Bus Tours
CitySightSeeing Oxford
Broad Street (main ticket booth). Prices (as of July 2010): 24hr Adult £12.50, 24hr Student £10.50, 24hr Senior £10.00, 24hr Child (5-15) £6.00, 24hr Family £32.00, Under 5's travel free.
The city tour lasts approximately 1 hour and departs every 10/15 minutes in the summer and every 20/30 minutes in the winter (subject to season and traffic conditions). No need to book, just pay the driver or sales staff, your ticket is valid all day and you can get on and off at any of the 19 stops on the tour.
On the tour you will see Magdalen College, The site of William Morris's first workshop, University Science Area, the City Walls, Sheldonian Theatre, Ashmolean Museum, Martyr's Memorial, Christ Church College, River Cherwell, Carfax Tower, Alice's Shop, Radcliffe Infirmary, Bodleian Library, The High, Broad Street and the University Parks.
The tour also stops at various points for visits to University Colleges, Museums, Shops, Restaurants and The Botanic Garden.
Walking Tours
In addition to our itineraries, a great way to see the city is by booking an organised, specialised walking tour.
Tourist Information Centre Tours
Oxford Tourist Information Centre, Broad Street, 01865 252200
Daily walking tours depart from the Oxford Tourist Information Centre on Broad Street. For a full list and schedule, visit the website for Visit Oxfordshire, the official tourism website for Oxfordshire.
Tours include:
Daily University and City Tour
Family Walking Tour
William Morris and Victorian Oxford Tour
Oxford Children's Stories Tour
Inspector Morse Tour
Oxford's West End Tour
Tudor Oxford Tour
CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien Tour
University and City Tour in Spanish/French
Stained Glass Tour
Women in Oxford Tour
Sciences at Oxford Tour
Literary Tour
Oxford Film Sites Tour
Gargoyles and Grotesques Tour
John and Charles Wesley Tour
Pottering in Harry's Footsteps Tour
Garden Tour
Jewish Heritage Tour
Tours of the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library, Broad Street, OX1 3BG Oxford
Welcome! Enter through the Great Gate, into the Old Schools Quadrangle with its monumental Tower of the Five Orders of Architecture. Come and see the Divinity School, a masterpiece of English Gothic architecture and the University’s oldest teaching room. Whether you opt for a self timed visit to the Divinity School or you choose to see the room as part of a multi language audio tour, there’s plenty of time to marvel at the School’s beautiful carved stone ceiling, and to explore the ancient architecture of the external quadrangles.
Behind the Scenes: If you would like to see more, why not take a guided tour, led by one of our professional guides?
• Mini tours
Mini tours allow you to view the most beautiful parts of the library, the Divinity School and Duke Humfrey’s Library, in just 30 minutes.• Standard tours
60 Minute tours include a visit to Duke Humfrey’s library, still in use today, where generations of famous scholars have studied through the ages, amongst them 5 kings, 40 Nobel Prize winners, 25 British Prime Ministers and writers including Oscar Wilde, C S Lewis and JRR Tolkien. You will also see the Divinity School and 17th century Convocation House and Court, where Parliament was held in the Civil War.• Extended tours
If you select a 90 minute extended tour you will see all areas mentioned above plus reading rooms in the architectural icon of Oxford, the Radcliffe Camera, the first rotunda library built in Britain. You will also be shown the hidden tunnels and passages leading to the book stacks, where millions of volumes are shelved.
Children: Thomas Bodley’s History Trail will appeal to younger visitors exploring the ground floor rooms and quadrangles. Children over the age of 11 are welcome to join the guided tours.
For opening times, ticket prices, contact details and directions, see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk or call the Historic Venues Team at 01235 277224
Read the editor's review of the Extended Tour
The Secrets of Oxford’s Hidden Castle - Oxford Castle Unlocked
Oxford Castle, 01865 260666
For the first time in 1000 years, Oxford's hidden castle will open to the public and its secrets that span 10 centuries will be finally revealed. Visitors will witness real stories of violence, executions, dramatic and even romance episodes as the history of these important buildings, and the people connected to them are brought dramatically to life. Once the haunt of prisoners, kings, sheriffs and even film stars – this site really is extraordinary! For more information, see the official website
* note from the editor - there are steep and narrow steps to climb on this tour, and the mound has steep and pebbly paths.
Literary Tour of Oxford
Blackwell Walking Tours of Oxford, 01865 333606. 16 May - 27 October (inclusive). Every Tuesday 2pm & Thursday 11am. 1 hour 30 minutes. £7 / £6.50
This tour shows where famous writers such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Stephen Hawking, William Golding, Graham Green, Alan Bennett, PB Shelley, TE Lawrence, and Lewis Carroll lived and studied. Visit the rooms where William Shakespeare stayed while visiting Oxford. Note: stairs to climb.
Inklings Tour
Blackwell Walking Tours of Oxford, 01865 333606. 16 May - 27 October (inclusive). Every Wednesday 11:45am. 1 hour 30 minutes. £7 / £6.50
Visit locations that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Also visit places where Tolkien, CS Lewis, Nevill Coghill, Charles Williams and other famous members of the "Inklings" group lived and worked.
Historic Oxford Tour
Blackwell Walking Tours of Oxford, 01865 333606. 16 May - 27 October (inclusive). Every Friday 2pm. 1 hour 30 minutes. £7 / £6.50
This tour takes you through important historic events, places and personalities from Saxon times through the Civil War and up to the present. The tour includes a visit to Oxford Castle.
Oxford Walking Tours
Daily, year round. Check the website for times of their Walking Tours and their Ghost Tours. 1 hour 30 minutes. Less than a mile of walking. Walking/Day tours are £8.50 for adults, £7.50 for Students/Seniors and £4.00 for children under 16.
Ghost Tours are £8.00 per adult and £4.00 for children under 16.
Group/private tours are £90.00 for up to 25 people plus an optional £1 per person for college admission (not applicable for evening/ghost tours) . Purchase tickets from the guide or book online.
Oxford Walking Tours have been operating from the blue gates of Trinity College on Broad St for 27 years. Our University educated guides come with years of experience and local knowledge of the City and University.
I Love Oxford Walking Tours
Small groups depart 11am, 1pm, 3pm outside Carfax Tower. £7/8. Free for under 12's. The guide is a qualified teacher. 90 minute walking tours with a friendly multi-lingual guide. Be entertained with stories about Oxford Town & Gown's often bizarre traditions! Plus learn about some of Oxford's most eccentric & influential former inhabitants plus insights into what it is like to be a student at Oxford and major English historical events which took place in Oxford.
Call Alasdair on 07955 482637 or email on tours@iloveoxford.com
Hidden Oxford
Take a relaxed and informative walking tour of Oxford, arranged at a time and pick-up point to suit you and tailor-made for your individual or group interests. When booked in advance, these tours can include visits to places normally closed to the public. Bookings: (01865) 512650 or through email f_tholstrup@hotmail.com
Tours include:
- The history of Oxford town
- The development of the University
- Specific college visits
- A literary tour (poets, diarists and authors of Oxford)
- A science walk ( Botanic Gardens, Royal Society, Science Museum)
- A children's authors walk
- Children's Clue Trail
- The influence of religion on Oxford
- Inspector Morse
- Art and Architecture in Oxford
- River tours to nearby beauty spots
- Cotswold tours with antique shopping
MP3 Walking Tour
Download a self-guided tour to play on your MP3 player for only £3. Don't have an MP3 player? Buy a tourist tracks preloaded audio player (£15 + p&p) or order a CD (£8 + p&p).
There are three Oxford walks available, costing £3 each, or they can be downloaded together for just £7.50. Walking time: 1 x 30 mins, 1 x 40 mins, 1 x 50 mins
Highlights of the Medieval City: A 40-minute walk through the ancient city, taking in sights such as the Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre and Merton College;
Christ Church and the River: This walk discovers the delights of Christ Church college, and the beautiful water meadows that surround it. Discover some of the city's best picnic spots!; and
Outside the Medieval City: Find out about the Oxford Martyrs, the Inklings and much more in this 30-minute walk around some of Oxford's grandest streets.
Footprints Tours
2 Hour free walking tours through Oxford which begin outside of Balliol College
Footprints Tours represents a new approach to walking tours. The idea started because we don't like seeing tourists exploited: we think it's crazy to ask you to pay for a tour before you have experienced it. Instead, we believe in the power of the customer. So when you take one of our walking tours, they are FREE: we do not charge a single penny. If you have a good time, we would encourage a tip, but its completely voluntary! This means we are constantly working to give you the best tour possible.
Our 2 Hour Free Oxford Walking Tour covers an in-depth history of Oxford University Colleges, an in-depth history of the city, ceremonies, famous graduates, haunted Oxford, Alice in Wonderland, famous filmings, and more.
English Ale Trail: Don't know where to find the best Oxford pubs down Oxford's quiet, windy roads? Fancy meeting some fellow travellers, and even some locals? Our English Ale Trail tours the best traditional Oxford pubs around the city centre. These are some of the oldest pubs in England. Throughout history some of Oxford's most famous residents have visited these pubs, and perhaps some of its future, famous students. It also provides a great chance to see the social side of the city and meet fellow travellers. We give you an insight into how English Ale came to taste so great, and being Footprints Tours, we also give the group some FREEdrinks. This tour costs £10 and you must be aged over 18 (sorry!). Please note this tour requires you to book in advance!
River Cruises
Salters Steamers
Folly Bridge, 01865 243421
Salters offers river tours, private charters, and jazz cruises, as well as the hiring of punts, rowing boats, and self-drive motor boats.
Oxford River Cruises
No. 1 Folly Bridge, 0845 2269396
Oxford River Cruises offer a variety of public cruises from their moorings at Folly Bridge. The River Experience Cruise lasts just under an hour and runs 5 times a day, subject to availability. The Alice in Wonderland cruise lasts 2.5 hours and follows the route taken by Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell which provided inspiration for the Alice books. Tickets can be purchased from Oxford tourist information centre, directly from the skipper, or as part of the city sightseeing bus tour. Places are limited. Please proceed down St Aldates and over Folly Bridge on the right hand side of the road (opposite side to the head of the river pub). Moorings are situated on the pontoon at the restaurant No. 1 Folly Bridge.
Driving Tours
CS Lewis Tour
01865 874500
A three hour tour guided by a childhood friend of Lewis' stepson, who was a frequent visitor to the Lewis household. Filled with personal anecdotes and stories, the tour takes you to Lewis' former home - "The Kilns", a church Lewis frequented (which has Narnia inspired windows), and other Lewis-related locations. The tour is free, but has a suggested donation that goes towards the "Lewis Awareness Fund."
Bicycle Tours
Guided Cycle Tours of Oxford
01296 631671
Guided tours of Oxford – its city and country, run every Saturday morning through the summer months commencing May 1. The tour starts at 10am and lasts around 3 hours. Cycle hire until 4pm is included in the price of £25. Children under 16 go for £15 and must be accompanied by an adult responsible for them. You need to book a place, by phone, email or online - by 5pm on Wednesday.
Oxon Carts Rickshaw Tours
07747 024600
Cycle rickshaw tours, taxis, weddings and deliveries
Bainton Bikes
01865 365658
Bicycle tours