Adventures along the 280 route
Catch the bus to Wheatley, Tiddington, or Thame, and discover some surprising finds along the way.
While not immediately obvious from the main thoroughfare, bus route 280 carves its way past wildlife trails, handsome manor houses, well-stocked farm shops, and quirky historical landmarks.
En route, you can stroll through nature reserves, visit centuries-old churches, watch the inner workings of an 18th-century windmill, and, with just a small detour, get close and personal to some alpacas in a vineyard.
Ready to explore? To make planning your escape even easier, here are some daytrip ideas for the summer, all a bus stop away.
View the 280 timetable and route map.
Destination: Wheatley
Situated 5 miles east of Oxford, Wheatley is perhaps best known for its unusual historical buildings and landmarks. The village has a long history of limestone quarrying, providing stone for Windsor castle and several Oxford colleges.
Additionally, Wheatley was located on the main coaching route from London to Oxford, making it a significant stop for travellers, who would take the road over Shotover Hill. This early coaching route, which was eventually abandoned in 1789, ran across the village green and connected with Old Road. The climb to Shotover Plain was notorious for robberies by highwaymen.
While such dangers no longer exist today, they underscore Wheatley’s historical significance and contributions to the region’s buildings and transportation routes, making it an interesting place to explore.
Wheatley Windmill
Perched above the village of Wheatley, Wheatley Windmill is an 18th-century tower mill with an octagonal plan. The mill is only open one day a month May-October so you’ll need to pick your dates, but with a fair wind, you’ll get to see the sails turn.
Coffee/tea and cakes are available during Open Days, together with a range of interesting souvenirs.
Wheatley lock-up
Curiously located in front of a children’s playground, the Wheatley lock-up stands as a fascinating reminder of 19th-century policing.
Built in 1834, this small grade II listed building served as temporary holding cell for rioters before they were transferred to Oxford. Today, it offers a glimpse into part of Wheatley’s fascinating past, and once a year on May Day, for a small fee, visitors can go back in time and experience what it was like to be confined for just a few, thankfully short, minutes.
Just metres away from this landmark, is another Grade II listed structure, an 18th-century church built from Wheatley limestone. Notable events include the marriage of British prime minister Theresa May and the church grounds serving as the last resting place for three Commonwealth War burials.
Cornfield bakery
Cornfield Bakery is a lovely family-run artisan bakery located in the heart of Wheatley, selling artisan bread, homemade cakes, and pastries, as well as local coffee, gift hampers, and fine foods. They also offer one-day bread-making courses held at their bakery Oxfordshire, where you'll learn how to make sourdough, ciabatta, and focaccia, as well as more regular bread in a variety of shapes.
Wheatley self-guided heritage trails
Step back in time to uncover Wheatley’s rich and surprising heritage with two Wheatley heritage trails. Begin your adventure by picking up a leaflet from the dispenser at Wheatley’s village hall located in the The Merry Bells car park. As you walk through the village, you will find strategically placed information boards which provide a deeper understanding of each point of interest.
Download the Wheatley heritage trails
Self-guided walking through Shotover Park
Discover the less well-known but lovely Shotover Park, which is next to Country Park and offers rural views and tantalising glimpses of the handsome Shotover Estate and its magnificent outbuildings.
To get to the park, proceed along Church Road until it merges with Littleworth Road, and subsequently Old Road. Eventually, just before a layby on your left, you'll approach a lodge with large wooden gates on your right. Here, make a right turn to join a route that bears right past Shotover House and gardens to the A40. From there, you can retrace your travels or take a detour across a field to reach Wheatley and Westfield Road, Wheatley.
Shotover House itself is a must-see, but you'll have to wait to see it because it's very rarely open to the public.
Shotover House
Located in the center of the Shotover Park Estate is the Grade-I listed country home known as Shotover Park House. The sweeping grounds and park encircling the mansion were first designed in 1718 and include an octagonal temple created by William Kent in the 1730s, a straight canal, and a gothic revival folly.
For a nominal fee, Shotover House opens its private gardens to the public each spring on "Daffodil Day." This is a very special opportunity to have a wander through some stunning gardens. In the days leading up to the event, information is usually available on the St. Nicolas, Forest Hill website.
Destination: Horspath (route 46)
Located on the slopes of Shotover Hill, lies a storied village surrounded by Green Belt land. An old (walkable) bridleway connects this village with the neighbouring village of Wheatley via Shotover. The village is home to a 12th-century church adorned with stained glass dating back to 1280. Along Cuddesdon Road, an organic vineyard invites visitors to enjoy wine tasting events and pizza nights during the summer months.
Horspath is accessible from Wheatley or Oxford by bus route 46, or you could choose to walk via the bridleway that connects both villages.
Sunnyhill Vineyard
Sunnyhill Vineyard is a lovely organic vineyard located just outside Oxford in the village of Horspath. The vineyard provides a variety of intriguing experiences, such as guided walks (which include wine tasting) that culminate in a Ploughman's lunch; other activities include Friday pizza evenings throughout the summer and an alpaca trekking adventure among the vines.
Families will appreciate the children's play area, and visitors can enjoy a variety of refreshments, such as wine, tea, coffee, and cake.
Destination: Tiddington
The small community of Tiddington is most well-known for its yearly tug-of-war with the parish of Ickford in neighbouring Buckinghamshire. Situated 30 metres from the bus stop, The Fox and Goat, a 17th-century country inn, is perhaps its most prominent building on the main Oxford-Thame Road. It serves as a convenient stopping point for walkers travelling The Oxfordshire Way, which winds through the gentle undulating countryside and yields up some very special points of interest.
Sandy Lane Farm
In what other place would you sip a bold, chocolate-flavoured coffee near a mound of snoozing piglets? And yet, this idyllic scene can be found at a mixed organic farm, located just ten minutes' walk down Sandy Lane (opposite a garage) on the main road.
The farm shop is brimming with freshly harvested fruit and veg from the farm and organic produce from other growers. They have a lovely indoor and outdoor seating area and serve freshly ground coffee, teas, cold drinks as well as tempting slabs of cake.
Throughout the year they host a number of open days, such as artisan markets, open farm days and summer gatherings.
The cafe and shop are open Thursday through Friday, from 10am to 4.30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2.30pm.
Waterstock and Waterperry (westbound on The Oxfordshire Way)
Pick up the footpath in the layby opposite the Oxford Caravan and Motorhome Centre, and head towards the pretty village of Waterstock, whose meadows are home to more rare or endangered animals and plants than almost any other site in the county. Here you’ll also find a 15th-century church, a water powered corn mill that was first recorded in the Doomsday book, an equestrian centre, and thirty-eight mostly pre-20th-century houses along a single lane that includes a medieval cruck house, circa 1295.
Download walking route from Waterstock to Tiddington (1.5 miles)
From Waterstock you can either loop back to Tiddington, or for the more adventurous, head on a mile further to Waterperry Gardens, home to over 20 acres of ornamental gardens, a café, and plant shop, and meadows as well as hosting numerous horticultural courses, theatrical performances and an annual operatic festival.
Download walking route from Waterstock to Waterperry (1 mile)
Rycote Park and Chapel (eastbound on The Oxfordshire way)
Proceed eastward along the Oxfordshire Way after crossing the Oxford/Tiddington Road at Albury View and turning onto School Lane. Before winding through Rycote Park's exquisite grounds—once the location of a Tudor house and frequented by royalty including Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Charles I—the path winds through the picturesque, rolling countryside.
Along the way you'll find a quiet medieval church from the fifteenth century to the south of the manor house. It hasn't changed much over the years, though different decorations have been added. The chapel includes several fascinating characteristics, such as canopied pews and a supported musician’s gallery dating back to 1610.
The chapel is open to the public on certain days between April and September, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Private tours of the chapel and the grounds and gardens of Rycote Park are available for groups of up to 40 people, which include an introductory talk on Rycote’s history over coffee and tea and a stroll around Capability Brown's landscaped park, as well as the terraces and walled kitchen garden.
Download walking route from Tiddington to Rycote
Destination: Thame
Nestled in the rolling Chiltern Hills, Thame has a rich prehistoric past, dating back about six thousand years from the Neolithic period. In Saxon times, Thame was a settlement by a ‘dark flowing river’ from which the town takes its name.
It has since grown over time into thriving market town whose rich storied past is shown through its architecture and blend of medieval, Georgian and Victorian buildings, and the boat-shaped high street which was originally designed for markets and still holds a popular market on Tuesdays, some 800 years on.
In addition, you can follow in the footsteps of your favourite characters from Midsummer Murders. Thame is a great place to begin a number of scenic nature walks through the Chilterns and even has its own award-winning nature reserve situated within the town, just a short distance from the High Street bus stop.
Thame Museum
Lovely family friendly museum which is housed in the old Court House and located on Thame’s historic High Street by the bus stop.
The main galleries tell the story of Thame inviting the passer-by to discover how people lived in Saxon and Roman times through to the present day. The vast collection of displays, artefacts, oral histories and antiquities connect to Thame life over the years and tell the story of how life evolved over time.
In addition to the permanent galleries, the museum also hosts a number of pop up exhibitions showcasing a wide variety of themes from art and photography to the well-known names in Thame and there are workshops held through out the year on topics such as wine tasting, lacemaking and calligraphy as well as craftmaking for children.
An onsite shop sells locally sourced arts, crafts, books, memorabilia and more.
Cuttlebrook reserve
This award-winning nature reserve, which is located close to the centre, was first used for grazing animals. The Thame Town Council bought it in the late 1970s, and it was then transformed into a local nature reserve with views of open river meadows and a network of meandering paths passing through a variety of wildlife habitats, such as meadows, woodland, flood plain grassland, and riverbanks.
Chocolate making in Thame
If you have a sweet tooth, you might struggle to tear yourself away from this chocoholics paradise set in the heart of Thame. The shop is brimming with handmade confectionary from chocolate truffles to chocolate-covered honeycomb. Master chocolatier, Nigel Rumsey has been creating his range of award-winning gourmet chocolates since 19991, and if you’re lucky, you might catch the chocolateers at work while sipping on your cappuccino.
They sell a range of hot and cold drinks here and also serve lunch and breakfast, but really, the chocolate is the star of the show here. Additionally, the shop also offers a range of chocolate making courses for adults and children who want to delve further into the world of chocolate making.
Midsummer murders walking tours
Many of Thame's famous monuments can be seen in the widely watched television series Midsummer Murders, in which the town is depicted as Causton, among other fictional communities.
Grab a free Midsomer Walking Tour pamphlet from the Town Hall or Museum to follow in the footsteps of your favourite fictional characters. Or you could download it here.
Alternatively, if a guided walking tour is more for you, you can participate in one of the weekly guided tours, which depart from Thame Town Hall on Wednesdays between 3 April and 30 October and on Saturdays between 15 June and 14 September.
Other walking options
There are many of different walking alternatives in Thame, ranging from hour-long historical trails to lengthier circular treks around the town that are roughly 5–6 miles long. Another option is a commemorative plaque path that connects locations with some well-known faces such as poet WB Yeats, the original founder of Boddingtons Brewery, Henry Boddington, and Bee Gees singer, Robin Gibb.
All the guides are available for pickup at the Town Hall Information Centre or they can be downloaded from their website.