Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Guided Tours: Ghosts, Morse & Picnics on the River
Oxford University has a complex his-
tory and a confusing structure, so it
makes sense to take one of the many
available
tours
to get a more detailed
understanding.
For an easy orientation, take a 1-hour,
open-top bus tour with
City Sightseeing
Oxford
(
&
01865/790522;
www.city
sightseeingoxford.com). Tours start from
the railway station; other pickup points
are the Sheldonian Theatre, Gloucester
Green Bus Station, and Pembroke Col-
lege. Buses leave daily at 9:30am and
then every 10 to 15 minutes in the sum-
mer and every 30 minutes in winter. The
last bus departs at 4pm November to
February, at 5pm March and October,
and at 6pm April to September. The cost
is £13 for adults, £11 for students, £10 for
seniors, and £6 for children 5 to 14 years
old; a family ticket for two adults and
three children is £32. Tickets can be
purchased from the driver and are
valid for 24 hours.
If you have more energy, take
the entertaining 2-hour
walking tour
through the city and the major colleges
from the Oxford Tourist Information
Centre, 15-16 Broad St. (
&
01865/
252200;
www.visitoxfordandoxford
shire.com), daily at 11am, 1, and 2pm.
These cost £8 to £8.50 for adults and
£4.50 to £5 for children 16 and under,
but they only include entry to colleges
that don't charge admission fees; you
can arrange a private tour (from £89)
of other colleges such as Christ Church
with the tourist center, but you must
pay extra for college entry. The Tourist
Information Centre also offers a long list
of excellent
theme tours,
everything from
“Magic, Murder & Mayhem” and “Potter-
ing in Harry's Footsteps” to “Jewish Heri-
tage” and “Stained Glass.” Our favorites
include the 2-hour
“Inspector Morse
Tour”
(Sat and Mon at 1:30pm, Mar-Sept;
£8), where enthusiastic guides enliven a
tour of all the locations associated with
the city's celebrated TV detective (and
his local pubs), created by Oxford author
Colin Dexter.
For something spooky, try
Bill Spec-
tre's Oxford Ghost Trails
(
&
07941/
041811;
www.ghosttrail.org), on Friday
and Saturday at 6:30pm. Dressed as a
Victorian undertaker, Bill illustrates his
ghoulish walks with props and tricks,
taking in all the most famous and grue-
some Oxford ghost stories. He charges
£7 for adults and £4 for children.
Alternatively, contact Felicity Thol-
strup at
Hidden Oxford
(
&
01865/
512650;
www.hiddenoxford.co.uk), who
specializes in critically acclaimed tailor-
made tours of the city. Finally,
Oxford
River Cruises
(
&
0845/2269396;
www.
oxfordrivercruises.com) runs several
boat tours along the River Thames, from
the tranquil 1-hour “River Experience”
(Apr-Oct; £9 adults, £6 children 15 and
under) to a sunset picnic cruise (May-
Sept) for £45 adults and £30 children.
5
there is no campus as such and no central university building. Rarely will you see
signs for “Oxford University.” Students apply to specific colleges within the university
umbrella, and apart from a handful of lectures (and final exams), it is the colleges that
organize tuition and most activities; the majority of students experience sports, social
events, and clubs at a college level and mixing between colleges is rare.
Touring every college would be a formidable task, so it's best to focus on just a handful
of the most intriguing and famous ones described below. Note that most of the free col-
leges are open only in the afternoon. Whichever college you visit, be prepared to share the
hallowed lawns and lanes with crowds of tourists. You may also be surprised by the never-
ending stream of polluting buses and fast-flowing pedestrian traffic in central Oxford.
