Oxford is awash with independent coffee shops and artisan roasteries making it an agonising choice to recommend a handful as the city’s best. Whether you want to chill with a good book, need a hard hit of caffeine or crave a sweet treat, you’ll find plenty of choice here.
Along with city centre hang outs, Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street in Jericho, and Magdalen Road and Cowley Road in East Oxford have some of the best coffee on offer, but wherever you go, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert. Find out more below or for further inspiration, see our guides to the city’s best hotels, restaurants, nightlife and things to do, as well as our guide to a weekend in Oxford.
Colombia Coffee Roasters
You may have to queue for your coffee at Colombia Coffee Roasters in Oxford’s Covered Market, but it’s well worth the wait. It’s the kind of place where the regulars have favourite baristas and the quality grinds have deep undertones of spice, nuts, fruit and chocolate. The staff can talk you through their speciality single-origin Columbian coffees and you can even join a coffee masterclass if you want to know more about the process.
Area: City centre/Summertown
Website: colombiacoffeeroasters.co.uk
Price: £
The Missing Bean
The Missing Bean has its own roastery in East Oxford and serves up a rotating selection of single-origin coffees and a great seasonal house espresso. It also has its own bakery, so expect fresh cakes and pastries, airy sourdough and door-stop sandwiches. There are plenty of vegan and gluten-free options, outdoor seating on a laneway tucked between stately college buildings, and additional cafés in East Oxford and Botley too.
Area: City centre/East Oxford/Botley
Website: themissingbean.co.uk
Price: £
Jericho Coffee Traders
What started out as a coffee machine on the back of a Vespa is now a thriving business with a roastery, coffee school and three cafés. Relax in the High Street espresso bar with views of Brasenose College and University Church, enjoy a velvety flat white in the Castle Quarter, or drop into the Osney café for a roastery tour to learn the best ways to brew speciality coffee at home.
Area: City centre/Osney
Website: jerichocoffeetraders.com
Price: £
NewGround
Sleek, minimalist and uber trendy, NewGround has style as well as substance. Plain white walls contrast with black counter tops, tables and chairs in this coffee house that thrives on seasonal brews from its own roastery, all of which are ethically sourced from small-scale farms. It also runs a foundation giving a step up to ex-offenders. Visit its city centre café or see the whole process at work at the roastery and café in Headington.
Area: City centre/Headington
Website: newgroundcoffee.com
Price: £
Queen’s Lane Coffee House
Supposedly the oldest continuously operating coffee house in Europe, this family-run, traditional café was established in 1654. A meeting place for academics, intellectuals and artists, these original coffee houses were known as “penny universities” where, for the price of a penny, you could access newspapers and hear the latest ideas debated by great minds. Today, traditional Turkish coffee – the first kind to be imported to England – is still served here alongside Greek pastries and great cakes.
Area: City centre
Website: qlcoffeehouse.com
Price: £
Common Ground
Always busy yet always chilled, Common Ground is a hugely popular café and co-working space on trendy Little Clarendon Street. Serving Missing Bean coffee, organic teas and Zuma chai alongside locally sourced treats from artisan bakers, it doubles as an arts space with regularly changing exhibitions on the walls. Come evening, you’ll find craft beer and wine on offer alongside live music, comedy clubs, life drawing classes and open mic events.
Area: Jericho
Website: commongroundoxford.com
Price: £
The Paper Boat Café
Friendly staff, excellent cakes and a scenic setting make this family-run café a local favourite. Set in the old toll house on Folly Bridge, it’s a tranquil spot to linger with large bay windows flooding the space with light. On a fine day, nab a spot in the small outdoor seating area to sip an ethically sourced macchiato coffee or matcha tea as you soak up the sun and watch the boats glide by.
Area: City centre
Contact: instagram.com/thepaperboatcafe
Price: £
Tree Artisan Café
Run by female entrepreneurs with a mission to empower women in the coffee industry, Tree Artsian Café really cares about the provenance and quality of its coffee. If you’re looking for the perfect ristretto, pour-over, espresso or cold-brew coffee, you’ll find it here. Served alongside home-made cakes and speciality sandwiches, it’s a popular spot but seating is limited so it may just have to be coffee and cake to go.
Area: Jericho
Website: treeartisancafe.com
Price: £
Love Coffee Co
Right on Oxford’s High Street, this busy café has a loyal band of local customers who come for the excellent coffee, friendly service and flaky Greek pastries. College students, bus drivers and passing tourists all end up here, lured in by the extensive array of cakes, though the cooked breakfasts, all day sandwich menu and late evening opening mean it is busy all day. Expect Greek stalwarts such as spanakopita as well as bagels, toasted paninis and salads.
Area: City centre
Website: instagram.com/love_coffee_high_street_oxford
Price: £
Proof Social Bakehouse
Set on a small industrial estate on the city’s outskirts, Proof is a thriving social enterprise and destination café for walkers, runners and cyclists who flock here for quality coffee and exquisite bakes. Ramble downstream along the Thames Path from Folly Bridge for an hour or so and reward yourself with hot croque buns, plum and gorgonzola Danish pastries, maple pecan doughnuts and cardamon and blackcurrant swirls. It’s worth every step.
Area: Kennington
Website: proofbakehouse.com
Price: £
How we choose
Every café in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood roasteries to high street favourites – to best suit every type of traveller’s taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Etain O’Carroll
Etain can often be found poring over the cabinets in the Pitt Rivers Museum or running along the river. Oxford has been her home for more than 20 years and she’s still smitten by the diminutive city’s cultural clout.