Oxford City and University Walking Small Group PUBLIC Tour
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Oxford, England
- 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
If you’re interested in Oxford’s rich history, look no further than this walking tour for a comprehensive overview of the historic city and its famous universities. Pass by landmarks like the Bodleian Library—home to 'Harry Potter' filming locations—and go inside at least college, and learn about Oxford University alumni such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
- Guided walking tour of Oxford city center and Oxford University colleges
- See key landmarks and learn about the city's history from your guide
- isit inside Balliol, Exeter, or St Johns (or Divinity School otherwise)
- Receive an ILoveOxford map showing all of the main landmarks
What's Included
- Your guide will give you a complementary ILoveOxford map, showing you of all the main sights.
- PLEASE SEE EXCLUSIONS SECTION FOR DETAILS OF ANY CLOSURES TO VENUES.
- The tour typically visits inside either Balliol or Exeter or St Johns college worth max £3 person
- Entry fee worth up to £5 max per person is included.
- Tour does NOT visit Bodleian, Christ church, Magdalen or New colleges ( which cost £8-£18)
- Christmas notice: colleges are usually all closed from approx Dec 21 to Jan 2nd
- On graduation dates, we may not always be able to enter a college so see graduation dates below:
- 2026 Graduation dates includes....
- 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
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
- Bridge of Sighs, New College Ln, Oxford OX1 3BL, UK
The tour either ends outside New college or next door outside the Bodleian library.
Operating hours.12:45 pm
Itinerary
Wadham College (Pass By)
1
Exeter College
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Balliol College (Pass By)
2
Bodleian Library
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Bridge of Sighs (Pass By)
Radcliffe Camera (Pass By)
3
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Radcliffe Camera (Pass By)
4
All Souls College
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Brasenose College (Pass By)
Hertford College (Pass By)
5
Jesus College
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
6
St John's College
20 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
- We cannot always guarantee entry inside any colleges during Covid19 and on graduation dates or Xmas period from approx. Dec 22nd to Jan 2nd
- Wheelchair accessible
- Please take note of any advertised university graduation dates mentioned below, as those dates can have less options of colleges to visit.
- Graduation dates- please see 'EXCLUSIONS' section.
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 99 reviews
Amy_W, Jul 2025
We really enjoyed having what turned out to be a private tour of Oxford. Our guide, Hafeja, was a recent graduate and did a great job of mixing the history of the town and colleges with current info. She also personalized our tour based upon what we were most interested in seeing, rather than relying on a predetermined route.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Great recommendation for our new guide. Thanks.
Kim_S, Oct 2023
Delightful tour! Really enjoyed it and I think we got the 'extended version'! Pay attention to meet up information as there are a lot of tours beginning in the same area and we were originally in the wrong spot!
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thanks, KIm!
lauragoff, Jul 2023
Our guide Jacob was lovely and informative. Great tour with ability to customize to interests of the group.
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thanks for recommending the tour.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Laura_T, Jan 2023
Our guide Murray was fantastic! He was knowledgeable, flexible, and fun. Very grateful for him and the view of Oxford he provided.
Thank you!
Response from Host, Jan 2023
Thanks
Bruno_P, Jul 2022
De tour was excellent en Johannes Made it more special. Thanks
City is really interesting and we discovered really interesting places.
Response from Host, Jul 2022
Hi Bruno,
Thanks for recommending your university tour with Johannes.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Denise_E, Jun 2022
Peter was an excellent guide and very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Oxford, which came through right from the start. He gave us plenty information in an entertaining way accompanied by lots of anecdotes and amusing asides about all aspects of the city now and in the past. We very much enjoyed being introduced to Oxford and learning of its history, the university, its beautiful buildings and the writers who have been inspired by it. We would recommend this tour very highly and perhaps hope to do another one with Peter when the opportunity presents itself.
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Hi Denise,
Thanks for recommending your tour with Peter.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
margaretmanchester, Feb 2022
In addition to learning more about the history of Oxford and its environs, we especially liked the description of Oxford’s influences on writers, poets, and artists, such as Tolkien, Carroll, and Rowling. Peter was very personable and provided us with little chocolate treats. Lots of connections to films, which we personally found very interesting. Because we had expressed on interest in the Harry Potter films, he also brought a hat and wand. He also took lots of photos of the two of us before some of the sites.
Response from Host, Feb 2022
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for the recommendation.
Sarah_B, Sep 2021
An excellent guide, Peter who was very engaging and enthusiastic. He imparted an mass of information entertainingly and tailoring it to our interests. He could obviously pitch the tour just as easily to children as well. We enjoyed his company. It was a joy being introduced to Oxford which we know well through new eyes, seeing it from new breathtaking angles and learning something of its evolution and history. It was altogether a wonderful birthday treat and money very well spent....something we will recommend very highly and perhaps hope to repeat when more of the colleges are open!
Peter was also very helpful making sure we found our right bus to get home...
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for leaving such a super review and yes, Peter does go the extra mile, as you mentioned.
Alison_H, Sep 2021
The guide was very knowledgeable, the pace of delivery was good.
Would definitely recommend.
Tour was interesting, lots of interesting stories.
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Hi David,
Thanks for recommending your university tour with me,
Sincerely
Alasdair
alan_h, Aug 2021
Brilliant tour, would highly recommend. Peter is extremely knowledgeable. Knows his subject. Well worth booking on this tour
Response from Host, Aug 2021
Hi Alan,
Thanks for the recommendation.
James_D, Jul 2021
Excellent tour about both the city and the university, including a look into one of the colleges. Highly recommended
Response from Host, Aug 2021
Thanks for the recommendation.
Patricia, Jun 2021
Had a great walk very enjoyable and informative .Alisdair had lots of tales to tell. Would recommend
Response from Host, Aug 2021
Thanks for the recommendation.
Rebeca_G, May 2021
Alasdair was our guide. He was on time and he was pretty nice and made it something fun! Recommended :)
Response from Host, May 2021
Hi Rebecca. Thanks for recommending your tour.
Beatriz_R, May 2021
The tour showed the main historical buildings and history points of Oxford. We felt the tour guide, Laura, was really friendly and explained everything with detail. We highly recommend the tour if you want to find out more about the history of Oxford. Thank you Laura for showing us this historical city!
Response from Host, Aug 2021
Thank you!
Tanya_J, Oct 2020
Attended the oxford university tour yesterday. Our guide was Alasdair. He was knowledgable and a good guide. Nice and informal group of 6. Able to socially distance without any issues. Well worth it even though university colleges closed at the moment. Tanya and Alister
Response from Host, Feb 2021
Hi Tanya,
Thanks for sharing your review. Sorry that somehow I didn't see it sooner to reply!
We are hoping that lockdowns might end in March so we can start up tours again.
Helen_L, Oct 2020
In appalling weather my wife and I had a personal guided tour as we were the only ones booked on the trip. A fascinating and informative walk and talk through the history of Oxford. Its origins, colleges bye ways and college laws, the characters past and present. Brigit kept a fast pace to get all the sites and places in the two hours but she was informative and enthusiastic about her subject. and ready to answer questions.
Could not have have wished for a more interesting tour or informative guide. She obviously loves Oxford. The highlight, standing on the martyrs cross.
Response from Host, Oct 2020
Hi Helen,
Thanks for recommending your tour experience with Birgit on Sunday...and indeed for braving the weather! That was actually only Birgit's second time to guide a tour, so this is most appreciated and encouraging feedback to share.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Baljinder_Rathour, Sep 2020
It was amazing day out with Peter. He took us around while sharing his in depth knowledge and introducing with every brick of Oxford history in a funny way. His extended help in moving around is also appreciated. He is a Tour Master .... All Stars....
Maike_L, Aug 2020
We did a tour with Peter and it was AMAZING!! He was extraordinarily knowledgeable (I’m sure he could easily have talked for several more hours without ever repeating himself). He also had so many fun and interesting facts and stories to tell about the various landmarks and objects he pointed out to us. In summary: a brilliant tour, would recommend to everybody! Went with my two teenagers who loved it as much as I did.
Response from Host, Sep 2020
Hi Maike,
Thanks for leaving such a super review here for your Oxford tour with us, as led by Peter, who is himself half Ravenclaw and half Oxford university alumni!
Sincerely,
Elaine_S, Aug 2020
Hamish very informative however was expecting as sold on internet to have access to at least one college long time at end just killing time for no reason as access was not available therefore felt not value for money
Response from Host, Sep 2020
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for choosing our tour and I am sorry that you found it disappointing. That said, I did immediately email you after your tour and I mentioned that although colleges have been closed since March, we can and will offer you the opportunity to enter a college or to join a whole new tour with us, whenever the colleges may re open.
In addition, I want to point out for the benefit of anyone reading this review and my reply that you booked our city & university tour on viator- where it does clearly state the following about closures which have been ongoing since March:
A) What makes this tour unique (main description) section:
COVID19 NOTICE:
B) Then in the section which states Inclusions & Exclusions, we did reiterate the fact that colleges have been closed. This text has since however been changed to reflect the fact that as of Sep 1st, the Divinity school has re opened and thus all our tours are going inside the Divinity school (but still no colleges accessible).
C) Near bottom of the website page, there is also a section called Information Travellers Need From You, which states again for third time that:
If you have any other constructive criticism of the quality of the tour or of your guide, I apologise for that but your complaint mainly seems to be a frustration that you could not enter inside any colleges and as this fact was communicated three times over in our advertising, that's not something which you should have missed realising when you booked the tour. I do try to update the tour descriptions to be as accurate as possible, as and when any circumstances may change. As such, on Aug 30th, I spent several hours updating all our tours across all platforms such as viator to inform clients of the fact that tours can now as of Sep 1st, enter the Divinity school.
On a final note, both myself in communications with all clients and the guides themselves have been trained to inform all our clients since lockdown ended for us on June 15th that although colleges are closed right now to guided tours, we can and we will happily let all our clients rejoin the start of a tour or another whole tour at no charge at all, whenever we get passed this period and when the colleges start re opening again. It's hard to say when this might be but unlikely to be until 2021. In the meantime, our tours are still introducing many of the beautiful colleges but from the outside.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Chrystelle_A, Aug 2020
We had a lovely tour with Laura. The pace was perfect as well as the amount of information. It was enough to keep us interested (including a 14 year-old; thank you for the references to Harry Potter!) and to trigger our curiosity. We went straight to Blackwell to purchase a book about the University (Oxford Scene by Chris Andrews) which complemented very nicely the information provided by Laura.
Response from Host, Aug 2020
Hi Chris,
Thanks for leaving such a super recommendation of your tour with us, as led by Laura.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Bhawana_R, Aug 2020
Peter was highly insightful and accommodating.
Hope to come back again and visit some of the sites we missed due to gov guidelines around social distancing.
Response from Host, Aug 2020
Thanks for sharing your review
RobertDuComb_J, Feb 2020
My husband and I took the Walking Tour of Central Oxford including Oxford University. Our guide was Monika who is a charming speaker and a trained historian. Her talk had all the elements of good history, good tour guiding and a fresh sense of humor. In just an hour and 45 minutes we got a lesson in how the University works, how the town grew up simultaneously, where the secret symbols that inspired famous literary characters were hidden in plain sight, where famous writers met to have a pint and talk with colleagues. The weather was terrible, but the show went on. I applaud Monika, the tour company and the city of Oxford. We recommend this tour is very highly.
Response from Host, Feb 2020
Hi Jane,
Thanks for such a lovely review of your tour led by Monika who as you mentioned is a vwel well educated academic from Poland. Monika also speaks modern and ancient Greek.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Gyongyver_F, Dec 2019
We had a very interesting and fun walking tour in Oxford with Renata (I hope I remember her name well) last Saturday! We got to know a lot of exciting facts and stories about Oxford, the university life, some secret stories and we also learnt a lot about the city's history. We had a great time and I would absolutely recommend to all to take the tour!
Response from Host, Dec 2019
Glad you loved the tour with Renata. I will let her know now.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Kay_G, Oct 2019
The guide was great, & I wouldn’t have seen some of the sight without going on the tour. Some of the colleges were closed re graduation but the tour was still worth it.
Response from Host, Oct 2019
Thanks for recommending your tour with us.
Please note that we do publish any graduation dates in the tour booking 'What you need to know' section or under 'What's excluded' or 'Before you go' sections to forewarn you whenever there are upcoming graduation dates as such dates, there are very few colleges open.
HATCF, Aug 2019
Fantastic small group tour with a knowledgeable guide giving a good mix of historical and up to date information with entry to colleges and to the library.
Response from Host, Aug 2019
Thanks for sharing your experience!
nvantraveller2019, Apr 2019
We had a wonderful guide, Adina, whose knowledge of Oxford and its history make the relatively short tour very worthwhile. We were able to enter a number of buildings and a college, which teally made the tour for me.
WingHong_Y, Jul 2018
我們的導遊Wei十分專業和充滿笑容，很詳細地介紹Oxford Colleges和牛津市的名勝古蹟，短短1.5小時得到很多知識。Wei可以以普通話和英語介紹，值得推介。我和九歲的孩子也很喜歡這個walking tour.
Marc_C, Jul 2018
Our guide did a great job of introducing us to Oxford. She was well informed, entertaining and gave us just the right amount of detail.
My wife and I would absolutely recommend this tour.
John L, Feb 2018
Booked the tour early in the morning on the day I wished to visit. Peter, the tour guide, messaged me straight away to ensure I had all the details needed. He even suggested local car parks and provided links to the relevant sites, extremely helpful.
His passion was evident from the moment we met. He quickly got to know us and our expectations, adapting the tour to our wishes. His knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious, pointing out several small features on buildings which we would have otherwise missed.
The tour was scheduled for 1.5 hours, but he kept 'just show you one more thing' so all-in-all the tour lasted over 2 hours.
Would recommend this tour, we will certainly be using his services again next time we are in Oxford, and there will be a next time.
Anthony_C, Oct 2017
Our walking tour with our local guide was excellent. He had so much local knowledge and we enjoyed everywhere he took us. Would recommend this tour.
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