It was the poet Matthew Arnold who first described Oxford as the ‘city of dreaming spires’ in 1865, and the epithet has stuck ever since.

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It was the poet Matthew Arnold who first described Oxford as the ‘city of dreaming spires’ in 1865, and the epithet has stuck ever since. Arnold was a professor of poetry at the university when he penned it, depicting the panorama of turrets and pinnacles seen from Boars Hill, southwest of the city. Seen from here or any one of the other viewpoints around the outskirts of the city, or by climbing a tower in the centre, the skyline has a magical quality that makes even the most hurried tourist stand still for a moment. It’s like seeing the Duomo in Florence for the first time or the plan of Paris from the Arc de Triomphe.

Caroline Mills, author of Slow Travel Cotswolds: the Bradt Guide

Bradt on Britain – our Slow Travel approach

Bradt’s coverage of Britain’s regions makes ‘Slow Travel’ its focus. To us, Slow Travel means ditching the tourist ticklists – deciding not to try to see ‘too much’ – and instead taking time to get properly under the skin of a special region. You don’t have to travel at a snail’s pace: you just have to allow yourself to savour the moment, appreciate the local differences that create a sense of place, and celebrate its food, people and traditions