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Oxford tour question

Posted by (California) on

We plan to visit Oxford on a daytrip from Bath and have booked the extended tour
https://footprints-tours.com/oxford/tours/oxford-walking-tours/oxford-university-and-city-walking-tour-entering-christ-church/.
This is a 3 hour tour starting at 2 pm. We arrive by train around 11:15 am, which gives us about 1.5 hours to have a quick lunch and may be see something that this tour does not cover. Would have another hour after the tour for any remaining sightseeing (return train at 7 pm).

For those who know about this tour, we are looking for suggestions for these two roughly one hour timeslots. Our interest in Oxford is mainly about appreciating its contribution in education, great personalities (Einestein's board (History of Science Museum), as an example) appreciate architecture, any good views - (although wife may not climb the 100 stairs of some buildings that RS recommends).

Posted by
6811 posts

Looks like a very good tour. What I'd suggest is finding out which other colleges are open to visitors and picking one or two of those, preferably near the start or end of the tour. Some of the best (architecturally and historically) IMO are Magdalen, New, Balliol, All Souls, and Merton, but all the older ones are interesting. You might also visit St. Mary's Church on High Street if the tour doesn't take you there.

The Ashmolean Museum is justly famous but might not be your best choice, given the split timeframe and your interests. You could easily fill either time slot by wandering around the central part of the city, maybe stopping in at a pub. The Eagle and Child, on St. Giles north of the center, was a favorite waterhole for C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Your tour guide will undoubtedly have suggestions for your final hour in Oxford.

Posted by
30 posts

@Dick Thank you for the suggestions. Unfortunately, the tour description does not name all the colleges we will see. Presumably, this varies depends on day-to-day constraints. One correction to my original post - our train arrives at 10:30 am which gives us a bit more time in the morning. The pub seems 'temporarily closed' per Google, but we can see it from outside.

Posted by
495 posts

The Eagle and Children is currently closed for major refurbishment. I think it’s due to reopen next year but I don’t think this timeframe is firm.

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