Private | Oxford University Colleges Guided Punting Tour
Badge of Excellence
Oxford, England
- 30 minutes to 1 hour (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Enjoy the iconic Oxford experience of punting on the River Cherwell without doing the hard work on this private tour led by an Oxford University student. Relax and take in views of key landmarks, colleges, and literary inspirations as you glide along the river with your student guide directing the punt.
- Private chauffeured punting experience on the River Cherwell
- Relax while your guide does all the punting work
- Easy way to enjoy an iconic Oxford experience
- See key landmarks and colleges from the water
What's Included
- Chauffeured Punting Tour
- An explanation of famous Oxford history
- Gratuities
- Refreshments
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Oxford Punt HireMagdalen Bridge Boathouse, High St, Oxford OX1 4AU, UK
Meet the boat manager at the boat house to start your tour.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Oxford Punt Hire
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
River Cherwell (Pass By)
University of Oxford Botanic Garden (Pass By)
Christ Church Meadow (Pass By)
St. Hilda's College (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Wheelchairs and strollers can be left at the punting station and retrieved at the end of the tour.
- In autumn and winter, Oxford’s rivers can experience high or low water levels. Tours may be cancelled in such cases, with a refund or alternative option provided. These conditions are beyond our control.
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 49 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
If you visit Oxford, you must go punting! We had a great experience. Percy was our guide and he talked about the things we saw along the way. We learned a lot.
Book in advance, turn up 15mins .before due time. If possible don't bring large bags or packages.Be prepared to take lots of photo's Sit back , relax ,enjoy the experience.
Our "chauffeur"Marcus was friendly and informative and had a story about all the colleges we passed. He expertly punted us for 40mins.We really enjoyed the trip.
What a lovely way to spend half an hour in Oxford. The boat is safe and comfortable, and our guide was very experienced and friendly. The gentle pace and picturesque views create a truly romantic atmosphere! We loved it!
A must-do experience in Oxford. We loved it and had the most wonderful guide, Alfie. Beautiful scenery and we learned a lot about Oxford.
Such a beautiful trip on the river. I highly recommend getting someone experienced to do the punting. Percy expertly maneuvered the punt while we watched individuals spin in circles 😁
Punting was a great experience. Our guide Jude was very friendly and we had fun chatting with him. A must do if you are in Oxford.
The punting was good, very relaxing and enjoyable scenery. One thing that could be improved is the ‘guided’ part. The workers were all very young, which is great, I appreciate young people wanting to work and earn money. However there was very little local knowledge and we would have really appreciated hearing a bit more information about Oxford on our trip. Especially as it was sold to us as a guided private tour. There were a few instances where we asked questions or for recommendations and the answer was ‘there’s really not a lot to do around here’. Maybe the workers could be given a little bit of information and facts to read up on so they are prepared to answer questions or give information rather than just a relatively silent 30 minute punt.
Nice boat and setting, but we were expecting some history from the guide, and we got very little of that.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re very sorry to hear that the tour did not meet your expectations.
We aim to provide a strong balance of historical knowledge and engaging storytelling, and all of our guides are local students or alumni who are trained to deliver accurate and insightful content. It’s disappointing to hear that this wasn’t your experience on this occasion.
We truly value feedback like yours, as it helps us improve. If you’d be willing, please do email us at info@alumni.tours with a few more details about your tour, so we can look into this further and take appropriate steps to ensure a better experience in the future.
Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.
A delightful experience with a very knowledgeable tender with good historyin the business. Friendly staff all around.
The man who was presented as an “expert guide” had very little studied knowledge of Orkney and Kirkwell. He did not speak of anything historic or seem to have many facts of interest. This was a private tour yet he arrived to say we had to come back to the pier in a few hours to pick up a second couple. However, his vehicle was very small so he proceeded to drive us back to HIS HOME to trade out his car for a van!! Why didn’t he have this vehicle in the beginning? Why was he given or why did he elect to take the second couple at the disadvantage of us as customers? We watched other private and group guides during the day and were greatly disappointed that our guide was woefully incompetent in this regard. He was a very sweet, kind and courteous “guy” but he should not be sent out as an expert “guide”!
We had to buy guides, and sneak closer to other guides and groups to get a better understanding of each stop. We used Wikipedia and Google Scan because our guide simply did not seem to know the types of historical facts we had hoped to learn. This was an expensive tour and a shameful waste of money! This poor man was probably thinking he could get by with his limited knowledge except we were painfully aware from the first moment we sat in his vehicle!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into writing this review, and I also want to express our sympathy for your situation. It is always unfortunate when a trip is spoiled by someone else’s mistakes. That said, I believe this review may have been intended for a different tour, as our guides are punters in Oxford and specialise in Oxford’s history, not Orkney. May I kindly ask you to remove this review here and place it with the correct tour?
Such a lovely and peaceful experience! It’s a must-do activity in Oxford to take in the sights and nature. Our guide, Enzo, was kind, friendly and knowledgable. Would do this activity again!
Really lovely experience, gives you a wonderful view of the Oxford colleges from the river. Our chauffeur was a lovely local who gave just the right amount of commentary and banter for us all to enjoy (including the 4 year old!) - would recommend to anyone visiting Oxford or locals like us with out of towner’s coming.
Great guides! Very knowledgeable and lots of fun! A nice experience to learn more about the area. I would totally recommend it.
Wisely choosing to enjoy this experience in the hands of a professional, we were able to sit back and have a wonderful conversation with our guide, Angus. He has an easy way of explaining the history of Magdalen College and the significance of the waterway. Seeing people attempt to navigate the punts on their own highlighted Angus's (and I'm sure the other guides's) skills. Another box on my bucket list ticked!
Lovely day for a punting tour, our tour guide had plenty of knowledge about the area, truly thoroughly enjoyed it
Highly recommend the chauffeured tour— punting looks easy but that’s because the gents are trained! Our guide Leo was delightful. Saw many a family struggling to go against the current, but we thoroughly enjoyed our very smooth tour.
It would have been a 15 min ride as opposed to the promised 30 min. had I not asked Daniel to take me further on a right turn of the river. I was there just before Easter. It was down a very narrow part of river Cherwell and not Thames. A quiet short solo ride with people peering in and clicking pictures all the way ( college premises on either side). Expected more out of the £40 I paid. Daniel is a lovely n friendly person.
Our guide, Jack, was outstanding! We unknowingly booked our tour for matriculation day when every freshman also wanted to go punting as part of the tradition. He expertly guided us around the less skilled "freshers" and regaled us with stories of the colleges and life in Oxford. We had a wonderful time!
We were excited to punt in Oxford and Joe was a great guide!! Very knowledgeable and let us direct the conversation. He seemed like a pretty brilliant young man- he made the experience wonderful for us!!
Good and friendly service and is recommended to those who want to experience this canal tour within this period of time
Brilliant tour along the river with the fabulous Alex as our punter. He was very polite and knowledgeable.
Thank you Alex
Well worth it for a chauffeured punt. Lovely host/punter, nice relaxing ride. Easy to find, the scariest part is stepping on to the boat 😂 if you’re a chicken like me. They’re very secure, it was just me being skittish. Wonderful Oxford activity for a quick 30 mins.
Not worth it. It's way cheaper there then this package and also gives you more flexibility. Check out their website.
Member Pricing
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$64.61
per group (up to 4)Was $68.02(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Private | Oxford University Colleges Guided Punting Tour
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