Carfax Tower
Corner of St. Aldate's, Cornmarket Street, Queen Street, High Street
Open daily April - October, 10am - 5:30pm, October - April, 10am - 3:30pm Admission £1.60
Carfax is located at the conjunction of St Aldate's (south), Cornmarket Street (north), Queen Street (west) and the High Street (east) in Oxford, England. It is considered to be the centre of the city. The name "Carfax" derives from the French "carrefour", or "crossroads".

Carfax Tower is located at the north-west corner of Carfax. The Tower is all that remains of the 13th century St. Martin's Church and is now owned by the Oxford City Council. It is 23 m (74 ft) tall and still contains a ring of six bells, recast from the original five by Richard Keene of Woodstock in 1676. These chime the quarter hours and are rung on special occasions by the Oxford Society of Change Ringers.

It is possible to climb to the top of the tower for a good view of the Oxford skyline.

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Entrances on High Street and Radcliffe Square
Church open daily 9am -5pm (6am-6pm in July & August), Sundays the Tower opens at 12:15pm October - May, 11:15am June - September. Admission to Tower £2/£1
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew. It is situated on the north side of the High Street, and is surrounded by university and college buildings.

St Mary's has one of the most beautiful spires in England and an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street. Radcliffe Square lies to the north and to the east is Catte Street, pedestrianised since 1973. The 13th century tower is open to the public for a fee and provides good views across the heart of the historic university city, especially Radcliffe Square, the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College and All Souls College.

Martyrs' Memorial
Intersection of St. Giles', Magdalen Street, and Beaumont Street
The Martyrs' Memorial is a rather imposing stone monument positioned at the intersection of St Giles', Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street in Oxford, England just outside Balliol College. It commemorates the 16th-century Oxford Martyrs.

Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the monument was completed in 1843 after two years' work, having replaced "a picturesque but tottering old house". The Victorian Gothic memorial, whose design dates from 1838, has been likened to the spire of some sunken cathedral.

The inscription on the base of the Martyrs' Memorial reads as follows:

"To the Glory of God, and in grateful commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake; this monument was erected by public subscription in the year of our Lord God, MDCCCXLI".

Cuthbert Bede (in his novel The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green) wrote about the setting of the Martyrs' Memorial thus in 1853:

"He who enters the city, as Mr Green did, from the Woodstock Road, and rolls down the shady avenue of St Giles', between St John's College and the Taylor Buildings, and past the graceful Martyrs' Memorial, will receive impressions such as probably no other city in the world could convey."

The actual site of the execution is close by in Broad Street, located just outside the location of the old city walls. The site is marked by a cross sunk in the road.

There is also an urban legend in Oxford that generations of Oxford students have duped groups of tourists into believing that the memorial is, in fact, the spire of an underground chapel or a sunken church, offering tours of it for a price, and then directing them to the stairs round the corner, which in fact lead to the public toilets.

Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate
Cornmarket Street. Open 10am - 5pm Mon-Fri, 12 noon - 5pm Sunday. Admission £1.50.
St Michael at the Northgate is a church in Cornmarket Street, at the junction with Ship Street, central Oxford, England. The church is so-called because this is the location of the original north gate of Oxford when it was surrounded by a city wall. Dating from 1040, it is Oxford's oldest building. The church tower is Saxon.

The Oxford Martyrs were imprisoned in the Bocardo Prison by the church before they were burnt at the stake in what is now Broad Street nearby, then immediately outside the city walls, in 1555 and 1556. Their cell door can be seen on display in the church's tower.

Bodleian Library
Broad Street, 277216. Open Monday-Friday, 9am - 4:45pm, Saturday 9am - 12:30pm
Known informally as "The Bod", the Bodleian was opened in 1602 by Thomas Bodley with a collection of 2,000 books. In 1610, Bodley made an agreement with the Stationers' Company in London to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library (nowadays, each book copyrighted must be deposited). Today, there are 9 million items on 176 kilometres of shelving, and the library can accommodate 2,500 readers. Books may not be taken off the premises. The Divinity School and exhibition room are open to the public.

Clarendon Building
Broad Street
The Clarendon Building in Oxford, England, stands in the centre of the city in Broad Street, near the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre. For many years it was the home of the Oxford University Press; today it is part of the Bodleian.

The building was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (Christopher Wren's greatest pupil) and built (1711–1715) to house the Press's printing operations. (Before its construction the presses were in the basement of the Sheldonian Theatre, and the compositors could not work when the Theatre was in use for ceremonies.)

The building was financed largely from the proceeds of the commercially successful History of the Great Rebellion by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, whose money also paid for the building of the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford.

Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Square
Built in 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library, the Radcliffe Camera (camera is another word for 'room') is now a reading room for the Bodleian Library. The distinctive circular dome and drum of the structure makes it one of the most recognizable and often-photographed building in Oxford. This building is not open to the public.

Sheldonian Theatre
Broad Street
The Sheldonian Theatre was built in 1668 from a design created by Christopher Wren. It was named after Gilbert Sheldon, who was Chancellor of the University at the time the construction was funded. The building is used for music recitals, conferences, and various ceremonies held by the University, including graduation. The theatre seats up to 1,000 people.

Blackwell's Bookstore
50 Broad Street
Blackwell's is an institution in Oxford. It's not just a regular bookstore - it has the largest single room devoted to book sales in all of Europe (the 10,000 sq. ft. Norrington Room). In order to create such a large space in a small city, Blackwell's excavated underneath Trinity College's gardens. Blackwell's sells both new and second-hand books, and has a cafe.

Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street, Jericho, 353527
The Oxford University Press (OUP) publishes many reference, professional, and academic works, including the Oxford English Dictionary. The OUP grew to the world's largest press after receiving rights to publish the King James Version of the Bible. Today, it publishes more than 4,500 new books each year. Tours are available with advanced booking.

Botanical Gardens
High Street. Open 9am - 5pm daily. Free in winter, £2.60 in summer.
Located on the peaceful banks of the Cherwell River, the gardens were started in 1621 as the Physic Gardens, for the study of medicinal plants. These are the oldest botanic gardens in Britain. In addition to the lovely outdoor gardens, there are greenhouses which grow many varieties of exotic plants and flowers. Just next to the gardens, crossing over Rose Lane, there are rose gardens that are exquisite in July.

Hertford Bridge
New College Lane
Hertford Bridge is often called the Bridge of Sighs because of the similarity to the famous bridge in Venice. Actually, it looks more like the Rialto Bridge, and this Oxford structure was never intended to be a replica of any existing bridge. It was completed in 1914 to connect two sections of Hertford College, but has since been closed to foot traffic. Legend has it, that after a survey of all Oxford students, those at Hertford were found to be heavier than any others, so the college closed the bridge in order to give the students more exercise!

Church of St. Mary Magdalen
Magdalen Street. 247836.
This pretty Anglican church is located at the intersections of Magdalen Street, Broad Street, George Street, and Cornmarket Street.