Oxford

Matthew Arnold, the famous Victorian poet, called Oxford "The sweet city with her dreaming spires" and we all know this famous quote. Yes, it’s as famous as Oxford itself. It still receives over ten million visitors a year and is frequently cited as the UK's favourite city for travellers. World famous Oxford University is made up of more than three dozen colleges and is a synonym for academic excellence, and its beautiful architecture and unique ambience, with courtyards and gardens, remain key attractions for its visitors in this beautiful and historic city. The City was established in the early 12th century and grew up in a previously Saxon village. Did you know that some of 26 Prime Ministers, including Theresa May, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron, were educated by Oxford? They are mainly graduating from Christ Church College. Today, Oxford is a modern, prospective city. The United Kingdom is one of the most cultural and diverse and is home to not only two universities, but also several hospitals, motor production, training, publishing and a large number of companies based in science and technology. Oxford has a large parkland and weather at the city borders. It's one of the greenest cities in Southern England. The Cotswolds, the Chilterns, and the North Wessex downs are surrounded by rolling landscapes; and it runs through some rivers, the River Thames and Cherwell. Around 900 AD the need to move cattle across the streams gave the town its original Saxon name “Oxenaforda”, which is the ford of the oxen. Oxford is a favourite place for filming, and many stories have been set in Oxford due to the balance of the old and new, the city or the country. The inspector Morse books of Colin Dexter are located in Oxford. In both Oxford and a parallel version of the town, Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, is placed in a different world. The quintessential novel Oxford is considered perhaps the most renowned of all Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead re-visited. The Harry Potter movie adaptations, along with adaptations of many other novels in the city have been shot at several Oxford colleges. Not just Harry Potter, of course, X-Men: First Class, Howards End, Brideshead Revisited, Saving Private Ryan, A Fish Called Wanda, 102 Dalmatians, The Italian Job are the favourite ones. Oxford is also renowned for being a safe city. Oxford has plenty of green spaces, including parks and gardens, if you pull historical buildings. Close to the centre of the town you can enjoy the beautifully maintained surroundings and green spaces and gardens. Even the parks outside the city are equally beautiful, with views of the city centre with its old spires and towers of Oxford University. The first schools of Oxford were built in the 13th century, but the admission of women into the university took place not until 1878, the awarding of degrees from 1920 and the opening of women's doors in 1974. Weird isn’t it? Presumably, Oxford is the second-oldest educator in the world and has won 28 Nobel Prizes awards and has been frequently called the world's best university. But it wasn't just because it's a great university that the university became so famous. The culture and nightlife of Oxford is vibrant and varied. The City offers many museums and attractions including Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera, Oxford Castle and the Prison, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, The Sheldonian Theatre, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Botanic Garden, The Covered Market Oxford, University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bridge of Sighs, Christ Church Cathedral, Carfax Tower, Museum of Oxford, Pitt Rivers Museum and many more. There are plenty of opportunities to watch exhibitions, to attend night time events, festivals and movies in locations throughout the city. The New, Playhouse and Burton Taylor Theatres and smaller venues in schools and the arts and community centres, such as the Old Fire Station, also make Oxford their home. One last thing: Hitler intended to use Oxford as his capital if he won over England, one of the reasons for it not being bombarded. In fact, Oxford during the English Civil War was the capital of England. Shopping is a tradition in Oxford. No wonder The Grand Covered Market is one of the main landmarks of Oxford. The vast majority of Oxford's major retailers are offered by Queen Street, Cornmarket Street and Westgate Shopping Centre, extensively restructured and opened in Autumn 2017. A maze of streets and footpaths with a wealth of boutique shops, antique stalls and markets are spread from the centre. A further layer of shopping places, in which classics meet the foreigners, Oxford's covered market offers. Shopping in Oxford extends beyond the centre from Oxford Summertown and Jericho in the north to Cowley Road and east and south to shopping centres. Let's meet in the city where the old and the new traditionally meet. Choose one of our Oxford tours yourself or in combination with other neighbourhood cities.