Secret Oxford Walking Tour

Welcome to the Secret Oxford Walking tour, where you’ll take roads less travelled and see some of the city’s surprising features, along with its highlights.

On this walking tour of the city, you’ll tread in the footsteps of some of Oxford’s most famous names, while sound effects and music enhance the sense of being transported back over a thousand years.

Starting from Oxford Railway Station, you’ll hear about the city’s Anglo-Saxon origins whilst making your way through modern streets to its peaceful canal. I’ll share stories about dramatic escapes from Oxford Castle, clashes with Vikings, and how residents have fought for their independence over the centuries.

You'll pass Oxford’s famous Radcliffe Camera and University Church of St Mary the Virgin whilst walking through meadows where cattle still graze. The tour ends at Carfax Tower, the very heart of Oxford where four ancient streets converge, and a perfect place to continue exploring this remarkable city.

During this 60-minute tour, you’ll also have a chance to:

• See the university’s colleges, including: Christ Church, Corpus Christie, Merton, University College, Queens College, St Edmund Hall, New College, Hertford College and Lincoln College
• Discover how and why this great city and university came to exist, and see some of the first classrooms and libraries dating back to the 1400s
• Peek into the Turf Tavern, a 700-year-old pub tucked away against the ancient city wall
• Find the features of the city that inspired CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, and also some Harry Potter filming locations
• Hear the surprising story of the Trill Mill Stream, the underground waterway once navigated by T.E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
  
• Pass the building where England’s first coffee house opened in 1650, changing Oxford’s social landscape forever

By the end of this tour, you’ll have a sense of the Oxford that locals treasure, with its beautiful cobbled streets, bizarre stories, and hidden spots to eat, drink or shop. This tour has everything for those who want to see Oxford in a day – but without following the crowd, on their own terms.