Full Day in Oxford (Sunny Day in Summer) 9.00

Visit Christ Church, whose Great Hall was the inspiration for Hogwarts Hall and whose chapel is the cathedral of Oxford where ‘Alice in Wonderland’s’ father was Dean.

10.00

Buy goodies in the Covered Market– cheeses, cakes, freshly made biscuits, fresh bread and cooked meats. Walk down the High Street , past Oddbins to stock up on something to drink…..Don’t forget a bit of string……

10.45

Take a punt from Magdalen Bridge boathouse and glide gently amid the trees in the morning calm before the hoi polloi come along ………manoeuvre your way skilfully between fallen trees (deliberately left) in the river…..cool your bottled drinks by dangling them in the water….. (That’s why you need the string!) and imagine yourself back in elegant Victorian Oxford…..Picnic in the boat or tie up alongside the river bank (don’t forget to park your punt correctly with the pole or you may find it drifts gently away downstream….)

13.30 14.00

Walk back into town to the Tourist Information Centre to take a Guided walking tour of the City and colleges (Places are limited so you need to book beforehand). Oxford’s Official guides will take you to nooks and crannies you would never have found by yourself, while regaling you with amusing, incredible and sometimes gruesome stories tales of bygone times. This is really the best way to explore Oxford.

16.00

Time for tea – maybe in the Vault & Gardens (at St Mary the Virgin Church – the birthplace of the University of Oxford) , or at The Rose in the High Street, or in the basement of Modern Art Oxford, or Georgina’s in the Covered Market– or if you would like more elegant surroundings, in Quod, the Old Parsonage or the Randolph Hotel. Given time you could go to all of them, of course.

17.00

Oxford Botanic Garden is well worth a visit... the first in Britain and one of the first in the world. Look out for Tolkien’s favourite tree (perhaps the inspiration for the Ents?) and the border devoted to the medicinal plants which formed the nucleus of the first garden. And over 80% of our own medicines are originally derived from plants so no change there……….

18.00 Time to wander up the Cowley Road (go over Magdalen Bridge, past the drinking fountain on The Plain and take the middle road) and you encounter another world of eateries from around the world, funky bars and the Regal and O2 Academy, venues for Oxford’s thriving local indie bands. Or, take in a play at the Playhouse, a ‘big name’ at the New Theatre, an outdoor Shakespeare play in a college garden, or a studio production at the Burton Taylor Theatre. The Jacqueline du Pre Music Room, the Holywell Music Room (the first purpose-built music room in the world) and the Sheldonian Theatre are some of the fascinating locations for Oxford’s flourishing classical music scene. Search our online events diary.

Oxford Tourist Information Centre15-16 Broad Street Oxford OX1 3AS T: +44 (0)1865 252200 E: tic@oxford.gov.uk W: www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com

Picnic Drinking fountain, The Plain