Set on the banks of the river and studded with elegant stone houses, a few Tudor relics, chichi shops and affluent residents, Henley is a conservative but well-heeled kind of place that bursts into action for its world-famous regatta and festival each year. Outside the summer festivities it’s a reasonably pleasant but workaday commuter town with an interesting museum, a scenic setting and a good choice of facilities.
Bookish, conservative, closeted and elite, Oxford is a privileged place, highly aware of its international standing as one of the world’s most famous university towns and yet remarkably restrained for a city driven by its student population. It’s the kind of place where the pursuit of excellence, the weight of academic achievement and the whiff of intellectual ideals is palpable as soon as you get off the bus.
Conveniently close to Oxford, yet a quintessential rural retreat, the charming village of Woodstock makes a wonderful day trip from the city. The big draw here is Blenheim Palace, the opulent country pile of the Churchill family, but the village itself is full of picturesque creeper-clad cottages and elegant town houses.