and is available from the Visitor Centre. Guided walks of the town are available during the summer (June - August).

Bicester is part of the North Oxfordshire countryside with distinctive honey coloured stone building villages and picturesque scenery, making it ideal for walking, cycling or exploring by car. Ideal base for exploring Banbury, Oxford, The Cotswolds, Stratford Upon Avon, Milton Keynes, Warwick and Leamington Spa – all within an hour's drive.

Rousham Park House and Garden:
The house was built in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer. Rousham represents the first phase of English landscape design.

Bicester Golf Club:
Bicester Golf Club is set in 135 acres of beautiful Oxfordshire countryside, in the M40 corridor. The 18 hole course is complimented by 11 lakes strategically placed around the course, these lakes help to provide a challenge to every kind of player in the golf world.

Bicester Airfield, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of Bicester the RAF left in 2004. The Ministry of Defence still owns part of the site, which is used for army training. In June 2004 the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association moved to RAF Halton. The main use of the site is now civilian gliding, being home to both a newly-reformed (July 2004) Windrushers Gliding Club, and also the Oxford University Gliding Club. The airfield is one of the finest examples of an unmodified pre-war RAF station still almost completely in existence with many listed buildings. The brick 1934 "Fort" type 1959/34 control tower survives, as do the two C-type and two A-type aircraft hangars. Plans were developed in the late 1990s to develop the airfield for housing and industry, but they were abandoned due to strong local opposition and the historic nature of the site. In 2002, Cherwell District Council listed the area as a Conservation area.

Waddesdon Manor: Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, creator of Waddesdon, loved France and French art. In 1874, with his French architect Destailleur and his landscape gardener Lainé, he built this Renaissance-style château on a hilltop overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury.

Waddesdon Manor houses one of the finest collections of French 18th century decorative arts in the world. The furniture, Savonnerie carpets and Sèvres porcelain ranks in importance with the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Louvre in Paris. There is also a fine collection of portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds and works by Dutch and Flemish Masters of the 17th century, all lovingly assembled over 35 years by Ferdinand to please his guests at weekend House Parties. Outside, his creation includes a Rococo-style aviary, flamboyant bedding on the Parterre, winding walks, colourful trees and panoramic views.

The nearby historic town of Woodstock is home to Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill’s ancestral home. Muse around the local antique shops, take lunch at one of the varied selection of restaurants and hotels or visit Churchill’s resting place at nearby Bladon. Blenheim Palace is only twenty minutes from Bicester.

Stowe Landscape Gardens 3 miles NW of Buckingham is Europe’s most influential landscape garden The scale, grandeur and beauty of Stowe has inspired writers, thinkers, artists, politicians and members of the public from the eighteenth century to the present day. 250 acres of landscape gardens lie beneath the House designed with lakes, pasture, wooded valleys and open spaces adorned with over thirty temples and monuments. At the centre lies the House, a great ducal palace and now home to Stowe School, which is open to the public by Stowe House Preservation Trust. There is free public access to 750 acres of parkland surrounding the Gardens and House. Both Gardens and House are currently being magnificently restored to their former glory.

Warwick Castle is a place that brings history into the present day. Dating from medieval times, the Castle has survived centuries of wars, intrigue and plotting. Visit the Ghost Tower, the Dungeon, the Torture Chamber and the Armoury to get a flavour of England’s darker moments. Warwick Castle is only 30 minutes drive from Bicester Village.

Visit Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage or Mary Arden’s House or take a trip to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or watch a play at 'The Other Place', stroll alongside the river or simply admire the historic Tudor buildings and black and white thatched cottages. Situated on the banks of the River Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon is only 45 minutes from Bicester Village.

Bicester Designer Outlet Village - discover a relaxed shopping haven in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside next door to Banbury town, where spacious boutiques showcase fabulously discounted labels from the leading fashion and lifestyle brands normally only found in the world’s most exclusive shopping streets.

Shopping is pure pleasure at Bicester Shopping Village, where sophisticated boutiques, spacious boulevards, attentive service and a friendly, unhurried atmosphere combine to offer a truly unique retail experience.

Bicester Cotswolds England UK