Oxford is quite a bit larger than Cambridge, which isn’t a remarkable feat, and still leaves it small enough to across the city centre in 30 minutes – if you can get through the crowds, that is.
There are an incredible number of tourists in Oxford. I think that the majority of pedestrians in the city are in fact tourists on most days. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but I would say that they are the single largest reason for slowing down pedestrian traffic in the city. I can understand the occasional bunch of tourists standing outside a college blocking everyone’s way. I can tolerate young tourists ‘mall-walking’ across the pavement; I certainly had to in Cambridge.
But I just can’t stand the sheer number of tourists choking the streets; they’re on the verge of overwhelming my not inconsiderable skills at crowd navigation. The classic strategies such as slipstreaming and the old ‘step and pivot’ are useless in the face of a solid wall of sightseers.
Anyway. I will have to live it with.
mssv 