Inspector Morse Oxford Small Group Public Tour at 12.00

Recommended by 94% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Oxford, England

1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Visit filming locations from the British television series 'Inspector Morse,' as well as spin-offs 'Lewis' and 'Endeavour,' on this Oxford walking tour. With a guide, learn about the making of the detective show and visit Oxford University colleges to gain insight into what it might be like to be a student here. Entrance fees to select university locations are included; drinks are not.

'Inspector Morse' film sites walking tour in Oxford
Follow in the footsteps of one of Britain's most popular fictional detectives
Visit colleges of Oxford and learn about the university's history
Enjoy a small-group experience on this tour, limited to 15 travelers

What's Included

Entry included to either Wadham, Exeter, Balliol or St Johns college- unless all are closed

GRADUATION DATES: we cannot always guarantee entry inside any colleges or venues
Colleges may be closed on graduation dates- see 2026 dates below...
Feb 28, March 7, May 15+ 16+ 23, July 18+ 28+ 31, Aug 1 + 8, Sep 25+ 26, Nov 6 + 7 + 13 + 14 of 2026
Colleges are usually all closed at Christmas from about December 21 until about January 2

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

15-16 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AS, UK
Meet your guide wearing red lanyard. Meeting next to our black sign, OUTSIDE Oxford Tourist info centre, 15 Broad street, OX1 3AS. This is also next to the Oxfam shop which has a green sign above its shop.

End point

Oxford, UK
End point varies but we will always give you a free city map and offer directions to where you want to go to next.

Operating hours
.12:00 pm

Itinerary

Your walking tour starts by meeting your guide in central Oxford. Then set off on your exploration of 'Inspector Morse' filming locations.

As you walk, listen to your guide's commentary about the character of Morse, the 'Lewis' and 'Endeavour' spin-offs, and the sometimes-tricky relationship between the city of Oxford and Oxford University. Locations seen vary from tour to tour, as the colleges of Oxford are private institutions and not always open. But typically, the tour takes you inside Exeter College and one other college.

At the end of the tour, you are welcome to grab a drink (own expense) at a historical local pub commonly seen on the Morse shows.

Radcliffe Camera (Pass By)

Bridge of Sighs (Pass By)

The Turf (Pass By)

Bodleian Library

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Hertford College (Pass By)

Brasenose College (Pass By)

All Souls College (Pass By)

Oxford Covered Market

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Bear Tavern (Pass By)

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Pass By)

Corpus Christi College (Pass By)

Wadham College

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Exeter College

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Lincoln College (Pass By)

Balliol College (Pass By)

Trinity College (Pass By)

St John's College

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Wellness at The Randolph

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Group size will be kept to max 15 persons but is rarely more than 5 persons
Stroller accessible
Please arrive 5 minutes early for your tour at our meeting point. If you arrive more than 5 minutes later than the scheduled tour, then you will likely forfeit and lose your booking as it interrupts the guide and other customers, if we are trying to find you after a guide has started and left the meeting point.
INFO FOR DRIVERS AND PARKING:
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
If you are driving, then please allow extra 30-60 minutes over whatever time you think it will take you to get here. Oxford is NOT car friendly and it is congested roads and hard to find parking spaces....unless you park at the sign posted 'park and rides' on edge of town on any major road into the city and hop on their buses into city centre. The park and ride buses leave every 15 or every 30 minutes and take anything from 10 min to 30 min (depending on traffic) to reach city centre. So if you are going to drive, then please assume you should be aiming to park your car about one hour before your tour starts.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
We actually recommend instead using the much faster and reliable train services but again please aim to arrive about an hour or earlier before your tour starts as trains can be delayed and the train and coach station are about 15 minutes walk from our meeting point. There is also the coach service from London called the Oxford Tube which leaves every half hour or more but it can take much longer than its advertised 105 minute journey time. It drops you off either at High street Oxford or Gloucester Green coach station. It's quicker to ask to get off on High street near Carfax tower, then it's a 10 minutes walk to Broad street.

Our marginally higher ticket price reflects the special quality of typically having smaller groups than our competitors- average numbers is 2-4 persons only.
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Infants 5 and under can go on this tour free of charge but this tour is NOT aimed at children
During Xmas holiday period or on dates of university graduation dates, we may propose changing slightly the tour start time to 1pm or to 11am, if we think it will make it easier to get into colleges, during restricted opening times. We will advise at time of booking and seek your approval to make any changes to the start time.
Please note that as the university colleges are private institutions, we can't always guarantee entry to colleges but it is very rare that we cannot get entry into at least 1 or 2 colleges on the tour. Please take note of any advertised university graduation dates mentioned below, as those dates can have less options of colleges to visit.
GRADUATION DATES + XMAS + UNIVERSITY OPEN DAYS:
We cannot guarantee entry into colleges on graduation dates or during Xmas vacation period, so please consult 'Exclusions' section for details of any such dates.
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.7

based on 122 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Enjoyable learning experience!

DaleBrown, Apr 2024

Excellent tour with a professional guide who truly knew the stories and architecture! Also very personable and patient with our many questions. Excellent tour!

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Hi Dale, Thanks for your recommendation.

Great Morse tour

Anne_B, Feb 2024

Our guide Tom was very knowledgeable, not only about Morse/Lewis/Endeavour, but also about Oxford history and lore. He showed us many shooting locations and quoted dialogue and described episodes by name and number. We visited several colleges, chapels, and if course pubs. We also saw Tolkien and CS Lewis locations. Highly recommended.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thanks!

Magnificent Morse Tour

Mike_W, Feb 2024

Such an awesome tour. My wife loves Morse, Endeveour, and Lewis. It was so nice to have a guide with such a wealth of knowledge about the show, the locations and beyond. In addition he also offered insights into Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis and the rich history of Oxford. It sparked renewed interest in the shows, and we plan to review the series now that we know so much more about the locations and back stories.

Morse Tour

ShaunMichael_N, May 2023

Tom was great, amazing tour over 2 and a half hours long interesting mix of old & new Morse, Lewis & Oxford history

Response from Host, May 2023

Thanks!

Perfect tour with Tom

Cheryl_H, May 2023

Excellent tour with Tom. He had an excellent knowledge of Morse,Endeavour and Lewis as well as much more about the colleagues and history of Oxford. We ended the tour in the oldest pub in Oxford. Would highly recommend this tour to anyone.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Thanks

Oxford and Morse belong to one another!

Marianne_M, Dec 2022

We loved seeing the beautiful colleges and visiting the very old pubs. Even though it was a cold winter day we have experienced a warm feeling. Our guide Tom knew very much details and had a lot of appropriate quotes (also from poems). It makes us eager seeing the Morse-episodes again ;-)

Morse and Oxford tour

Martin_M, Sep 2022

The walking tour of Morse's Oxford was very entertaining and quite informative. Our guide, Tom, had an extraordinary grasp of all things Morse and regaled us with story after story of the behind the scenes activities and anecdotes. He was kind enough to wait for us after our delayed arrival and adjusted the pace of his presentation to our walking speed. We have been to Oxford before but have never been in some of the areas that were host to many scenes from Morse.

Packed with details.

Susan_F, Aug 2022

We went all over Oxford, to places I didn’t realize were open to the public. Beware: this tour can last almost as long as you want it to. 😀

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Hi Susan, Thanks for your review. Can you remember who was your guide?

A memorable experience

Muriel_L, Aug 2022

Renata, our guide was well acquainted with the settings for both Morris and Lewis films which she pointed out as we walked through the streets of Oxford. . It was a memorable experience to be taken to the pub where Morris and Lewis “shared a pint”— the Bear- the oldest pub in Oxford. Renata, informed us that the hotel where we stayed, “The Head of the River, Folly Bridge” which overlooks the Thames, was the also the setting many scenes.

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Hi Muriel, Thanks for sharing your tour experience here.

Morse Lewis en Endeavour een prachtig trio

Jolanda_B, Jul 2022

The colleges and the story The death of Jericho. Also the gardens, roads and so on Nice tour exactly 2 hours

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Thanks!

Great tour

Alan_S, Jul 2022

Renata was a very friendly and informative guide who used the tour to mix the tv locations with local history and recommend places to visit after the tour

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Thanks

Interesting informative and enjoyable tour

Karen_R, Nov 2021

Alasdair was a knowledgeable and engaging guide and made the tour interesting. We would definitely recommend this tour if you are a Morse fan or if you just want to see more of Oxford itself.

Excellent tour. Highly recommended

Neville_G, Sep 2021

Tom was our guide and provided an excellent Morse tour. His knowledge was superb and he tailored the tour to our needs as we were the only couple on the tour. He provided extensive historical information, incorporating this with the Morse connection. When booking, I didn't know what to expect from the tour and wondered if the cost would be worth it - my fears were alleviated immediately and I would have happily paid more for this excellent experience which surpassed our expectations. Thank you for a great afternoon in Oxford Tom

Response from Host, Sep 2021

Hi Neville, Thanks for recommending your Morse Oxford tour with Tom.

Enjoyable informative tour

JACQUELYN_H, Sep 2021

As a Morse fan I found the tour very interesting and the guide very knowledgeable. Seeing the locations around Oxford where Morse, Endeavour and Lewis was filmed was a great experience.

Response from Host, Sep 2021

Hi Jacqueline, Thanks for recommending your Oxford Morse tour with myself. Sincerely, Alasdair

Fun and informative

Richard_L, Aug 2021

Excellent walking tour with a really friendly and extremely knowledgeable guide. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour.

Response from Host, Aug 2021

Hi Richard, Thanks for recommending your Inspector Morse Oxford small groups walking tour led by Renata. Sincerely, Alasdair, Visit Oxford Tours

Fantastic!

Rachel_M, Aug 2021

Excellent tour with Tom who was incredibly knowledgeable about Oxford and took us to some really outstanding, hidden gems.

Response from Host, Aug 2021

Hi Rachael, Thanks for the recommendation of your Inspector Morse Oxford tour with Tom. Sincerely, Alasdair

Inspector Morse tour

Louise_R, Jul 2021

Great Inspector Morse tour with Peter who was very informative and knowledgeable. Highlight was seeing the exact spot where Morse had his heart attack

Response from Host, Jul 2021

Hi Louise, Thanks for also posting your recommendation here for the Oxford Morse tour.

Good Trip

Paul_A, Aug 2020

Very good guide and trip. The Colleges were all inaccessible due to the lockdown unfortunately or would have been 5 stars. No fault of the tour guide obviously, but we were not made aware of this.

Response from Host, Aug 2020

Hi Paul, Thanks for your review. By the way, as mentioned, whenever things do return to normal and when you are back down this way, I will happily invite you to tag onto another tour running to go into some colleges then. For anyone else who is reading this review, please be aware that our advert does mention colleges are currently closed. That said, there is one college called Magdalen has very recently re opened but only will permit entry if groups are very small. Magdalen charges £6 entry and as that's over 1/3 of the fee which we receive from viator, we are not including entry to Magdalen on this tour. That said, we can include Magdalen on the tour if we have max 5 persons only (which is usually the case right now) and if everyone agrees to pay the entry fee to Magdalen, we could take this tour inside there. However, you can also equally walk down and visit Magdalen without a guide. Its current opening hours are 10am to 5pm and no need to book online to visit it.

Mixed experience

Robert_T, Jan 2020

Firstly the tour guide was late and had no identification despite what the website had said. Instead of greeting us the first thing he did was to demand to see our tickets. When I produced this he turned his back on me and began speaking to someone else and never saw my ticket. The tour itself was good and informative, he had much interesting knowledge about the history of Oxford. We had booked a tour of Inspector Morse filming sites. He spent more time talking about Harry Potter, we did not book a tour about a children’s film. This was bizarre. When we got to the part to visit the Randolph hotel he spent much time describing what poor condition the hotel was in despite the fact that he knew that 2 of our party were staying there. He even said to them that they should not pay more than £150 a night for this place, to which they replied that they had paid considerably more. Overall we enjoyed the tour but it was missold due to so much Harry Potter which we have no interest in whatsoever and would not have booked this. He also kept telling me which buildings to look at and actually told me off at one point for looking at another. He also asked me several times to try and knock down a lampost to show how strong it was. I have severe arthritis.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Hi Robert, I am sorry to hear that you felt your tour did not live up to your expectations. You mentioned that your guide Peter was late. I happened to also there to start another tour at same time and I met you and your guide at 12.32 for my 12.30 university tour. I apologise that I was a few minutes late. Peter had already arrived several minutes before me, so he was engaging your tour plus my three clients until I was ready to start. I am not sure why your guide Peter would have mentioned Harry Potter more than just briefly on a Morse Tour- perhaps there were also other clients also on your tour whom he perceived to have such an interest? Admittedly Peter has quite an exuberant personality & he maybe didn't tune in well enough to you. That said, usually Peter only gets 5 star ratings for his tours. I think you are only the third person ever to leave him a mixed or poor review (after several hundred super reviews for his Morse & other tours). By the way, on your tour, we also had Glynn, 2 persons who just left a super 5 star review of this exact same Morse tour which you joined on Jan 25th. You can see that review posted just after your review here on tripadvisor. The title of that review posted on Jan 27th is by username of . We also had a very last minute booking request- which is why it took a few minutes for Peter to get started on the tour as these last minute clients decided to switch suddenly from my university tour to your Morse tour with Peter. Indeed, these clients who also were on your tour left this super review as follows on Google maps: So out of the three groups of two persons each on the tour which you joined, both the other coupes have published super 5 star reviews. Anyway, I apologize that you didn't find the tour was what you were hoping for and I will raise your comments with Peter now. Peter did also mention that your wife had commented to him during the tour that you were finding the walking tiring and so wanted to break off earlier. Peter tells me that he had offered to have everyone pause at that point to rest for 5 minutes. There is a lot of walking on a two hour tour. We do sometimes have people ahead of booking with us, forewarn us that there is someone with eg athritis and so please can we accomodate. It's a pity you didn't make just such a request to us either when booking the tour or during the tour. Sincerely, Alasdair

Fabulous day out

Julie_B, Jan 2020

Peter was extremely knowledgable on this tour and not just on Morse but the history of Oxford . A very enjoyable tour and I would highly recommend.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Hi Julie, Thanks for leaving such a great recommendation.

From the get go, my Trip to the UK...

Genie B, Jan 2018

From the get go, my Trip to the UK was always going to be special! It was to celebrate a Milestone Birthday, and being a huge Endeavor Fan, Oxford was on my Bucket List. Happy Birthday indeed! Straight away, I knew that my experience with Visit Oxford Tours, was going to be exceptional! Alasdair e-mailed me in advance with detailed information about our Tour, where to meet our Guide, and if I had any other interests other than Endeavour/Inspector Morse. I mentioned to him that it would be wonderful if some Harry Potter bits were thrown into the mix, and he indeed let our Tour Guide know that! We met our Tour Guide Tom, in front of the Oxford Visitor Centre which was easy enough to find and in a central location. After Introductions, and sharing with us a bit about the Tour, he pulled out laminated print outs on Endeavour boxes all ticked! and when it started raining, he graciously lent my Cousin his umbrella for the duration of our tour. It was then I knew we had an exceptional guide. Saying Tom is an exceptional guide, is an understatement. On a rather weather filled day, we hardly noticed it, as he skillfully and full of thought, brought the magic that is Oxford to life. Focusing mostly on Inspector Morse, which is the name of the Tour, he did have just as much knowledge on Endeavour. He took us to particular filming sites of the show, which made the fan in me very happy see attached pics ! We went toExeter college, The Covered Market, and The Bear. We went to the corner at Christchurch, Oriel, and Corpus Christi, that goes into the cobble-stoned region where there is a lot of Morse filming. We went to Merton College, then onto the 1950's building that doubles as the Wessex Bank in Morse. We went up Magpie Lane, the University Church, Radcliffe Square, where I stood in total awe of the Radcliffe Camera, and then onto the Divinity School, where the Harry Potter Fan in me was satiated. Then to the Bridge of Sighs and New College Lane where I took one of my fave pics of my whole trip, which also, according to Tom, is the haunted part of town and where several bits of Endeavour are filmed! Then we went to the Turf Pub, glanced at the Natural History Museum, and onto Keble College, setting for the snow covered episode of Home in Endeavour incidentally my most Fave episode. Towards the end of the tour, we headed to The Lamb and Flag, the Canterbury Quad of St Johns, and most appropriately, the Randolph Hotel any true Inspector Morse Fan knows what Im talking about! Although I am primarily an Endeavour Fan going into the Tour, Tom inspired me to revisit the original Inspector Morse Series, which I might add, is the mark of a good Tour Guide! And as we meandered our way to our various destinations, he would deftly extol upon us many Literary References which made me want to be more well read, Architectural Details, and overall general historical facts of the City of Dreaming Spires . I always knew I would love Oxford, but it was his Tour, along with the Pub Tour also from Visit Oxford Tours straight after, that helped me solidify a deep love for the city. Well done Tom, and many thanks for bringing it all to life for us! If you want a uniquely personal tour experience it was just me my Cousin for the whole of the Tour, I highly recommend it! Ask for Tom if you can, give my love to Oxford, and bring an Umbrella!

What a fantastic tour. Our guide...

Nicola W, Nov 2017

What a fantastic tour. Our guide Peter was both highly knowledgeable and entertaining in equal measures. He showed us lots of places not usually on a standard tour route, and then brought everything to life. He was able to share story after story, about Morse, Harry Potter and the life of this university city. Certainly left us feeling that we will need to visit the city again one day. Thank you Peter, for keeping us entertained and extending the tour long past the two hour time slot!

We were the only two on the...

Michelle D, Sep 2017

We were the only two on the Inspector Morse tour, so we had lots of time for questions. Our guide was quite knowledgeable, and we learned lots about Oxford in general, as well as the filming locations of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. Michelle

If you wanted a tour of Morse's...

Joyce_K, Sep 2017

If you wanted a tour of Morse's Oxford, this was not it. It was more a tour of the Oxford Colleges with Morse thrown in. It only lasted 1 hour and 45. We had wanted this tour to be all about Morse. We had done a tour of Rebus's Edinburgh which showed us places from the books, the police station, and his local.

It was just ok in terms of the Morse...

John E, Aug 2017

It was just ok in terms of the Morse bits....The other side is that we got a lot of town knowledge from Peter in regard to Oxford and the University.

Tour was advertised to be no more...

Elizabeth C, Aug 2017

Tour was advertised to be no more than 4 people and we were 7. We didn't stop inside any of the pubs and really did not have access to many of the colleges and then just got inside past the porters. Supposed to meet at pub at end and solve a murder- guide did not offer to do this.

This is one of two tours we took in...

Craig D, Aug 2017

This is one of two tours we took in Oxford. Our guide Alisdair took just the two of us...very import point, they tours are limited to no more than half a dozen people at max all around Oxford. While I was a bigger fan of the series than my wife, you don't have to know anything about the show to enjoy the great sights, sounds and history of the town. We saw so many other tour groups with 20 or 30 people all going along trying to hear what a guide said or ask a question. This company and their tours are like have a friend in town who shows you everything you could ever want to see and learn. We enjoyed it soo much we did a pub tour that evening with another of their people, Peter, that was the highlight of our vacation. Visit Oxford Tours is the best and we look forward to coming back to see more of this great town with Peter, Alisdair, and Guy.

A great way to find out about...

Sylvia N, Jul 2017

A great way to find out about Oxford! We really enjoyed the Morse tour with Peter. His wealth of knowledge made the tour really interesting, as did his enthusiasm, photos of scenes in Morse, Lewis and Endeavour and his desire to make us understand and enjoy the experience. It seemed that nothing was too much for him. He also told us historical facts about Oxford and the different colleges as well as snippets about CS Lewis and Harry Potter. The time flew by and it was such a shame he had to finish. Next time we are in Oxford we will definitely be asking for Peter to take us on a different tour!

We loved the Morse Tour. Our guide...

Michael S, Jul 2017

We loved the Morse Tour. Our guide, Peter, was superb. He was delightful, engaging and informative. We could not have asked for a better guide. He went above and beyond what we expected. Thank you for a splendid time, and a great inside look at Oxford. All the best, Michael Sullivan

Peter, our guide, was so well...

Meredith T, Jul 2017

Peter, our guide, was so well informed about history, politics and all thing Inspector Morse. He fielded all kinds of questions and delighted us with his humor and breadth of knowledge

Likely to Sell Out