Walking Tours
Oxford 'Town and Gown' University and City Tour
Learn about Oxford's place in British history!
In this tour you will find out how the city which began as a simple crossing place for oxen produced one of the world's finest universities.
Learn about Oxford University and its colleges. Understand their history and how they function today.
Enjoy Oxford's incomparable architecture, with its mix of classical, gothic and modern style and let me direct you to some of its more unusual features and the hidden meanings of its stone carvings.
See where the great personalities connected with Oxford and Oxford University lived and worked: Roger Bacon, John Wesley, Samuel Johnson, Lewis Carroll, JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, the Pre-Raphaelite artists, Lord Nuffield, the Penicillin scientists, Harold Macmillan, Margaret Thatcher, President Clinton, Mr Bean.... the list is endless.
Oxford is unique, beautiful, packed with history - and easily accessible on foot.
It was the birthplace of King Richard the Lionheart, King Charles I's Civil War HQ, the place where the Royal Society's founders once experimented and where Penicillin was developed. Inspector Morse is just one of dozens of imaginary characters lurking in the streets.
This tour usually includes a college visit.
Learn about Oxford's place in British history!
In this tour you will find out how the city which began as a simple crossing place for oxen produced one of the world's finest universities.
Learn about Oxford University and its colleges. Understand their history and how they function today.
Enjoy Oxford's incomparable architecture, with its mix of classical, gothic and modern style and let me direct you to some of its more unusual features and the hidden meanings of its stone carvings.
See where the great personalities connected with Oxford and Oxford University lived and worked: Roger Bacon, John Wesley, Samuel Johnson, Lewis Carroll, JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, the Pre-Raphaelite artists, Lord Nuffield, the Penicillin scientists, Harold Macmillan, Margaret Thatcher, President Clinton, Mr Bean.... the list is endless.
Oxford is unique, beautiful, packed with history - and easily accessible on foot.
It was the birthplace of King Richard the Lionheart, King Charles I's Civil War HQ, the place where the Royal Society's founders once experimented and where Penicillin was developed. Inspector Morse is just one of dozens of imaginary characters lurking in the streets.
This tour usually includes a college visit.
Literary Oxford A quite extraordinary number of writers - novelists, poets and dramatists as well as children's authors and crime writers - have found their inspiration in Oxford. Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien, Vera Brittain, Dorothy L Sayers, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, John Betjeman, T S Eliot, Philip Larkin, Iris Murdoch, Alan Bennett, Val McDermid, Colin Dexter.... these are just a few. Some lived here all their lives, some were simply nourished by the freedom and quirkiness of their temporary surroundings - others hated it and left as soon as they could... However, none remained untouched and Oxford is one of the most popular settings for stories, film and drama of all time. See where your favourite writers studied, worked and were inspired. Learn about their experiences here and how they shaped their work. 
Harry's Wizard Walk
Recreate the Hogwarts experience on this magical tour. Muggles and wizarding folk who would like to visit the Oxford locations which appear in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone for our American guests), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire can book this magical tour and discover Oxford's own magic. Oxford's connection with sorcery is, of course, not limited to film-making and you will also discover Oxford's enchanted places and spellbinding sights along the way… Entrance fees to New College and the Divinity School have to be paid in addition to the cost of this tour, unfortunately - unless all participants bring invisibility cloaks... Sadly, Christ Church is no longer visited on this tour as guides are not allowed to guide there. DISCLAIMER: ‘Harry's Wizard Walk’ is not an official 'Harry Potter' event and is not endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by Warner Bros Entertainment Inc, the Harry Potter book publishers or J.K.Rowling and her representatives. All rights to the series of “Harry Potter” books are the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers including Scholastic Press, et al. Film rights and image trademarks are the property of Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. |
Medical & Scientific Oxford
Learn about the revolutionary contributions of Oxford's scientists and doctors to modern science. From the award of the first DM in the 13th century, Oxford has been a hotbed of medical and scientific inquiry. An extraordinary bevy of geniuses emerged in the 17th century to make groundbreaking discoveries about the nature of the human body and the natural world. I will take you to where Harvey, Hooke, Boyle, Willis and Wren lived and worked and tell their stories, explaining their importance in medical and scientific history. The 20th century's medical advances began with William Osler and reached their zenith with the incredible triumph of the penicillin scientists, Florey, Chain and Heatley. Meanwhile the refugee physicists transformed Oxford's Physics department. In the 21st century, scientists and medics such as Sarah Gilbert, Adrian Hill and Andrew Pollard have crowned their achievements with the development of the Oxford-Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Hear their stories and those of numerous other medics and scientists whose discoveries and inventions have shaped the modern world. 
Jewish Heritage
Discover Oxford's Medieval Jewish Quarter and learn about the lives of Oxford's Jews from the 11th to the 21st century. Walk through the little-known medieval Jewish quarter and find out about the fascinating lives of its inhabitants in the period between their arrival in the 11th century under William the Conqueror and their expulsion by Edward I in 1290. Visit the site of the first and second Jewish cemeteries and Oxford's Royal Castle where the Archa document chest was kept. Come up to date with the story of Lord Lindemann's invitation to Einstein and the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning and how it saved German academics from Nazi persecution and gave them new lives in Britain. Learn about the incredible contribution of the Jewish refugee scholars. Find out about today's Jewish community and some of the University's Jewish benefactors. Finish at the Bodleian Library, one of the greatest repositories of Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts and printed books in the world. |
Architecture Tour
Nicolas Pevsner, the great architectural historian, declared of Oxford that 'There is a density of monuments of architecture here which has not the like in Europe.' This continues to be true decades later, with the University and City constantly adding to centuries of architectural richness. Buildings range from the 11th century St George's Tower, the 15th century Divinity School and the wonderful 17th and 18th century buildings of the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre and Radcliffe Camera to the space age Blavatnik School of Government building, the modernist Zaha Hadid Investcorp building at St Antony's and the beautiful new/old Siew-Sngiem Clock and Bell Tower at Harris Manchester. Come and discover the old and the new in this tour of some of Oxford's architectural highlights. |
Civil War Tour
Oxford was the Royalist Capital in the English Civil War. It was from Christ Church that King Charles I ran his campaigns, whilst also finding time to entertain, walk his dogs and even to play tennis in Oriel college's nearby Real Tennis court. Henrietta Maria, his Queen, lodged briefly at Merton College next door and the City was filled with courtiers, servants and a garrison of over 3,000 soldiers. Explore Oxford's role in the Civil War and find out what life was like in the city during this time. |
New this summer: Oxford World War Two Tour
Oxford's WWII history is little known but quite extraordinary. The City and the University both played key roles in helping Britain to win the war.
The Morris Motors factory in Cowley made munitions and most importantly mended downed aircraft, enabling them to fight again. Meanwhile, several Naval Intelligence Divisions were based in the colleges, the most important being the Inter Services Topographical Department, whose activities facilitated such key operations as the Dambusters Raid, the sinking of the Tirpitz, Operation Torch and the D-Day Landings. Work on the British nuclear bomb project was undertaken by refugee scholars at the Physics Department, whilst huge strides were made in medical science, including the development of Penicillin.
Discover this little known history with Victoria, whose Masters degree included research on the period.
Oxford's WWII history is little known but quite extraordinary. The City and the University both played key roles in helping Britain to win the war.
The Morris Motors factory in Cowley made munitions and most importantly mended downed aircraft, enabling them to fight again. Meanwhile, several Naval Intelligence Divisions were based in the colleges, the most important being the Inter Services Topographical Department, whose activities facilitated such key operations as the Dambusters Raid, the sinking of the Tirpitz, Operation Torch and the D-Day Landings. Work on the British nuclear bomb project was undertaken by refugee scholars at the Physics Department, whilst huge strides were made in medical science, including the development of Penicillin.
Discover this little known history with Victoria, whose Masters degree included research on the period.
Sheldonian Theatre tours can be included in another walking tour if the Sheldonian Theatre is open. If you are a group of over 20 people, we can sometimes arrange a tour of the Sheldonian on its own. To enquire about a tour of the Sheldonian, please go to the Contact page and select 'Tailormade tour' or whichever tour you would like to include it in.
Build your own Tour!
Let me know what your interests are and I may be able to custom-make you a tour.
Past requests have included: John Wesley and the Methodists, American and Russian connections, C S Lewis and Tolkien, The Inklings, Philip Pullman and Lyra's Oxford, Gargoyles and Grotesques, and Famous Oxford Neurologists.
Let me know what your interests are and I may be able to custom-make you a tour.
Past requests have included: John Wesley and the Methodists, American and Russian connections, C S Lewis and Tolkien, The Inklings, Philip Pullman and Lyra's Oxford, Gargoyles and Grotesques, and Famous Oxford Neurologists.