Oxford CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien Walking Tour

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Oxford, England

Great choice

20+ bookings last month.

2 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Walk in the footsteps of two of the most famous authors from Oxford: CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Learn about the authors’ lives and works as you walk around past key sites in their lives, including Exeter College (where Tolkien studied), University Church (where Lewis preached) and the Eagle & Child Pub (where the two met weekly as part of The Inklings).

Guided walking tour focused on CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien
See where they lived, studied, preached and worked
Also pass by Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and Ashmolean Museum
Learn about Oxford’s rich literary history

What's Included

Guided walking tour
Tour guests enjoy an exclusive 10% discount at the Cool Britannia Gift Shop

No College entrances are included
Private transportation

Please note: Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are not available for hire on this tour. Guests requiring mobility assistance are kindly asked to bring their own equipment.
Guides do not use microphones or radio headsets

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

23-25 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AX, UK
Outside entrance Cool Britannia Gift Shop on corner of Broad St and Turl St, OX1 3DH What3Words ///visit.blues.text

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Exeter College (Pass By)

Bodleian Library

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Radcliffe Camera

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Merton College (Pass By)

Saint Giles'

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Stroller accessible

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Supplied by

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

4.8

based on 85 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Great tour for all ages

Sandra_A, Aug 2026

Really good tour, right level for everyone there. Group ranged from children to seniors. As well as the authors we leant about the various Colleges too.

Response from Host, Aug 2026

Thanks for the review of your walking tour. We are pleased you enjoyed the tour and appreciate your positive feedback.

So fun; Richard was...

Virginia_F, Jul 2026

So fun; Richard was wonderful and incredibly knowledgeable; we learned so much and even met the King!

Response from Host, Jul 2026

Thanks for the review of your walking tour. We are pleased you enjoyed the tour and appreciate the kind words about your guide Richard. Glad you also had the opportunity to meet the King!

Wholeheartedly recommend

Flavia_R, Apr 2026

Richard was a wonderfully nice guide, he was flexible toward what we were most interested in and gave very detailed and interesting information. We got to see the most relevant places of interest in Oxford and helped decide what we would visit next.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Hi Flavia, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we really appreciate it. Richard is a great guide and certainly knows a lot about CS Lewis & JRR Tolkien. We will pass on the kind words!

Great general tour of...

noelle_r, Apr 2026

Great general tour of Oxford with lots of specific information about Tolkien and Lewis. Our guide Harvey was fantastic- extremely knowledgeable and told many entertaining and humorous stories

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Hi Noelle, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we really appreciate your kind words! We will pass them on to our guide.

Excellent Oxford Walking Tour

Lisa_Z, Aug 2025

Our guide — Harvey was excellent. He was engaging and we all enjoyed others who had tidbits of information !

Response from Host, Aug 2025

Hi Lisa, Thanks for the review! Harvey is a great guide, we're glad you enjoyed the walking tour with him. We'll pass on the kind comments.

No show

Nicole_P, Jul 2025

Well I can’t really review this experience because the tour guide never showed up nor did they explain their absence. Quite disappointed.

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Hello Nicole, We are very sorry for the experience you received on Saturday. We value our customers highly and never want to let them down. We did contact you on the day to keep you updated on the situation once we were aware the guide did not arrive. Please email us on officialtours@experienceoxfordshire.org if you did not receive the message. We want to do everything we can to make this up to you. For bookings made through Viator/Trip Advisor we only have a trip advisor email address which messages are sometimes not seen. Again please feel free to email us so we can process a refund and offer you some other options. Sorry again for the inconvenience caused.

Too Little

Michael_F, Jun 2025

We felt there was not enough said about C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien during the walking tour around Oxford.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Hi Michael, Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We're sorry to hear you were disappointed by our walking tour. We will review our Lewis/Tolkien content and endeavour to improve.