The Covered Market, accessible from High Street, Cornmarket, and Market Street, is a genuine working market with permanent shops and stalls in a large covered Victorian structure. Unlike many "covered markets" that have been sanitised into food courts, Oxford's still does what a market should: it has independent butchers, fishmongers, cheese shops, florists, a dedicated cobbler, and cafes that have been trading in the same spot for decades.
The market is best visited on a weekday morning when the serious shopping is happening. Ben's Cookies, with their warm chocolate-chip cookies sold by weight, has been operating here for decades and draws a constant queue. Several cafes serve good coffee and breakfast in the market's narrow passages. Christmas is an especially good time to visit: the stalls get decorated, the food shopping intensifies, and the whole place smells of pine needles and cheese. The market is free to enter.