Top 7 Oxford Tourist Attractions And Sightseeing Locations
Located in the Central Southern England, Oxford is a small city but amazingly has a long list of tourist attractions. The city has something for everyone, making it an ideal destination for a family vacation. The best thing about Oxford is that the past and present sit happily together, making the city one of the sought-after British cities.
A majority of visitors come here to witness the majestic college buildings scattered throughout the city. Its aesthetic appeal has been an inspiration behind some of the popular classic books including – Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows. The city certainly has no dearth of cultural highlights as well. So, while you are in the city fondly known as the home of the University of Oxford, make sure you have explored top 7 tourist attractions I am going to discuss.
Visit The Best Museums
The city is home to more than 10 museums, each one offering a unique experience. Start your itinerary by visiting The Ashmolean Museum, it is the world’s first public museum. Here, you get to witness some of the best collections spanning from ancient Egypt to the contemporary China. Make sure you have wandered to the top of galleries and when your exploration is done, sit back and enjoy tea, cake, and the splendid views from the museum’s rooftop restaurant.
At Pitt Rivers Museum, you get to make the most of the free drop-in family events and object handling opportunities as well, remember you only get to enjoy them on the first Saturday of every month or during the school holidays. The entrance to the museum is through Oxford University Museum on Parks Road. The kids can join in a variety of family trails that you can pick up a map at the information desk or download in advance so that you get to save your precious time.
You can also borrow a family guidebook and a torch for the darker corners, you don’t have to pay for them. Both kids and adults will surely enjoy an amazing collection of ethnographic and archaeological objects from some of the world’s famous cultures both past & present. Here you get to see Hawaiian cloaks, decorated moccasins, African pottery, and Japanese Noh masks.
Enjoy A Cycling Tour
The best way to explore Oxford is on a bike. You can opt for Oxford Bike Tour in order to visit the best spots that this gorgeous city has to offer. The tour starts from the city centre, seeing the striking dreaming spires then moving on to the serenading surrounding countryside. The tour has 11 stops offering a great blend of history, culture, and hidden gems. At every stop, the guide will be sharing some exciting facts and history related to that particular place. You will have plenty of time clicking photographs while you interact with your fellow travelers.
Christ Church
This is one of the largest and popular Oxford colleges. It was Mr. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who founded this college in 1524. It is not apt to call it Christ Church College and should be called Christ Church or The House. It is world’s only college with a cathedral. It is not a huge cathedral and contains the Shrine of St. Frideswide. The shrine was built in 1289 and contains the relics of the 8th-century nun, Frideswide.
One of the major draws of this church is all those places used in filming Harry Potter movie series. Mind you, this section of the church remains crowded most of the times. Move towards south to St Aldate’s, visitor’s entrance. This is the place from where you will have the access to the Great Hall.
Radcliffe Square & Sheldonian Theatre
This is a beautiful cobbled square and it is formed by three impressive architectural gems – Bodleian Library (15-century), University Church of St Mary, and Palladian-style Radcliffe Camera. Nestled around the corner, you can find Sheldonian Theatre, where you can catch a concert. Having a capacity of 950 people, this theatre is Grade I historic venue in Oxford.
In addition, this theatre is also the ceremonial hall of the University of Oxford and this is the place where the students matriculate and graduate. Using the display boards, you can know more about the history of the theatre and from the Cupola, you can have a 360-degree view of the indoors.
Botanic Garden
Built in 1621, it is the oldest botanic garden in Britain. The garden is located opposite to Magdalen College and beside River Cherwell. The moment you enter the garden, you are in for a horticulture feast with glass houses, vegetable areas, a rock garden, and a conservatory. Enjoy exploring the garden by walking around and the plants here are labeled, so you know what are you looking at.
The best part is that the day on which you are visiting, the ticket for Botanic Garden gives you admission to Harcourt Arboretum as well. Here, you will love watching bluebell woods, wildflower meadows, and rhododendrons. If you are visiting with your family, then this is a perfect place to enjoy a nice and relaxing picnic.
There are various ways in which you can explore this gorgeous garden, one way is to leisurely wander around and second is you can opt for free tours as well. What makes this garden unique is the scientific collections that you get to see here including Geographic collections, Herbaceous Border, and Medicinal collection.
Bodleian Library
This library is one of the world’s oldest public libraries and undoubtedly the most impressive one as well. You will surely enjoy wandering around the central quad and the foyer exhibition space is quite popular amongst the visitors. You just need to pay £1 to visit the Divinity School and the rest of the library can be easily accessed through guided tours.
It was Sir Thomas Bodley who founded this library in 1602. Interestingly, in 1610 as per an agreement with the Stationers’ Company of London, it was confirmed that the library will be receiving a copy of every single book that publishes in the UK. Initially, the library started with just 20 books, currently, it has over 10 million items, and amazingly there is a seating space of over 2, 000 readers as well.
The library was featured in Harry Potter movie as Hogwarts Library. Some of the collections of the library are also housed in Weston Library (Broad St) and it was open to the public in 2015.
Martyrs’ Memorial
Located towards the south end of St Giles, Martyr’s Memorial was built in 1843 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The memorial underwent a restoration in 2003 by a joint effort by Oxford City Council and Preservation Trust. This memorial commemorates Oxford martyrs including – Anglican Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, Thomas Cranmer (Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury).
You will a sign of cross set in the road, denoting the actual execution site and it is 20 meters away in Broad Street. You will see the statues of three men facing north with Bible in his hand, Ridley is shown looking towards the east, and Latimer with his head bowed and arms crossed towards the west.
Emma Brown is an extensive and experienced web writer at Qwikfix, Fixithere, and a newspaper – Telegraph. She has a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication and a Gold medal in the same. She helps people to have the most informative and appealing online presence. Her passion includes content writing and scaling expectations is a basic motto, she lives up to.