Hello! I hope this is the right way to post- I’m still quite new to the forum.
I am an American who will be studying abroad in England this summer and would love suggestions on places to visit, be they museums, places of cultural importance, etc. I would especially love if I could pick up some cool postcards while I’m there. I’d also love suggestions on cool shops to check out!
I will be studying in Oxford and will definitely be traveling to London, so I would appreciate suggestions there, but I will consider visiting other locations if people think I should.
I am excited to check out travel mode and send some cards during my stay! This is my first time ever going abroad.
In London the best places for postcards are museums and attractions.
National Gallery
Victoria and Albert or V&A
Tower of London
British Museum
You will find odd stationery shops with more general touristy themes but they aren’t common
As I often say to the study abroad students I work with: there’s more to the UK than London! All of these places should have postcards available:
Head to Bath, for world heritage Georgian architecture and the Roman Baths, and a Postal Museum
Manchester has several museums and galleries (Manchester Museum, Art Gallery, National Football Museum, Whitworth Gallery, Library), as well as tourist viewcards available from convenience stores in the city centre.
Liverpool has the Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, Walker Art Gallery, and of course a lot of Beatles ephemera.
Birmingham: alas the Museum and Art Gallery there is closed until sometime in 2024, but still visit for the canals and to see the settings which inspired Peaky Blinders.
Cambridge (or the Other Place): worth visiting to compare and contrast with Oxford. It has the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Zoolgy Museum, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Sedgwick Museum all run by the University. If you time your visit right (aim for a weekend) there’s also the Museum of Technology in an old pumping station. Kettles Yard Art Gallery is also worth a look.
Reading: between Oxford and London on the Great Western Railway route to London Paddington. Not on the typical tourist trail, but its got a Museum and Art Gallery with a full size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, as well as the Abbey Ruins, and the prison which held Oscar Wilde (alas closed to the public, but the subject of a campaign to turn it into an arts centre). There’s also the Museum of English Rural Life run by the University: search “MERL absolute unit” to learn about its 15 minutes in the spotlight a few years ago.
London gets an honourable mention for the London Transport Museum.
You might want to consider a Railcard if you’re in the UK for long enough, so that you can save some money on train fares when travelling. The UK also has National Express and Megabus coaches linking many towns and cities, which are generally cheaper but slower than trains.
Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to ask if you would like any more recommendations or have any queries!
Everyone has already given lots of great suggestions, but if you fancy a day trip somewhere, Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds is brilliant for a taste of old England. It has a terraced highstreet from the 14th century, lovely countryside around the town, and brilliant independent shops (including those that sell postcards!)
If you fancy visiting lots of places, it might be worth becoming a member of the National Trust or English Heritage, which have hundreds of heritage attractions across the country. Enjoy your time here
Everyone has made great suggestions! 2 of my favourite places in the UK which haven’t been mentioned (but considerably further north) are the Lake District and Edinburgh. Edinburgh is well connected by trains though and while it might seem a long way from Oxford to us Brits, it really isn’t far in US terms!
It would be amiss to not mention the obvious too. UK is an island… surrounded by coast /seaside towns /fishing villages and harbours. Tourist destinations on the coast will have postcards including small / independent art galleries/shops.
You may want more than one holiday…
Isle of Wight for classic British past times
Stonehenge, but this is a bit awkward for public transport
Warwick Castle
Bournemouth beach
Great central railway
Some of my favourite cathedral cities, all brimming with historic sights, museums and other places to buy postcards:
Lincoln
Durham
Canterbury
York
Norwich
Ely
Seaside towns full of tourist appeal - and souvenir shops:
Blackpool
Llandudno
Torquay
Portsmouth (the historic Naval Dockyard is a must)
Hadrians Wall is a great historic (UNESCO) site with fab scenery, easily accessible by public transport. I’d also suggest Avebury as a quieter alternative to Stonehenge.
I can vouch for both as places to pick up Postcards!
Adding another shout out for the North: yes to York and Durham, but head to the coast to see Scarborough and Whitby too. There are lots of places to buy cards. And if you’re up that way, see if you can get to Ripon. It’s quaint and slightly off the beaten track and the cathedral giftshop has a good postcard selection.
I think the same! I definitely will not have enough time to visit everywhere suggested but I am planning on coming back in the future and hope to hit more of them when I do not have to be in class four days a week!
