Rick Steves Guidebook “Great Britain “

His "Great Britain" book includes what they consider the most popular areas of England, Scotland and Wales. His "Best of England" book is more in depth and has more areas including Oxford.

Suggest you get a decent one such as the Rough Guide

Suggest you get a decent one such as the Rough Guide

That's a bit harsher than we're used to around here roger

Suggest you get a decent one such as the Rough Guide

The Rough Guide may be better for some places, Lonely Planet for others, and other guides for some places including RS Guides. They are all decent in their own way and using multiple guides will give you multiple interpretations of destinations and sights. No need to be so hard on RS.

I greatly value the detailed logistical information RS provides in his books. It's frustrating not to have the same caliber of info for places I visit that he doesn't cover, but it doesn't stop me from going.

You can check out the "What's Included" page for each RS guidebook on this website:

England Guidebook: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/england-guidebook

Great Britain Guidebook: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/britain-guidebook

You may also find the "Is This the Right Book for Me?" link on each guidebook's webpage helpful.

The "Best of" books do not have as much detailed coverage as the books without "Best of" in their titles; that's the tradeoff for the color photos.

Only the editors know I guess. But no guide book can cover everything. Writing a guide book is not only choosing what to write but just as much choosing which places to mention and which to leave out.

You may wish to buy Rick Steves "Best of England" book, and also "The Rough Guide to England".
I have an older edition of The Rough Guide, and it has a chapter titled "Oxford and around" --pages 325 to 364.
Lots of good information in both books.
To me, there's no such thing as having too many travel books.
If you have several travel books on England by different publishers, different authors, they will all be slightly different, of course.
One may go into greater detail than the others about small villages, transportation, museums, or walking trails.
Another may have better maps included than all the other books.

About Rick Steves "Best of England" book and "The Rough Guide to England".........
If you don't want to buy either one, you could look for them at your local library.

Fortunately, there are several really good websites for you to explore.
Visit Oxford:
https://www.visitoxford.org/

Visit Britain:
https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en/england/central-england/oxford#

Experience Oxfordshire is one of the best for info on Oxford:
https://www.experienceoxfordshire.org/
See their tab "Places To Stay" for recommended hotels and B&B's.
You could download their Visitor Guide and print it.
This should be a nice supplement to the RS book you already have.

The following page has a "restaurants" tab for browsing:
https://www.oxfordcityguide.com/oxford-tourist-information

Oxford City:
https://oxfordcity.co.uk/

I hope all of this helps you find information to supplement your RS Great Britain book.
Have a great trip, whenever you get to go!

Just got those new RS books aforementioned, plus the new LP one, from our nearby 'Little India' neighbourhood public library branch. Here in Toronto, travelers are lucky coz there also exists a fantastic Reference Library where one can peruse all of the above titles including of course, RG, plus pretty much any other guidebook on the market---plus some additional specialty titles. An outstanding Maps Room is adjoined:
"What was that village next to Bulawayo?"
Happiness for me is a wooden desk at that Ref Library, covered with a couple dozen new guidebooks plus maps.

I personally have found those above new RS and LP books to make a good 1-2 punch so to speak, an effective combo.
And I cross-referenced, even though I wasn't cross.
I am done. the end.

PS Frank above is correct: Oxford is def in the RS England book.

Not to overlook the latest Frommers and Fodors. In the London editions anyway, both feature valuable 'Neighbourhoods in Brief' sections, useful descriptive summaries for first-timers, plus folks like ourselves who haven't been back to Blighty in over 3 decades.

I am done. the selling England by the pound

Rick Steves guidebooks are very selective and hence do not attempt to cover quite a lot of England for which you will need something else if that is your area of interest. Although as mentioned Oxford is in the England book.

Not sure, but Oxford is a great town. I did get his little pocketbook guide which was useful, then I cross checked it with Trip Advisor and that is how I planned. Been there twice. Super amazing town. Get Turkish food & Thai if you can while there (They have 2 fantastic restaurants)-- really beautiful to do the college tour and rent a bike to go around the city if you get a chance.

One thing Steve didn't mention in his book (or he did and said it wasn't interesting) was Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens-- its pretty close to Oxford and quite fun to visit.

Oxford itself is very walkable and you most likely won't need a car unless its downpouring when you are there, or want to visit places slightly outside of the town.