Oxford is beautiful in the rain — but you don't have to stand in it. These are the places worth heading to when the sky opens up: world-class museums (all free), cosy pubs with low ceilings, bookshops you can lose an afternoon in, and the Covered Market.
One of England's oldest schools — strong academics and sport in a less intense setting than the Oxford schools.
Authentic Italian gelato in the Covered Market.
The real shop that inspired Tenniel's illustration in Through the Looking-Glass — now selling all things Alice.
No students, the hardest exam in the world, and Hawksmoor's twin towers
The world's first university museum — free, with major collections of art and archaeology.
One of Oxford's oldest colleges — plain outside, historically significant inside
The original Ben's Cookies — baked fresh in the Covered Market since 1984, famous far beyond Oxford.
An Oxford institution since 1879 — Broad Street bookshop with the cavernous Norrington Room below.
One of the oldest libraries in Europe — the Divinity School, Duke Humfrey's Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.
Right behind the Radcliffe Camera — an intimate college with a painted chapel ceiling
Specialty coffee and pour-overs on Banbury Road — Oxford's serious coffee destination since 2013.
Broad Street's independent art supplies shop — paints, papers, and materials for working artists and students.
Loose-leaf teas and freshly roasted coffees in the Covered Market — the smell alone is worth the detour.
Oxford's grandest college — part cathedral, part palace, all spectacle
Specialty coffee in a medieval courtyard.
Social enterprise cafe and co-working space in Jericho.
One of Oxford's smallest colleges, with a famous pelican sundial
Oxford's alternative independent — first names, no uniform, strong sixth form.
A proper traditional butcher in the Covered Market — locally sourced meat, hand-cut to order.
Tolkien's college, a miniature Sainte-Chapelle, and a hidden view over Radcliffe Square
A former Jericho bar in a deconsecrated Greek Revival church — currently closed, with the building under new ownership.
Oxford's own ice cream since 1992 — handmade, inventive, and open past midnight.
A modern graduate college wrapped around a Georgian observatory tower
Oxford's mature-student college with notable Pre-Raphaelite stained glass
A large girls' school in Headington — boarding and day, from age 3 to 18.
Home of the Bridge of Sighs — Oxford’s most photographed architectural moment
Independent coffee from a horsebox outside the Natural History Museum.
The Welsh college on Turl Street — quieter than its neighbours, full of character
Victorian polychrome brick — Oxford's most divisive building and a masterpiece painting
Oxford's part-time and continuing education hub — not a tourist destination
Riverside gardens and pioneering history, away from the tourist crush
A proper Oxford local — ancient, unpretentious, and owned by St John's College.
An eco-focused graduate college — admirable but not a visitor attraction
A perfectly preserved medieval gem on Turl Street — John Wesley's college
Extensive grounds with a deer park, river walks, and a famous tower
Oxford's academic powerhouse — consistently one of the top-performing schools in the country.
A Nonconformist college with a Gothic Revival chapel and progressive spirit
Oxford's oldest quad, a medieval library, and Tolkien's second home
Medieval cloisters, a stretch of city wall, and a chapel with an El Greco
Oxford's choir school — tiny, musical, and tucked behind New College's medieval walls.
Oxford's social science powerhouse — architecturally divisive, intellectually formidable
Mid-century furniture, vintage homeware, and salvaged curiosities on the Cowley Road.
Oxford's oldest royal foundation — seven centuries on a beautiful square
The GDST's Oxford flagship — academically rigorous, no-nonsense, and proudly day school.
Dinosaurs, dodos, and Darwin's legacy — all under a Gothic Revival iron-and-glass roof.
The retail home of the world's largest university press — dictionaries, academic texts, and OUP's full catalogue on the High Street.
Samuel Johnson's college — quietly handsome, just off St Aldate's
A Victorian cabinet of curiosities — shrunken heads, totem poles, and half a million objects from every culture on earth.
A tiny Baptist hall on St Giles' — small and friendly
A small Catholic girls' school in Headington — nurturing and community-minded.
Antique maps, prints, and engravings on the High Street — established 1967.
Fine pens, handmade papers, and writing instruments on Turl Street.
A pioneering women's college — alumni include Thatcher, Sayers, and Indira Gandhi
A modernist campus college with a strong access ethos — not a sightseeing stop
Oxford's international affairs college — impressive seminars, not impressive buildings
Designed by Arne Jacobsen — a complete modernist campus with sculpture gardens by the Cherwell
Oxford's International Baccalaureate specialist — global student body, liberal ethos.
A small graduate college on St Giles' — pleasant but not a visitor destination
The oldest academic hall in any university — 800 years in a tiny quad off Queen's Lane
Known as 'Teddies' — a proper boarding school with a surprisingly warm, unpretentious culture.
A day school for girls in Abingdon — strong academics, partnership with Abingdon School.
Oxford's last single-sex college (until 2008), with Cherwell riverside gardens
14 acres of gardens in North Oxford — one of the largest college grounds in the university
A country prep school with a loyal following — rural setting, strong boarding tradition.
Oxford's wealthiest college — Canterbury Quad, large gardens, and serious money
A young college on an ancient site — unassuming but well located near the castle
A traditional boys' prep school with a strong record of scholarships to Eton and Winchester.
The Covered Market's organic grocer — wholefood staples, fresh produce, and zero-waste refills before it was fashionable.
A well-stocked museum shop — jewellery, prints, and design objects inspired by the Ashmolean's collection.
Oxford's oldest pub — famous for its tie collection and recently expanded into a larger space.
Every type of brush imaginable — a Covered Market institution.
An independent bakery in the Covered Market — honest cakes, pastries, and bakes without the artisan price tag.
A proper pub hiding in plain sight on the High Street — the 15th-century beams are the real deal.
Oxford's beating heart since 1774 — over 50 independent stalls under one historic roof.
A well-known co-ed prep school in North Oxford — large campus, broad curriculum, strong alumni network.
Where the Inklings met — Tolkien and Lewis's local on St Giles'.
A big riverside pub at Folly Bridge — the terrace over the Thames is the whole point.
The pub where Radiohead played their first gig — Oxford's main small live music venue.
Oxford's quintessential student pub — Young's ales on Holywell Street, opposite the Bodleian.
A proper village pub in Headington Quarry — the kind of place C.S. Lewis would have walked to, because he did.
A serious cheese counter in the Covered Market — British and European artisan cheeses, cut to order.
A thatched riverside pub reached via a walk across Port Meadow.
A baroque showpiece on the High Street — Oxford's only fully classical college
A village green pub in Wolvercote — proper ale, proper food, properly relaxed.
North Parade's anchor pub — a proper local where the landlord knows every regular by name.
Inspector Morse's local, perched over a weir on the Thames at Wolvercote — come for the view, stay for the atmosphere.
A well-hidden pub, tucked down a medieval alleyway behind the Bodleian.
A tiny Broad Street pub squeezed between Blackwell's and the Bodleian — smaller than some college rooms.
Spacious gardens and a Wren chapel on Broad Street — often overlooked
Vintage clothing on the Cowley Road — rammed rails at student-friendly prices.
Possibly Oxford's oldest college — Shelley's memorial and a long High Street facade
A well-preserved Jacobean quad, large gardens, and a progressive reputation
Isaiah Berlin's riverside graduate college — pleasant Cherwell-side setting
A lake, medieval cottages, and large gardens — one of central Oxford's hidden landscapes
Tiny, nurturing, and deliberately different — Oxford's smallest senior girls' school.