Welcome to Oxford:
( Information on places of interest gathered from various places. )
Oxford, The City of Dreaming Spires, is famous the world over for its University and place in history. For over 800 years, it has been a home to royalty and scholars, and since the 9th century an established town, although people are known to have lived in the area for thousands of years.
Nowadays, the city is a bustling cosmopolitan town. Still with its ancient University, but home also to a growing hi-tech community.
The University
Oxford is home to a world famous university, and most of the colleges and university buildings are located in the centre , within easy walking distance of each other. Don't miss the Bodleian Library, which has its own shop, and the nearby Radcliffe Camera, which is not open to the public, but is well worth a view from the outside.
Nearby, in Broad Street, is the Sheldonian Theatre, a venue for official university functions as well as a variety of concerts (tickets available from The Oxford Playhouse in Beaumont Street).
The University also owns the AshmoleanMuseum on Beaumont Street (opposite The Playhouse), Britain's oldest public museum.
Things to See and Do
Tourist Information, Broad Street.
- Information on attractions, theatres, concerts and other events and entertainment
- A comprehensive range of maps, printed guides, postcards and souvenirs
- Bureau de Change facilities
- Information on bus tours and excursions
Opening times: During the summer months, 9.30am - 5pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am – 4pm (Sundays & Public Holidays).
Tel: +44 1865 252200
Daily Information
The company called Daily Information, as its name states, supplies information about events in Oxford (films, plays etc) on their website:
Blackwell's Bookshop, Broad Street
This is Oxford's biggest bookshop with more than 200,000 titles in stock covering every subject, discipline and interest. It includes the Norrington Room, a vast subterranean terraced chamber of over 10,000 square feet housing 160,000 volumes on over three miles of shelving. The room is under TrinityCollege and was opened in 1966. It gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest display of books for sale in one room anywhere in the world.
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library is situated at the heart of the historic University of Oxford in a remarkable group of buildings spanning over 500 years of history. It is one of the five national copyright libraries; the principal library for Oxford University and an international resource for scholarship and research worldwide. Being the second largest library in the U.K. today (after the British Library), the Bodleian has 30 reading rooms - with 2,482 places, in ten buildings in central Oxford. With annual acquisitions of over 300,000 items (including foreign purchases), there are over a staggering 7 million volumes held by the Library on over 190km (118 miles) of shelving.
You cannot enter the library itself but there is a shop and an exhibition ‘Beyond the work of one: Oxford college libraries and their benefactors‘ which is open to the public.
The Radcliffe Camera
The circular dome and drum of the Radcliffe Camera is one of the most distinctive landmarks in a city full of distinctive buildings. The camera (the word means simply "room") was built 1737-1749 with £40,000 bequeathed by Dr John Radcliffe, the royal physician.
The Radcliffe Camera was intended to house a new library, and designs were called for from several leading architects, including Nicholas Hawksmoor (responsible for much of All Soul's College) and James Gibbs.
It was Gibbs who won the competition, with his elegant Palladian design, though his final plans drew heavily on earlier work by Hawksmoor. Gibbs was also responsible for the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, London.
Originally the library in the Radcliffe Camera held both scientific and general books, but those collections were gradually moved to other University libraries, so that today the Camera functions as the main reading room of the Bodleian Library. The finished building holds some 600,000 books in underground rooms beneath Radcliffe Square.
Sadly, the Radcliffe Camera is not open to the public but is definitely worth viewing from the outside.
The Bridge of Sighs
Hertford Bridge in New College Lane is often referred to as the "Bridge of Sighs" because of its supposed similarity to the famous bridge of the same name in Venice. However, Hertford Bridge was never intended to be a replica of the Venetian bridge, and indeed it bears a closer resemblance to the RialtoBridge in the same city. The bridge links together the Old and New Quadrangles of Hertford College. (The bridge does not link HertfordCollege to NewCollege, as is stated by some inaccurate city tour guides.)
The bridge was completed in 1914, despite its construction being opposed by New College.
Museums
Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont St.01865 278000
Oxford University Museum of Natural History,
Parks Road (close to Oxford Physics)01865 272950
Museum of the History of Science (Broad St.)
When Einstein came to Oxford in 1931, he was already an international celebrity. After one of his lectures a blackboard was preserved and has become a kind of relic. It is the most famous object in this Museum.
See also Oxford Virtual Science walk on their website:
[For History of Physics at Oxford see ]
Punting
Punting on Oxford's rivers is a popular recreational activity, conjuring up images of Edwardian picnics with men in white flannels poling daintily clad companions along the tree-swept waterways. The punt is a shallow-bottomed boat propelled with the aid of a long pole.
If you'd like to take the pole and have a go, then you might like to try one of the following boatyards:
Cherwell Boathouse, Bardwell Road(Closest to St Anne’s)
Punts for hire on the River Cherwell
Cost: £10 per hour, Monday to Friday, £12 per hour at weekends and public holidays. Deposit required £50 (£60 at weekends and on public holidays) or credit card. Cheques and major credit cards accepted including Switch
Available: daily, mid March - mid October, 10.00 - Dusk (22:00 mid season). Contact: 01865 515978
Punt or row upstream for approximately 15 - 20 minutes to the Victoria Arms Public House or a few minutes down stream to the University Parks.
IPG Marine, Boat Station, Head of the River Pub, Folly Bridge Punts, rowing boats and outboard motor boats for hire on the River Isis (Thames).
Cost: £10 per hour. Deposit required £15, with identification.
Available: mainly weekends April, May and October; daily June - September (subject to weather) 11.00-18.00. Contact: 0961 115369
Magdalen Bridge Boathouse, High Street
Punting (and chauffeured punting) on the River Cherwell from the boathouse past the Botanic Gardens and Christ Church Meadow. Also electric boat rides from MagdalenBridge on the river launch Magdalena.
Cost: £9 -- £10 per hour. Deposit required £25, with identification.
Available: punts daily, March -- October, 10.00 to dusk; river launch: weekends April - May, daily June -- August 12.00-18.00. Contact: 01865 202643
Walks
We have included a map of suggested walks into Oxford. The shortest walk includes Blackwell’s Bookshop on Broad Street, the Bodleian Library and other university buildings nearby.
On longer walks you may visit colleges such as Christ Church and Magdalen (but there may be an entrance charge). There are plenty of other interesting colleges.
Organised Walking Tours
(We have included these since the descriptions are informative but they are not particularly recommended unless you like being herded around. )
Walking tours of the city centre, conducted by the Guild of Guides, depart from the Oxford Information Centre (unless otherwise stated) and last between 1.5 and 2 hours. As well as introductory guided walking tours, specially themed tours are also available - walk in Harry Potter's footsteps or take in Oxford's architecture.
Tickets, prices and more details are available from the Oxford Tourist Information Centre, 15-16 Broad Street, Oxford. Tel: 01865 252200. Numbers are limited to 19 people per tour and tickets are sold on a 'first come, first served' basis.
Introductory Tours
Current introductory walking tours of Oxford include:
University and City Tour (2 hours)
The most popular introductory tour taken by the majority of visitors. The guide will take you through the heart of the historic city centre, illustrating the story of Oxford and it university. Describing the architecture and traditions of its most famous buildings and institutions. Tours depart daily at 11am and 2pm, with additional tours at busy times.
Inspector Morse Tour (2 hours)
Follow in the footsteps of the city's celebrated TV detective, created by Oxford author, Colin Dexter. Visit the scenes of Inspector Morse's best-known cases, with lots of lively anecdotes along the way. Tours depart Saturdays at 1.30pm. Please note that this a very popular tour and advance booking is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
Pub Tour (2 hours)
Learn about the history of Oxford's fascinating pubs and inns through the convivial atmosphere of an evening pub tour. Visit the hostelries where the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, Churchill and C.S. Lewis drank; be regaled with pub tales and let yourself be introduced to the delight of English ales. Tours depart Wednesdays at 7pm.
Blenheim Palace (outside Oxford)
The Palace and FormalGardens are open from 16th February 2008 until 14th December 2008. They are open daily until 2nd November, and from 5th November to 14th December they are open Wednesday to Sunday inclusive. The Park is open daily (except Christmas day).
Within the Palace, you can see the State Rooms filled with examples of superb craftsmanship and treasures collected over the last 300 years.
The Private Apartment Tours are now available up to 9th April. A small extra charge applies.
The beauty and tranquility of `Capability’ Brown’s landscaped parkland, created in the 1760's and the Formal Gardens, created more recently, are unrivalled anywhere in Britain.
The PleasureGardens welcome young visitors and families and has special activities throughout the season. With delicious food and beautiful gifts available, BlenheimPalace is Britain’s GreatestPalace.
BlenheimPalace is a member of the Historic Houses Association, if you would like to know more about the HHA then please go to
By Bus
The No.20 to Woodstock runs from Oxford Train station and Gloucester Green to the gates of BlenheimPalace on Hensington Road in Woodstock. Please ask the bus driver to identify the appropriate stop. The bus runs every 30 minutes.