Oxford litteraire

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

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

One of Oxford's smallest colleges, with a famous pelican sundial

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.

A modern graduate college wrapped around a Georgian observatory tower

Oxford's mature-student college with notable Pre-Raphaelite stained glass

Home of the Bridge of Sighs — Oxford’s most photographed architectural moment

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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