Guided and self-guided walks in Oxford The centre is compact, so the real choice is between paying a guide, joining a tip-based tour or following a themed route on your own. Fares below are in pounds sterling, and the right option depends on whether you want to go inside buildings. Choose by what you want You want Best fit Cost A cheap first overview Footprints free tour Tips A longer guided history Official Oxford Walking Tours About £28 to £34 The inside of the Radcliffe Camera Bodleian walking tour £30 A literary or TV theme A self-guided trail below Free The free tour Footprints runs a tip-based tour of about 2 hours at 11:00 and 14:00.

A long weekend based in Oxford Oxford has no organised multi-day tours of its own, and the city itself fills one to two days. A stay of three or four nights only makes sense if the extra days go to places reached from Oxford: Blenheim Palace, the Cotswolds and Bicester Village. Stretching the city sights to cover more time just repeats the same colleges and museums. Prices are in pounds sterling.

Oxford landmarks, museums and green spaces Most of Oxford’s best-known sights are within a short walk of each other, and the big museums charge nothing. Use the opening hours below to order your day, and remember that colleges and towers each follow their own timetable. Prices are in pounds sterling. Opening hours at a glance Place Hours Cost Ashmolean Museum Daily 10:00 to 17:00 Free Natural History Museum Daily 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:45 Free Pitt Rivers Museum Monday 12:00 to 17:00, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 Free History of Science Museum Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 Free Museum of Oxford Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Sunday Small charge Christ Church Meadow Open all year except 25 December Free Radcliffe Square The Radcliffe Camera still serves as a Bodleian reading room, so most visitors photograph it from the square.

Oxford tours, tickets and timed entry Every Oxford college and attraction runs its own ticketing, and no single pass covers the colleges. A visit that takes in three or four sites therefore means three or four separate purchases, so it helps to sort them by how early they need booking. All prices are 2026 figures in pounds sterling. Book first: the Radcliffe Camera The only public route inside the Radcliffe Camera is the Radcliffe Camera and City of Oxford Walking Tour, £30, on Saturdays and Sundays from 13:30 to 15:30.

Romantic things to do in Oxford A couple’s day in Oxford runs well from late afternoon into the evening: a river, walled gardens, college grounds and a few old pubs and dining rooms. Prices are in pounds sterling, and cards are accepted nearly everywhere. On the water Someone else can do the work if you book a chauffeured punt at Magdalen Bridge Boathouse. It costs about £50 for 30 minutes and takes up to four people, so a couple has plenty of room.

Planning Oxford for families Oxford works well with children if you mix the free museums with one or two paid outings and keep the college visits short. Prices are in pounds sterling. Age rules matter more here than in many cities, so they come first. Age rules at a glance Carfax Tower: no under-5s. University Church tower: minimum age 8, with 127 steps. Bodleian library tours: minimum age 11. Cherwell Boathouse punt hire: nobody under 16.

Oxford activities for a day or a weekend The easiest way to plan Oxford is by the time you have, because the centre is small and most of what visitors do sits within a short walk of Carfax. Prices are in pounds sterling, and contactless cards work almost everywhere. Magdalen and New College take cards only. If you have two hours Climb a tower. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin charges £7 for 127 steps, takes visitors aged 8 and over, and lets the last people up at 16:30.