Harry Potter PUBLIC Tour + Self Guided Christ church Daily 12.45
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Oxford, England
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
This is the essential tour for Harry Potter fans. Spend the afternoon discovering the sites of Oxford associated with the Harry Potter movies, including the Divinity School inside the Bodleian Library, and learn behind-the-scenes secrets about the Harry Potter actors, and J. K. Rowling. Afterwards, explore Christ Church College which inspired the Great Hall of Hogwarts, on a self-guided tour.
- Explore Oxford on a Harry Potter focused public guided tour
- The perfect tour for Harry Potter fans—learn insider secrets
- Includes entry into the Divinity School or New College, if available
- Entry to Christ Church College provided for a self-guided tour
What's Included
- Please check 'Exclusions' or 'Additional Info' for dates of any closures.
- Your ticket includes up to £28 in entry fees per person as part of your ticket from 2020 onwards
- Duke Humfreys library at the Bodleian library is never open to guided tours & is not included!
- Divinity school usually closes for Xmas on Dec 24 and January 1st- actual dates not yet known
- Divinity school is also closed on these 2026 dates below...
- Feb 24, Feb 28, March 6 after 12.00 closed, March 7, March 14, March 19, March 27 closed from 1pm
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 15-16 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AS, UK
Meet your guide wearing red lanyard and or Hogwarts gown. 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
- Christ ChurchSt Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1DP, UK
Your guide will have pre booked entry tickets to drop you off at Christ church at the end of the tour.
Operating hours.12:45 pm
Itinerary
1
Christ Church
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
2
Bodleian Library
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Radcliffe Camera (Pass By)
Bridge of Sighs (Pass By)
New College (Pass By)
3
The Turf
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Hertford College (Pass By)
All Souls College (Pass By)
Brasenose College (Pass By)
Exeter College (Pass By)
Jesus College (Pass By)
4
Lincoln College
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Oxford Covered Market
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Balliol College (Pass By)
St. Michael At The North Gate (Pass By)
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Pass By)
Merton College (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 16 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
- Wheelchair accessible
- NOTICE:
- Stroller accessible
- These tours MUST START ON TIME as we prebook fixed entry times!
- Please arrive 5 minutes early for your tour at our meeting point.
- Service animals allowed
- IMPORTANT NOTICE IN CASE OF UNFORESEEN PARTIAL OF FULL CLOSURES:
- Near public transportation
- We do publish known Christchurch closures on this website page & we will advise of any closures at the time of booking or before the tour but occasionally some closures are last minute. In this event, our policy is either the guide can substitute entry for Christchurch to another college such as eg New college (also a Hogwarts film site). Alternatively, you may opt to reschedule your tour onto another date or to instead join one of our other tours running the same date such as the Oxford cycle tour of food tour (which cost approximately same)
- If you opt to book a foreign language tour, this may be possible if you give us adequate advance notice of at least 24 hours. If we cannot offer a tour in a foreign language, then you will be refunded or invited to join the tour in English with any cost difference refunded.
- Transportation is 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
Reviews
4.8
based on 83 reviews
DAWN_D, May 2026
Great guide. Saw the oldest pub on top of learning about so many different things. The history is incredible and amazing. Must see
Jessica_P, Jun 2025
Fantastic guide for historic and beautiful sites, worth it x100! The Harry Potter content is a great bonus and I would take this tour again in an instant
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thanks
Ildiko_J, Jan 2025
We loved this tour. The agenda was very well planned and we had enough time for everything. Our guide was super kind and provided a very comprehensive overview about history and how small bits and pieces are linked to J.K.Rowling and HP themes. The buildings we have seen and visited were fantastic.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Hi.
Thanks for your recommendation.
Jared_W, Jan 2025
For a walking tour that charges 80 pounds per person, I expected more out of it. Unfortunately it was not as interesting as advertised and the entire tour was very bland. I took a Sandeman tour the next day in London and it was way more interesting and engaging (and much cheaper since it's tip based). The only benefit this tour provided was getting you tickets into Christ Church and Divinity School. However, you can just put in some efforts and do that yourself.
I would not recommend this tour. Save yourself some money and tour the city yourself by doing some research.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Hi Jared,
Thanks for choosing our tour.
Sorry to hear that you found your tour disappointing.
In terms of perceived value for money, I would like to share how the costs of operating this tour breakdown as I think many people don't perceive the realistic operating costs for us as a business.
Note that the free tours model is a cash in hand business- which we are not. They thus can avoid VAT, corporation tax, national insurance and income tax etc
You paid £150 total GBP to viator third party site.
25% commission to viator, leaves us £112.50.
VAT sales tax 20% on the above, leaves us £90.
The entry fees to Christ church and Divinity school costs £23 per person. So total £46.
The guide earns £50 (or 60, if you had recommended your guide here).
That leaves zero operating profit to the business.
Thus, I think my pricing of these tours is reasonable and competitive.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Bonnie_R, Oct 2024
The tour guide was really great, however, I expected more about Harry Potter. I would’ve liked to hear more about the films or the making of the films or the character
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Thanks for your feedback. Sincerely, Alasdair
Kurt_K, Oct 2024
Tour started 15 minutes late as we were waiting for one additional guest.
Guide did the best she could with the material she had to work with, friendly, always asked if we had questions.
Very few highlights during the actual walking tour section - streets were busy - oldest Timber house identified, old pub were cast had breakfast, gargoyle look-alike of Donny, points of interest about other authors and a inspirational Corbel on a building.
You do not enter the Bod Library on this tour, just a brief stop at one large room of the 'Divinity College' where hospital scene was filmed. Could not really take photos as too crowded.
The portion of the tour that shows the Inspiration for the Dining Hall is at the end of the tour - self guided - at Christchurch College. Also difficult for photos but understandable.
Unfortunately I say skip this tour. Not enough information really - a lot of 'could be' 'inspiration for' etc.
just buy a ticket to see the Divinity College room on your own - along with other rooms from the University itself.
Buy your own ticket for Christ Church College on your own as well. The in between walking portion, is just not worth it. (Not fault of Guide)
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hi.
Thanks for taking the time to review the tour and I am sorry to hear that the tour didn't meet your expectations.
To review, the advertising does state that entry to Christ church is only via pre paid reserved tickets for self guided audio guide entry (and note that entry tickets are almost always sold out on the day otherwise).
Plus no guides and no tour companies can ever take you inside Duke Humfreys library at the Bodleian library, because as the advertising makes clear, that part of the library can only ever be visited, if you book the Bodleian's own staff guided tour (which typically is sold out weeks ahead too).
Sincerely,
Alasdair
rrc5584, Sep 2024
Eleanor was a great guide, and the tour covered everything promised. Plenty of time to see the spots at a pace that was perfect. Highly recommend!
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Thanks for such a great recommendation.
Paloma_V, Jul 2024
It was very interesting and entertaining, The information from both Harry Potter and Oxford was very ballanced. My thirteen year old daughter enjoyed it a lot and understood everything and I did as well
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Hi Paloma,
Thanks for recommending your tour with Patrissia, our new Spanish speaking guide.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Coelle_M, Jul 2024
Tour was good. Not as much Harry Potter information. Would have liked more trivia but overall beautiful city and Christ church university was stunning
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Thanks for sharing your review experience with us.
We do have some newly trained guides at this time of year- this is true for most tour companies at this time of year, when bookings get so much busier.
Do you remember what the name of your guide was, so I can pass along your feedback.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Claudia_M, Jun 2024
Sebastian did a fantastic job showing us around Oxford. Not only was he knowledgeable on Harry Potter trivia but he told us a great deal about his own experience in Oxford as a student.
He also spoke Spanish which some of our group members appreciated a lot!
Response from Host, Jun 2024
Thanks for the super recommendation.
This is especially good for Sebastian as he only just completed training as a guide, so this will encourage him.
Thanks for choosing to book the Oxford Harry Potter tour with us here at Visit Oxford Tours.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Michelle_E, Jun 2024
We loved all the information regarding Oxford in general, not just the information about Harry Potter films. Billy was engaging and really brought it all to life!
Response from Host, Jun 2024
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for the great review!
Joseph_K, Apr 2024
Jim was a great guide. Very knowledgeable. Showed us many parts of Oxford. Deep knowledge of Harry Potter.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for the recommendation.
Robert_H, Mar 2024
Harry did a great job! This was a fun tour. Although we didn’t want a Harry Potter tour, our daughter enjoyed it and the Oxford Uni info. We did do the Christchurch add-on. That was very worth a walk through.
Katharina_K, Mar 2024
Harry was a wonderful guide who passionately not only told us about Harry Potter but the whole story of Oxford! Would recommend doing this tour any time when visiting!
Bettina_P, Mar 2024
We did the Harry Potter Tour yesterday, and are slighty disappointed. The tourguide was not enthusiastic at all, there was no fun, no Harry Potter vibes, no questions about Harry Potter like a quiz we had at other Harry Potter walking tours, we did not learn anything new about the films etc. Most of the the things he did explain about was Alice in Wonderland, but not about Harry Potter. Out of the many pictures he had in his backpack showing the film scenes, he only showed us 2. Also the guided tour was too short, it should have been 2 hours, but we arrived at Christchurch college already after 1 hour and a half. There we stumbled over another Harry Potter tour that was just having lots of fun in a quiz earning house points in the end, and they even could ask him about recommendations where to have dinner etc, what we didn't have in our tour at all. We have seen everything mentioned on the website, but could have done that for ourselfs without a tour too.
Murali_K, Nov 2023
Fantastic experience. The tour guide made it all the more interesting with his humor. In addition, very honest tour guide/company. My daughter was not able to join at the last minute. The tour guide said they will refund her portion of the fees.. and they stood by it.
Response from Host, Nov 2023
Hi Krishna,
Thanks for recommending your tour with me on Saturday and for your comment about my offering to refund your second ticket which was not used.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Stuart_C, Oct 2023
Peter was extremely enthusiastic and gave us his all. Great with the children and certainly knew his audience. He chatted to all as a group and individually and was generous with his knowledge
Anonymous, Sep 2023
The tour guide was wonderful - sweet , knowledgeable and very nice. She went out of her way to bring and offer to dress up as Harry Potter with the wand for us to take pictures with but it was rainy. She gave us a lot of informations and even answered our questions which were a little bit out of the main topic. We just wish Viator had provided us with radio+earpiece so we could hear our tour guide better which is not her fault with us being busy most of the time with our umbrellas on that very windy and rainy day.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Thanks for recommending your review with Isabella.
Sorry that our magic skills didn't extend to controlling the weather!!
Susan_C, Sep 2023
Michael was a great guide tailoring his talk to fit the interests of our small group of 3 tying in Harry Potter tidbits along with other literary and historical points. Great introduction to Oxford.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Thanks
Patricia_C, Aug 2023
It was very good time. Our tour was a little disjointed because people were late, another two different groups felt ill and we had to wait for a very old woman to walk. This tour is not for those who are very old and fragile. There is a lot of walking and stairs. Even one group didn't like Harry Potter, so why pick this tour? All these problems had nothing to do with the quality of the tour.
Peter was informative and tried to make the best of all the problems. The weather was great and we enjoyed the secret hidden pub.
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Thanks!
Annika_S, Aug 2023
Peter was a really kind and passionate guide. He also had chocolates and cake for us. Oxford is such a beautiful city with lots of history.
All in all the tour was good, BUT way too pricey and too long. It's 3 hours PLUS your time in Christ Church, so I was quite in a hurry. I thinks it's possible so see this few sights in far less time. I got a few new facts but in total I think there werent enought Potter Facts. It's more like a normal walking tour with a few Harry Potter hints. Not completely Harry Potter.
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Hi Annika. Thanks for your recommendation. The tour is advertised as two hours guided plus one hour self guided pre-booked entry to Christ church. So it sounds like your guide didn't manage the tour duration well. I have pointed this out to him that many folks are on a busy schedule. I agree that it is an expensive tour but it's also an expensive tour to run. The entry fees alone cost £21, if you were to have paid directly. That said, the same £21 actually means I have to collect 20% extra to cover VAT liability then another 25% to pay viator commission. So I actually need to charge you £35 on here just to then be left with £21 to pay the entry fees alone. We do offer a more economical shorter version of the Harry Potter tour which only goes to the Divinity school and it costs £40 instead of £75. As for your last comment, yes, this tour is not entirely about Harry Potter - it also introduces Oxford university and it compares student life here with insights throughout into the making of Harry Potter. I don't see how anyone could run a tour in Oxford that was purely 100% only Harry Potter as it wouldn't be an Oxford tour...which is how we do describe the tour. Anyway, thanks for choosing our tour. Sincerely, Alasdair
Jason_S, Aug 2023
Was a great tour and Peter our guide was very knowledgeable and had many historical and harry potter facts for us.
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Hi Jason,
Thanks for recommending your tour.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Vyacheslav_L, Jul 2023
Peter was funny and very friendly. gave a lot of great information. it was fun walking through and learning about oxford history as well as some harry potter trivia.
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thanks
Dana_d, May 2023
Peter was a fantastic tour guide - so much great information with plenty of visuals to help. He started our tour with lots of Harry Potter items for us to wear - helped get everyone in the mood! We had so much fun learning about Oxford and C.S. Lewis and Tolkien too. And Christchurch was simply amazing. So, so cool to stand where McGonagall stood on the staircase!!! Awesome tour - well worth the money.
Response from Host, May 2023
Thanks for the recommendation!
Kathryn_S, May 2023
Met our tour guide, Peter, in the appointed spot and started on time. Peter is a wealth of knowledge on both HP and Bath. Lots of extra information and history that added to the excellence of the tour. He's very upbeat and interactive. Know your HP trivia. It's more fun that way. A great way to see major landmarks in Oxford and the filming sights.
Response from Host, May 2023
Thanks!
Kareema_Y, Feb 2023
We took a lovely tour with Naima and thoroughly enjoyed learning about Harry Potter and how the story tied in with Oxford’s history. Naima was full of fun facts, wonderful energy, and imparted her knowledge using the Socratic Method which we were in awe of! My sons and I highly recommend this tour if you want a memorable experience in Oxford.
-Kareema
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Thanks for recommending your tour with Naima.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Weinshel_S, Aug 2022
Peter was a wonderful tour guide. He has vast knowledge of Oxford and gave a fantastic tour including Oxford history and lots of interesting Harry Potter insights. Our son is a huge HP fan and he was completely engaged with this tour the entire time. Peter is a one of a kind guide who goes the extra mile to make sure all guests enjoy the tour. I highly recommend this tour for all Oxford visitors.
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Thanks
Christopher_I, Jul 2022
The tour was great and includes a great deal more than just the places Harry Potter was filmed. We pretty much went over most of the town as well. Our guide Peter was great and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the town and school. Peter also gave extras and hung out after with some of us going over additional Harry Potter facts. Great Tour.
Response from Host, Jul 2022
Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing your experience and recommendation of booking our premium tour with award winning guides.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Sundararaman_S, Apr 2022
We went on the 3 hour HP tour with Prof. Michiel. He was knowledgeable of the film locations. Unfortunately the Divinity school and the dining hall at New College was closed on the day we visited.
Response from Host, Apr 2022
Hi Sundaram,
Thanks for your recommendation and sorry you missed getting to see inside the Divinity school.
Note for future clients reading this review:
We will always forewarn you when there is a published Divinity school closure and on any such dates, we replace entry with instead visiting New college to see the film site at New college which is the cloister (not the hall). It's unclear why the hall was closed on the day of your visit but I am glad you managed to see the cloister and gardens plus I presume the chapel.
Thanks for choosing our tour.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
Taisei_S, Feb 2022
We can not only watch beautiful buildings but also get interesting information about it. I had good time.
Response from Host, Feb 2022
Hi Taisei san,
Thanks for recommending your tour.
Yorioshiku onegai shimasu.
Sincerely,
Alasdair
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