Touches of Wonderland can be found throughout Oxford. The centuries-old city has long been home to some of the world’s top minds, yet it also fully embraces the playful madness of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book’s author, Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), was a mathematician at Oxford University and touches of the city and its people made their way into his work. Now, nearly 130 years after Alice was first published, the city pays back that love in kind by incorporating Carroll’s work into its culture.

A good cocktail bar should feel like stepping through the looking glass and that’s exactly you will experience at The Alice, located inside the historic Randolph Hotel, a building as old as the story itself.

The Randolph’s primary dining room and bar, The Alice incorporates its namesake theme through illustrations created by John Broadley and inspired by the work of British cartoonist Osbert Lancaster, a former resident of The Randolph who paid for his keep in paintings. The artwork is hung against the backdrop of an updated Art Deco brasserie with mosaic tile floors and millennial-pink tufted leather couches. But true to Wonderland standards, The Alice also contains a White Rabbit warren collection of secret rooms and surprises to be found, each with its own distinct esthetic and slight touch of whimsy.

The Snug lounge, for instance, is opulent, eclectic, cozy and intimate, tucked between the brasserie and a private dining room that features a stained-glass rendition of the book’s croquet scene. (There’s also a bar called The Morse, in honour of Colin Dexter’s fictional, Oxford-based inspector.)

The Alice-inspired cocktails are simple but precisely and perfectly balanced. For instance, in The Queen of Hearts, rhubarb, lemon, grenadine, Chambord and gin combine for a light, yet spirit-forward pink dream. But be warned: Too many, and you may find yourself down the rabbit hole. graduatehotels.com/oxford-uk

— by Allie Turner