Free Cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Cancellation Policy
Free Cancellation
June 10100% refund
June 11No refund
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.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Please select a travel date and travelers to show booking options.
Inclusions / Exclusions
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English, French
Advice to help explore and eat after the tour
Entrance fee to a medieval college
Guided tour led by an experienced, licensed guide
Complimentary map and guidebook
Overview
Experience Oxford's rich history on a 90-minute walking tour led by an Institute of Tourist Guiding professional and Guild of Guides member. Explore the city's origins from Anglo-Saxon times, the evolution of the university, its stunning architecture, libraries, and the vibrant student life of today. Oxford History tours offer real history for genuine history lovers.
Stroll through Oxford's iconic sites, including:
Radcliffe Camera
Divinity School
Bridge of Sighs
Bodleian Library
Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre
Medieval Colleges around every corner
Discover stories of patrons, artists, politicians, saints, scholars, rebels, and martyrs who shaped over 1,000 years of Oxford's history. This tour also includes practical tips to enhance your stay in Oxford.
The route passes famous film, television locations and literary legend.
Itinerary
N/A
Important Victorian monument to the Protestant martyrs of the 16th century.
3 minutes
N/A
This Anglo Saxon Tower was part of the Medieval city gate and is probably the surviving oldest building in Oxford today. Many stories over the centuries
4 minutes
Exeter College
Exeter's chapel was inspired by the Oxford Movement and modelled on Paris' St Chapelle. Graduates include Philip Pullman, JR Tolkien and Alan Bennett.
4 minutes
Lincoln College
Lincoln College's original face onto Turn Street tells a story about the University's origins and its relationship with the city. Lincoln College recently got it first Priminister Rushi Sunak, and was also home to the ~Methodist Wesley Brothers
3 minutes
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
The University Church was the University's first building. It is listed in the Doomsday Book. Ot is possible to climb its magnificent spire. Today we will admire its famous stained glass and learn how it inspired CS Lewis.
7 minutes
Oriel College
Oriel college is one of the Universities oldest Colleges and today famous for rowing. Its front Quad with Oriel windows is stunning. It is neighbours with Corpus Christi who famously host the annual tortoise race.
5 minutes
Christ Church (Pass By)
We pass east of Christchurch. Visitors might like to go back and enjoy the fabulous Christchurch Picture gallery tucked behind the imposing Eastern entry to the college.
Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi's early 16th century architecture contains many moving and beautiful figures of animals, including a pious pelican. Corpus Christi is set upon a cobbled street which is listed as a national treasure.
3 minutes
Merton College
Merton is Oxford's third College. The original and beautiful 15th century frieze over the gatehouse is one of my favourite creations in the whole of Oxford and tells the tale of the founding of colleges in the universities earlier days. The flying buttresses of the chapel are richly decorated. Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library, was a graduate from Merton college. Merton College's library is the oldest continuously surviving library in Oxford.
5 minutes
Examination Schools
Oxford University had its first written exam in the early 19th century. This Victorian extravaganza of Jacobean and Tudor architectural styles was the height of modernity in the 1870's. Inspired by an egalitarian spirit of making g education more widely .available to the masses.
5 minutes
Queen's College
Queen's college is Alma Mater to rowan Atkinson from the celebrity world. It was founded for poor scholars from the North of England , one of whose became so wealthy that a donation from him funded an 18th century rebuilding of the college with designs contributed by Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor.
The High Street was the road to `London and has transformed over the years. Frank Cooper's Marmalade was first made here. It went on to become a world wide Fad. It is also the site of England's first coffee house founded when Jewish people were welcomes back into the UK having been banned in the thirteenth century during Oliver Cromwell's Republic.
5 minutes
New College
New college's wonderful gates house tells the tale of its foundation after the plagues of the fourteenth century. Its charming setting has been used in many film sets.
3 minutes
Bridge of Sighs
Oxford's iconic bridge belonging to Hertford College. Although it looks like an old Venetian Bridge, it was built in the twentieth century! It is also next to the house of Edmund Halley who had the comet named after him.
3 minutes
Sheldonian Theatre
We will admire this 17th century home to the ceremonies of Oxford University. It is believed to be the first building by Christopher Wren. The architect of St Paul's Cathedral in London was also Astronomer of Photography at Oxford University.
6 minutes
Oxford Central Library
Built on top of the exquisite medieval perpendicular Divinity School the Duke Humphrey Library was built in fifteenth century to house a gift of over 200 books from the `King's brother. Both of these rooms were selected by JK Rowling to be used for Harry Potter scenes.
4 minutes
Bodleian Library
Today the Bodlein Library has over 13 million books. We will admire the 17th century buildings and learn about the origins go the library and how it still works today.
5 minutes
Radcliffe Camera
Oxford's first science Library. Learn about one of Oxford's most eccentric and generous benefactors, the Royal Physician sir John Radcliffe
5 minutes
Balliol College
We will step inside Oxford's second oldest college and see its internal quadrangle, the Capel with its glorious stained glass, as well as its dining hall with portraits that tell its interesting foundation story. Here we'll learn more about when women undergraduates started to have access to the University and its colleges.
15 minutes
Sample Menu
Additional Info
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Free Cancellation
June 10100% refund
June 11No refund
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.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
5 stars
19
4 stars
2
3 stars
0
2 stars
0
1 star
0
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We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her We had a great experience touring New York City with Jonathan. He's a great tour guide and he made it very memorable and enjoyable. The tour was also super informative and I'm glad to have had a great tour guide during my visit in NYC. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for a tour her
Reviews by TravelOne travelers
Showing 1-5 of 19 reviews with 5 stars
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Appreciated our Guide's Attentiveness and Knowledge
Published on May, 2024
Our guide Sophie D. was very attentive to both our request to see certain aspects, and to our interest in learning about the rich Oxford history and experiencing the institution's rich art and architecture in general. As Americans, we were particularly unfamiliar with it's medieval-founding emphasis on religion apart from the academic rigor. Sophie was thorough in her work and we left England knowing we had achieved the best experience there with our time and funds.
Appreciated our Guide's Attentiveness and Knowledge
Published on May, 2024
Our guide Sophie D. was very attentive to both our request to see certain aspects, and to our interest in learning about the rich Oxford history and experiencing the institution's rich art and architecture in general. As Americans, we were particularly unfamiliar with it's medieval-founding emphasis on religion apart from the academic rigor. Sophie was thorough in her work and we left England knowing we had achieved the best experience there with our time and funds.
Informative and interesting tour
Published on Apr, 2024
Very informative and interesting tour of colleges with history of Oxford and references to science, music and literature. Good pace and coffee stop.
Highly recommend Sophie. Thank you
Informative and interesting tour
Published on Apr, 2024
Very informative and interesting tour of colleges with history of Oxford and references to science, music and literature. Good pace and coffee stop.
Highly recommend Sophie. Thank you
Great tour, fun and informative
Published on Mar, 2024
Really enjoyed this tour with Sophie, she was a brilliant guide with a great sense of humour mixed with great knowledge. The couple of hours flew by so quickly we had to check our watches to make sure it had been that long. Sophie had a wicked sense of humour, I would definitely recommend this tour
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