Oxford

Oxford trip ideas

Oxford Official University & City Tour

Badge of ExcellenceOxford, England

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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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. As you go, your guide will share insider stories about Oxford’s history.

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 (subject to Availability)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Cool Britannia
23-25 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.

What To Expect

Trinity College

2 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Balliol College

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Martyrs' Memorial

3 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Sheldonian Theatre

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Bodleian Library

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

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

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

685 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 685 reviews

A complete understanding of Oxford.

Joy_P, Apr 2024

David pointed out things we would have completely overlooked. He was a very knowledgeable and interesting guide and gave us a complete overview of "Town & Gown". Well worth the money.

We had the best guide ever!

Joanne_K, Apr 2024

Arjay was the greatest guide. No questions, no matter how obscure went unanswered. Fantastic anecdotes and insider info. I think I will always book with a student guide from now on if this is the standard that they deliver. He also took some amazing photos of us that we will cherish. Arjay is a great guy and we could not have enjoyed it more.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

We'll sure to let Ajai know, many thanks, OOWT

Doesn't cover all sites

Yanxin_W, Apr 2024

Need to book separate tickets for the library and Christ Church which are not part of the tour. Also, the phone number listed doesn't work on weekends. It would be much better to have the guide's cell number listed on the ticket.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Thank you for your note and we hope you enjoyed your tour. As you correctly note, Christ Church and The Bodleian Libraries have separate entrance fees and are not covered in our price structure. Our Guides have all of the guests contact numbers should they be late, however as we employ independent, knowledgeable guides we we are not able to list their personal details.

Wonderful tour of Oxford University

Chris_R, Mar 2024

Ajai was an excellent tour guide. Knowledgeable and entertaining, he provided a lot of interesting history while adding some of his personal experience and observations as well.

Not enough value for money

Kajal_D, Mar 2024

Marcus is a good guide. I was taken around some of the colleges on the inner lanes of Oxford. Not to Christ Church and not inside any college. However, what came as a surprise was that, later in the day, I boarded a hop on n off bus and the same exact information was heard through the earphones there with much more.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

We are glad that you enjoyed your tour of Oxford with Marcus. Hopefully you were able to interact with him and ask him relevant questions as you went around. We do advertise that our morning tours do not include a college visit as few of them open before lunch, especially in winter, however our afternoon tours do include a college visit.

Great tour

JudithR_P, Feb 2024

Ben was a wonderful and knowledgeable guide who knew the area well. And I finally saw the Bridge of Sighs which I had heard about for years! I would book with this group again

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thank you so much for your kind review! We will pass your comments on to Ben!

A fantastic guide who listened to the customer

Terry_D, Feb 2024

The guide was fantastic, I was the only person on the booked tour and so the guide asked me if there was anything I particularly wanted to see or know more about. As a Morse fan I was especially interested in locations used in the various episodes. So whilst showing me around Oxford City & The University Collages he also showed me specific areas used in the filming of Morse along with a number of other films & TV programmes. The tour is only so long and rather than go into every Collage he only took me into the actual colleges used whilst telling me about the other colleges as we went passed. Following the tour I was then armed with useful information so that I was able to get the most out of my City Break Holiday

No parts of university...

Giorgio_C, Jan 2024

No parts of university were shown. No need of a guide for such an experience - all alone is possible too to have a walk in Oxford.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

We have confirmed with our Guide that the group went into both St John's College and the Divinity School at The Bodleian Library and as such we are confused with your initial comment, however we understand that you may not have enjoyed our tour and for that we are sorry.

Oxford

Frances_M, Dec 2023

The tour guide was a local and very knowledgeable about the university and city.It was a good tour as we were shown to lots of interesting places quickly and efficiently.The tour lasted 2 hours and our guide answered any questions we had.

Excellent way to dip your toes in the deep history of Oxford

Mariela_J, Dec 2023

Excellent guide, quickly accommodating to the situation (I was the only person in this particular tour). He provided an animated account of the building, the people, the literature all around Oxford and suggested good placea to visit after the tour

Response from Host, Dec 2023

We are so pleased you enjoyed the personal service.

Oxford tour

Laura_S, Nov 2023

Kenny was a very personable and knowledgeable guide. It was helpful to have him bring Oxford to life.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Just what we love to hear, thank you.

Tour of Oxford

PaulD_M, Nov 2023

Our guide was a long-time resident of Oxford and was very knowledgeable about the University. He explained in detail the independent colleges under one University. We found the tour of one of the colleges and, especially, the chapel very interesting. The guide took time to answer our questions. He was very clear. We enjoyed the small group. I was disappointed to find that Exeter college was closed to tourists, as my 9th great-grandfather attended Exeter College in 1595.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Thank you so much for your review. So interesting to hear of your family's connection to Exeter College!

Wonderful experience!

Linda_F, Nov 2023

David was amazing!! He’s enormously knowledgeable and very funny. He also made sure to engage his audience and make everyone feel welcome. I’d recommend his tour 100%!!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Thank you so much, David will be so pleased, as are we!

Our thoughts

James_K, Nov 2023

I have attempted to tell our evaluation of this tour numeral times We were very happy with the tour and especially with our tour guide However your constant e mails for evaluation are not in your favor Every time I write something it says more characters are required Do yourself a favor and stop the constant requests If I give you 25 words you up it to 50 If I add more you up it to 95 Too bad Now you have left a very bad Opinion Be happy to give good tours and please NO MORE E MAILS

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear James, We are so sorry to hear this. We will look into it straight away, as this shouldn't be happening. Please accept our sincere apologies for the bother and inconvenience caused. Please do feel free to email us for compensation on officialtours@experienceoxfordshire.org Annie, Official Tours

We enjoyed going into the...

Denise_B, Nov 2023

We enjoyed going into the courtyard of the Bodlein Library, which we felt was very grand. We also valued the explanations given to us by our guide regarding how the Oxford University system is organized and that the colleges are independent from the university.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

We are pleased to know you enjoyed the architecture and history of Oxford.

History Lesson

Beth_K, Nov 2023

Kate was our guide. She was knowledgeable and had many fascinating things to share about Oxford and world history. It was an interesting tour.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

We are so pleased you enjoyed your tour and we will pass o your kind comments to Kate.

Great university tour

Patricia_C, Oct 2023

Kenny was wonderful and knowledgeable about the area-well worth the time. Would book with this group again

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Thanks Patricia, we will pass your thoughts onto Kenny.

Average not worth the £20 per person

Linnet_N, Oct 2023

None really - we could have walked this ourselves - a good half of the tour was small talk about totally unrelated Oxford info - could take some lessons from Chester walk which was in a different league

Response from Host, Oct 2023

We are sorry you were disappointed with your University and City Tour experience. Overall, we hope you enjoyed your stay in Oxford.

Great tour!

jennifersaylin, Oct 2023

We enjoyed the tour very much. Our tour guide was great. We even got to go into Jesus College! He recommended more things to see and do. We were so glad he recommended to go to Christ Church Evensong. It was beautiful. Great day!

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Many thanks for your review and we are delighted our experienced guide was able to recommend further activities.

The tour guide Anna was...

Marina_S, Sep 2023

The tour guide Anna was wonderful, knowledgeable, engaging and charming! The inclusion of the book store stop was special, as was a visit to the college. Thank you, Anna.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

I am sure Anna will be delighted with her review and we will be sure to pass it along, we are thrilled you had a great tour.

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