OXFORD: BLENHEIM PALACE AND FOOD FESTIVAL

We went for a day trip during one of the weekends to Blenheim Palace because everyone we met in Oxford recommended it to us. Blenheim is about 20 minutes away from Oxford city centre by bus S3 run by Stagecoach. Since I bought the monthly bus pass, I just had to pay around 2 GBP for the distance outside the area covered by the SmartZone card. If you don't have the bus pass, it costs about 5 GBP with the return ticket.

Me posing at the gate.

The entry fee to Blenheim costs about 20 GBP for students on weekdays, about 25 GBP on weekends and bank holidays. It so happened that we were there during the Blenheim Food Festival, so we were able to attend that event as well. For people who are staying longer in Oxford, I'd recommend converting your ticket to an annual pass at no extra cost at all, so your subsequent trips to Blenheim would be free!

Musicians wearing cute vests at the Food Festival.

The food at the festival was really good, but quite overpriced in my humble opinion. I mean, this measly portion of paella (while really yummy) cost me about 5 GBP.

Takoyaki tasted actually legit, from the only Asian stall in the food festival. 5 GBP for 7 pieces.

The Palace itself is definitely worth a visit, even if the Food Festival wasn't on at that time. While I'm hardly a monarchist, I just like palaces filled with so much grandeur and fine upholstery.

Did I mention that the youngest of the family who resides in the Palace is so handsome?

I mean, just look at that fresco on the ceiling.

And the grounds of the Palace covers such a huge area of land that we were basically out of breath at the end of the day, after desperately trying to see as much of it as possible.

We were in search of a rose garden, but were sorely disappointed to find a garden that barely had any blooms in it. This rose was one of the few that was actually in bloom:

I think a day would suffice to cover the whole Palace as well as the grounds, if there were no other events in Blenheim to attend. Unfortunately for us, we didn't really get to see everything the Palace has to offer due to time constraints.

Blenheim Palace is definitely a place to check out many times if you happen to be around Oxford.

While we're here, are you thinking of coming to study in Oxford? Do you think you have what it takes to attend the University of Oxford? Have a look at Erasmusu’s guide to getting into Oxford University and you might be able to make your dreams a reality!

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