Oxford Official University & City Tour
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Oxford, England
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Follow in the footsteps of famous former residents like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis—and discover many of Oxford’s top landmarks in just a couple hours—on this introductory walking tour. Meet your group in central Oxford, and set off on foot. You’ll see key attractions like the Bodleian Library and Sheldonian Theatre, will explore the university area, and you will see many of the elegant colleges from the outside. Note: book an afternoon tour to tour inside the colleges (subject to availability).
- See the best of Oxford in the space of just a couple hours
- Explore one of Oxford University’s historical colleges
- Learn all about the city’s history and former residents from your guide
- A walking tour lets you soak up the city’s evocative ambiance
What's Included
- Guided walking tour
- College visit for afternoon tours (subject to availability)
- No College visit for morning tours
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Cool Britannia23-25 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AX, UK
Outside Cool Britannia Gift Shop on the corner of Broad St and Turl St, What3Words ///visit.blues.text
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Trinity College
2 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Balliol College
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Martyrs' Memorial
3 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Sheldonian Theatre
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
5
Bodleian Library
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
6
Radcliffe Camera
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Pass By)
Carfax Tower (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Please contact the Walking Tours office if you have any mobility issues and we will do our best to adapt the tour, as some of the ancient buildings are not wheelchair accessible. Please note, only Assistance Dogs are allowed on tours.
- In case of severe and dangerous (Yellow) weather warnings tours may be postponed, but normally tours go ahead whatever the weather. Please come comfortably dressed and prepared for the weather.
- 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 1,162 reviews
Alison_H, Apr 2026
We had a wonderful tour of Oxford and would highly recommend it! Our guide, Jeremy, was incredibly knowledgeable and made the experience truly enjoyable. As we walked through the city, he shared fascinating information along with engaging stories that really brought Oxford’s history and charm to life. It was a perfect way to explore and learn more about such a beautiful and historic place. Definitely recommend this tour!
Ryan_L, Mar 2026
Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide, whom I also found to be adaptable and conscientious. Great starting location and thorough exploration, covering the most important parts of both the university and the city both geographically and historically.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hello Ryan,
Thanks for your review and kind words about your guide. We are pleased you enjoyed the tour and appreciate you taking the time to write the review.
Rory_N, Jan 2026
The tour is 100% worth it. Alan, my tour guide, knew an incredible amount about Oxford and gave a completely unique, personalized tour. He was friendly and enthusiastic, and I would say that you cannot view Oxford in a deserving way if you do not take this tour.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hi Rory,
Thank you for the amazing review, we're so glad you enjoyed the walking tour through our beautiful city! We'll pass on the kind comments to Alan!
John_B, Jan 2026
Our guide Jeremy was very knowledgeable and conducted the tour at an easy pace making adjustments to his planned itinerary to additional places we wished to experience. Altogether a very pleasant and informational packed 2 hour tour. One thing to note is you get to enter one of the University College grounds that you cannot do if you are not with an authorized tour guide.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
HI John,
A lovely review, thank you for taking the time to write it! We're glad you enjoy the tour with Jeremy and the visit to a college. We'll pass on the kind words to our guide!
Brian_K, Dec 2025
Well done and knowledgeable. Time well spent and enjoyable. Would do it again. Host was great. Fun group.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hi Brian,
Thank you for the review, we're glad you enjoyed your walking tour! Well pass on the kind comments to our guide!
Judy_W, Dec 2025
If during December colleges are closed and you t is very cold but still worth the tour! We got a good view of campus and town.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hi Judy,
A lovely review, thank you for taking the time to write it! We're sorry a college wasn't available during your visit but glad you enjoyed the tour anyway! We'll pass on the kind comments to our guide.
regina_c, Dec 2025
Worthwhile experience with Becca. Her institutional and historical knowledge of all things Oxford enthralled us throughout the 2 hour tour. Enjoyed ever minute of it.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Hi Regina,
Enthralled throughout, what a comment! We're so glad you enjoyed the tour with Becca, she is a great guide. We will make sure to pass on the kind comments!
LESLIE_L, Nov 2025
The guide was clearly very knowledgable about all aspects of Oxford University and had graduated from there a while back. We went during the off season so my husband and I were treated to a personalized tour and had very nice conversations with our guide. We learned quite a bit of the history including some amusing stories and wish that we could have stayed longer to enjoy more of what the town had to offer but had to rush off to the next destination. Some buildings were closed at our scheduled time but were going to be open in the afternoon. Perhaps scheduling in the afternoon would have been a little better? I would recommend giving yourself the whole day to explore this historic town.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Hi Leslie,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we really appreciate it. We're glad you enjoyed your time in Oxford and our guided walking tour. We'll make sure to pass the kind comments to our guide!
Randy_C, Oct 2025
Awesome experience! The tour guide was so knowledgeable and fun. We would have never seen the wonderful sights without our guide.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Randy,
Thanks for the great review, we're so glad you enjoyed your walking tour of Oxford! We'll make sure to pass the kind comments to your guide.
Beth_B, Oct 2025
Harvey was an excellent tour guide: knowledgeable and friendly. We very much enjoyed this tour and would happily recommend it to others
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Beth,
Thank you for taking the time to write a review, it's really appreciated! We're glad you enjoyed the walking tour and thought Harvey was an excellent guide. We'll pass on the kind comments.
Mark_D, Oct 2025
Excellent tour. Exceptional tour guide with great knowledge of Oxford and the university. Really enjoyable even in the rain.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Mark,
Thank you for the review, we really appreciate it! We're glad you enjoyed your walking tour (in spite of the rain) and loved our guide. We'll pass on the kind comments!
KATHLEEN_G, Oct 2025
Richard, our guide was so knowledgeable and a great tour guide. We loved it! We especially liked all the stories about the scholars and writers.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for the lovely review! We're so glad you enjoyed your time in Oxford and tour with Richard. We'll make sure to pass on the kind comments.
Brandon_C, Oct 2025
Very informational. You could visit Oxford without a tour, but you learn so much more with one. Cat was great. Highly recommend.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Brandon,
Thank you for the lovely review, we really appreciate it!
We're glad you enjoyed your time in Oxford and hope you visit again soon.
Harini_M, Sep 2025
Overall good tour by a resident of Oxford! I believe our tour guide also used to work at Oxford. We felt the tour was informative but there were times the information shared was a bit boring (at least for me) and we walked along the same streets twice which felt a bit redundant. We enjoyed the tour otherwise and felt we received good quality for the price we paid.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Harini,
Thank you for taking the time to write a review! We're glad you enjoyed your tour and time in Oxford. Visit again soon!
Lea_Y, Sep 2025
Helene was a lovely and very knowledgeable tour guide. We learned so much about the area. All of her suggestions for additional exploration were spot on. A wonderful way to get acquainted with the area.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Lea,
Helena is a great guide, we're so glad you enjoyed your time in Oxford! Hope you enjoyed exploring the hidden spots!
Stephanie_F, Sep 2025
This tour was honestly awful. The tour guide was very low energy and spoke very softly the entire tour. I tried asking him questions and he got very flustered as it seemed to disrupt the script of his tour. It felt very impersonal and was really quite boring. I have taken multiple tours of Oxford with another company where a former student was a guide and it was full of fun stories and gave an insight into student life. Only take this tour if you are into the names of statues and history of the founding of each college-I majored in history at university and even I was bored. Just awful. Also a heads up-make sure you book a tour that takes you into one of the colleges and/or into the Bodleian library. This one does neither, which is understandable because it is a cheaper tour.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thanks for your review. Sorry to hear you did not enjoy the tour, we take customer satisfaction very seriously. Your feedback is important and we will use it to work with our guides to improve our product.
You mentioned entrances into attractions. Just to clarify our morning tours do not include a college visit but our afternoon tours do which is why there is a difference in price.
Sorry again you did not enjoy the experience but if you are ever back in Oxford please let us know as we would love to offer you the chance to attend a tour to show this was an isolated incident.
Amy_D, Aug 2025
Richard gave a great tour. He was very charming and insightful about Oxford and the history of the area. Highly recommend
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Amy,
Richard is a wonderful guide, we're glad you enjoyed the walking tour with him!
Linda_B, Aug 2025
Becca was a graduate of Oxford and very knowledgeable of the area. We learned a lot about the different colleges and the area!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi Linda,
Thank you for leaving a review, we're glad you enjoyed your time with Becca. We'll make sure to pass on the kind words!
Brooke_O, Aug 2025
We had a great time walking around Oxford and learning about the school and city! He customized the tour to show us more CS Lewis stops as our group requested.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi Brooke,
A great review, thank you so much! Our guides are very knowledgeable, I'm glad you had a good time. We'll pass on the kind comments.
Nate_W, Aug 2025
The lady who tourd us was very kind hearted. Super sweet and wasnt nasty in any way. In fact one of the guests in our group was a bit nasty to her and she handled her with grace.
Objectively her English was difficult to make out. She was not from the UK. But her accent made it tough to understand her. Moreover it was difficult to hear her. The volume was too soft.
She was knowledgeable about the area but was rough to hear in groups.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thanks for your review and kind words about your guide. Sorry you were not able to hear or understand everything that was said. It is difficult when Oxford gets busy but it is important we get this feedback so we can makes plans to avoid this happening again in the future.
Yenelis_P, Jul 2025
Helen was great, she showed us around and was knowledgeable, friendly and funny. We enjoyed the tour.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi there,
Thank you for the great review! We're glad you had a good time with Helena, she's a brilliant guide.
We'll make sure to pass on your kind words
Taylor_F, Jul 2025
Our tour guide, Nigel, was great and knowledgeable! Gave us so much history while being very entertaining!
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Taylor,
That's great, we're so glad you enjoyed your tour with Nigel! We will pass on the kind words.
We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford again!
Jason_R, Jul 2025
It was very nice. The town and university are commingled so the tour covers both. I wish that we had more of an opportunity to visit inside colleges. We did see the inside of one. With the exception of one chapel we did not see inside any buildings. Nonetheless the tour was enjoyable and our guide was really nice and knowledgeable.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Jason,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! We're glad you enjoyed your walking tour. We wish we could take you into every building but alas, there isn't enough time. We'll make sure to pass the kind words to your guide, Anna!
Christina_P, Jul 2025
Our guide gave us so much information and told really good stories. We saw a large number of buildings in the city and learned the history from the very beginning.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Christina,
Such a lovely review, thank you for taking the time to write it. We so glad you enjoyed your time in Oxford and on our Walking Tour!
Ashutosh_P, Jun 2025
Great tour, very informative. Got to see the university and get an understanding of individual colleges. Nicholas was a fantastic guide.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you for your review and nice words about your guide Nicholas. We are pleased you enjoyed the tour and appreciate your feedback.
Jamie_H, May 2025
Very knowledgeable and friendly guide. Really enjoyed this tour. Highly recommend to first timers in Oxford
Response from Host, May 2025
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for the great review! We'll pass on your kind comments to your guide.
Kerry_M, May 2025
Nigel, the tour guide, was enthusiastic, funny, and very knowledgeable. He understood the broad sweep of Oxford’s history, but also gave us lots of little anecdotes that fleshed out the narrative.
Response from Host, May 2025
Hi Kerry,
Wow, what a great review, thank you!
Nigel is a great guide and very knowledgeable, we're grateful to have him. We'll pass on the kind words.
William_T, May 2025
Really enjoyed the walking tour. Adam was great - really engaging and knowledgable. We’d definitely recommend this tour for a quick highlights taster of the city
Response from Host, May 2025
Hi William,
Thank you for the great review! Glad you enjoyed our city and all it's wonderful history. We'll pass your kind words to Adam.
Joan_D, Apr 2025
Adam gave a fantastic tour of Oxford University along with interesting historical info and his own experiences. He was patient with picture taking and answered every question. He customized the tour using the info he gathered about us. Much recommended tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Sounds like Adam has done a great job, we knew he would! Thank you for the kind comments, we're pleased you had a fun time.
Howard_M, Apr 2025
The walking tour is a great way to see the city and learn about its history. Our tour with Steve was very informative and entertaining and the two hours flew by.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Steve is a great guide, we're glad you enjoyed the tour with him. Yes, time flies when you're having fun! Thank you for the kind comments.
From $41.24
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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