Guided tour

Oxford: Official University and City Walking Tour

Activity provider: Experience Oxfordshire
Guided tour

Oxford: Official University and City Walking Tour

Activity provider: Experience Oxfordshire
Likely to sell out

From US$ 26.91 per person

Likely to sell out

Navigate through hidden passages and alleyways and past the most famous colleges, monuments, and pubs on a walking tour hosted by the city’s tourism board through Oxford University and city center.

About this activity

Free cancellation
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Covid-19 precautions
Special health and safety measures are in place. Check your activity voucher once you book for full details.
Duration 2 hours
Check availability to see starting times.
Skip the ticket line
Live tour guide
English
Wheelchair accessible

Experience

Highlights
  • Admire Oxford's stupendous architecture and picturesque parks
  • Find the city’s secret alleyways and passageways alongside an expert guide
  • Discover the history hidden behind the walls of Oxford University
  • Walk past the favorite pubs of Inspectors Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour
  • See Harry Potter film locations, New College and Christ Church, from the outside
Full description
Explore Oxford, the city of Dreaming Spires, on a walking tour with an expert guide from the city’s tourism board. Be shown the city’s most famous sights, uncover its hidden history, and enjoy all the astonishing stories about Oxford's key characters- real and fictional. Meet your guide at the grand and very old Broad Street (once the city's ditch) let them know where you come from and any special Oxford interests you may have and they will do their best to incorporate those.  Go to Martyrs' Memorial, the scene of terrible religious retributions in medieval times, and on to the oldest tower at St Michael of the Northgate built in Saxon times. Then, make your way to the very heart of the University and the inspiration behind Harry Potter's Hogwarts School. Pass by the pubs where the Inklings used to meet to discuss their writing as well as the pubs where Inspector Morse was filmed and the most popular student drinking holes in days of old. Discover the city that is home to several of Britain's most famous literary characters - both fictional and real - such as JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, Philip Pullman, and Colin Dexter as well as some of their most famous creations like Lyra and Will, and Inspector Morse. Admire Oxford's stupendous architecture, gargoyles and grotesques, so wonderfully preserved from every historical period and style, and take a stroll through the breathtaking Radcliffe Square. Cross the whimsical Bridge of Sighs as it's fondly known, just like the ones in Venice and Cambridge. See the Bodleian Libraries from the outside in the splendid Old Schools Quadrangle. Learn about the city’s famous museums including the Museum of the History of Science, containing Einstein's blackboard, The Pitt Rivers, once home to shrunken heads, and the fabulous Ashmolean, which was one of the very first ever museums in the world. If time allows, walk as far as to the beautiful Christ Church Meadows, where punting happens and cattle graze; a truly pastoral and quintessential English scene.
Includes
  • Guide
  • College visit on the 1pm tour (subject to availability)

    Select participants and date

    Participants

    Date

    Meeting point

    Meet your guide outside the Cool Britannia Gift Shop, at the junction of Broad Street and Turl Street. They will be holding a sign.

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    Important information

    What to bring

    • Comfortable shoes

    Not allowed

    • Pets (assistance dogs allowed)

    Know before you go

    • Many colleges have been closed since the pandemic, so while your guide will try their best, a college visit may not always be possible. The 1pm tour is prebooked into Jesus College. However, this is subject to availability, and all colleges reserve the right to close on the day of your tour
    • All the key University & Library buildings will be seen from the outside, but there is still plenty to enjoy in the fabulous architecture
    • This tour takes place rain or shine
    •  This tour will take place rain or shine
    • This tour has Visit England #SafeTravels accreditation
    • Groups sizes are small for your safety and comfort
    Customer reviews

    Overall rating

    4.8 /5

    based on 210 reviews

    Review summary

    • Guide
      4.8/5
    • Value for money
      4.5/5

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    Our guide Suzanne was friendly, knowledgeable, and able to explain Oxford's colourful history in a clear, balanced fashion, with a good dose of humour thrown in! As first time visitors to the city it was an excellent way to get oriented and to sample some of its many points of interest.

    March 27, 2023

    I did the tour with my three teenage daughters. Hannah our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining and we enjoyed the tour very much, even though it was very cold and rainy (being the end of December). Highly recommend doing the tour and doing it in the morning, to get your bearings.

    March 27, 2023

    It was an amazing guided tour. We just had 3 hours to explore Oxford and decided to take a guided tour. Booking experience was hassle free and the tour started right on time. We heard a Fascinating history about Oxford university which otherwise would just be a historic landmark. The tour was so captivating that even though our guide had a soft tone we understood and appreciated the in depth information she conveyed. Many thanks and will definitely book a tour again!

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    March 27, 2023

    Product ID: 393316