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New College: Our most recommended tours and activities

Oxford: University and City Walking Tour

1. Oxford: University and City Walking Tour

Join a university-educated guide, with years of experience and local knowledge of Oxford City and colleges. See the dreamy spires of one of the oldest universities in the world on a guided walking tour. Go inside some of the city’s most historic colleges, such as New College, founded in 1379 and more recently seen in the Harry Potter films and television productions of Inspector Morse and Lewis. Visit Exeter College, founded in 1314, and another favorite on most tours. Stop by Hertford College, with its romantic façade and Bridge of Sighs, instantly recognizable from Brideshead Revisited. See the University Library and learn about the collegiate system unique to Oxford and Cambridge. Discover famous alumni who studied and taught at the university, including the infamous Dr Spooner, whose portraits hang in New College Dining Hall and whose name is given to the playful linguistic phenomenon of spoonerisms.

Oxford: Christ Church Harry Potter Film Locations Tour

2. Oxford: Christ Church Harry Potter Film Locations Tour

Enjoy a walking tour introducing the making of Harry Potter in Oxford and an audio-guided tour inside Christ Church College. See and hear about both Harry Potter and Lewis Carroll’s legendary characters, such as Alice and the Mad Hatter.  First, admire the views of Christ Church Meadows. Take in the borders of the rivers of Cherwell and Isis. Next, see longhorn cattle graze and the dreamy spires of Merton College and Corpus Christi. Then, see the Bodleian Library, one of the oldest libraries in Europe. See Christ Church's cloisters and staircase that were used as inspiration for the Great Hall, or visit New College. Also enjoy entry to either the Divinity School or the New College film site.

Oxford: Harry Potter Tour with Divinity School Entry

3. Oxford: Harry Potter Tour with Divinity School Entry

Follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and other characters from the Harry Potter movies. J.K. Rowling applied to study at Oxford University and so she was familiar with Oxford. When they were producing the films, Rowling walked the producers around Oxford, pointing out various sights which they could use, such as the statue that looks like 'Nearly Headless Nick', and Turf Tavern Lane, which looks like Knockturn Alley. This tour showcases where the Harry Potter movies were filmed in Oxford. It includes entry to the Divinity School film site, where they filmed the classroom, dance, and infirmary scenes. You will be passing the city's famous sights and colleges from the outside. You will also be provided with lots of insights about the actors, the producers and about JK Rowling's inspirations. As you walk around, you will take part in a Harry Potter quiz to test your knowledge of the books and films. The guide will also describe how student life in Oxford compares with Hogwarts.

Oxford: Harry Potter Walking Tour Including New College

4. Oxford: Harry Potter Walking Tour Including New College

Meet your Oxford University student guide in central Oxford and head for the Hogwarts' Infirmary, set in one of the halls of the famous Bodleian Library. Imagine the infirmary’s beds in place here, and admire the richly sculpted beasts and biblical carvings that appeared in many of the Harry Potter movies. Next, explore one or two of Oxford’s oldest colleges, delving into the rooms and cloisters that featured as Hogwarts’ gloomy interior. See other filming locations and hear trivia about the characters and movie productions. Test your knowledge of all things Harry Potter with our custom quiz. Along the way, hear about Oxford’s influence in famous children’s literature, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to The Hobbit. Finish with a tour of the exterior of Christ Church, whose hall was an inspiration and not the actual Dining Hall at Hogwarts.

Oxford: Official University and City Walking Tour

5. Oxford: Official University and City Walking Tour

Explore Oxford, the city of Dreaming Spires, on a walking tour with an expert guide from the city’s tourism board. Be shown the city’s most famous sights, uncover its hidden history, and enjoy all the astonishing stories about Oxford's key characters- real and fictional. Meet your guide at the grand and very old Broad Street (once the city's ditch) let them know where you come from and any special Oxford interests you may have and they will do their best to incorporate those.  Go to Martyrs' Memorial, the scene of terrible religious retributions in medieval times, and on to the oldest tower at St Michael of the Northgate built in Saxon times. Then, make your way to the very heart of the University and the inspiration behind Harry Potter's Hogwarts School. Pass by the pubs where the Inklings used to meet to discuss their writing as well as the pubs where Inspector Morse was filmed and the most popular student drinking holes in days of old. Discover the city that is home to several of Britain's most famous literary characters - both fictional and real - such as JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, Philip Pullman, and Colin Dexter as well as some of their most famous creations like Lyra and Will, and Inspector Morse. Admire Oxford's stupendous architecture, gargoyles and grotesques, so wonderfully preserved from every historical period and style, and take a stroll through the breathtaking Radcliffe Square. Cross the whimsical Bridge of Sighs as it's fondly known, just like the ones in Venice and Cambridge. See the Bodleian Libraries from the outside in the splendid Old Schools Quadrangle. Learn about the city’s famous museums including the Museum of the History of Science, containing Einstein's blackboard, The Pitt Rivers, once home to shrunken heads, and the fabulous Ashmolean, which was one of the very first ever museums in the world. If time allows, walk as far as to the beautiful Christ Church Meadows, where punting happens and cattle graze; a truly pastoral and quintessential English scene.

Oxford: Harry Potter Tour with New College & Divinity School

6. Oxford: Harry Potter Tour with New College & Divinity School

Enter the magical world of Harry Potter, visit the filming locations of New College and Divinity School, and learn interesting facts and trivia from your guide during this Oxford tour experience. Get transported to the beloved fiction universe that surrounds Oxford. Escape into the Harry Potter universe as you visit their filming locations in Oxford along with an expert guide. Walk by the New College cloisters and see where Malfoy was turned into a ferret by Mad-Eye Moody in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.' Visit the Divinity School, used as Hogwarts' hospital wing in several Harry Potter movies. Remember the scene where Harry has to stay overnight to regrow his bones after Professor Lockhart removes them all? That was filmed right here. On any dates when the New College cloister (the actual film site) is closed, the tour will run but not include access to the cloister. Additionally, on any dates when Divinity School is closed, you'll visit an additional college instead (not a film site).

Oxford: Complete University Tour with optional Christ Church

7. Oxford: Complete University Tour with optional Christ Church

You will begin in central Oxford, with a brief and engaging introduction which will lay the foundation for the vast periods of history to be covered! Then the tour will enter a college renowned for having the most beautiful lawns in Oxford along with an iconic dispute with its neighbour - resulting in a supposed theft of the College tortoise (Oxford Annual Tortoise Race explanation included!). Then the group will visit the Sheldonian Theatre, where students experience the most iconic ceremony at Oxford University. You can hear from your student guide how the experience was for them. Next you will enter a historic museum -complete with a chalkboard used by Einstein in Oxford - and visit the Weston Library, a great example of a hybrid historic and modern interior. This tour will then cover sites that none of our other tours do! Including Rhodes House, the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum. The latter is known to have one of the most exceptional collections in England, including Victorian shrunken heads. The tour stops for lunch at the Eagle and Child pub, a second home to J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis while they were members of the Inklings. After lunch, you can get a photo under the Bridge of Sighs before gazing up at the first round library in England, where your Oxford student guide will give you rare insights into the labyrinth of underground tunnels students. Not to be forgotten, All Souls College. With entrance exams as complex as they are bizarre, this site will highlight how exclusive a College can be and how influential its members are. Heading down to the southern part of Oxford, we visit a hidden door depicting the most famous characters in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Before entering the largest College at Oxford, Home to Oscar Wilde and C. S. Lewis, and its own deer park. Explore the iconic grounds which have been home to Oxford’s most influential writers, complete with medieval cloisters. The tour will head over to Merton College, home of Tolkien, to discuss not only its literary importance, but it’s multi million pound kitchen, funded by the current Emperor of Japan! The tour will then go to Christ Church College, exploring the unique meadows - such a stunning expanse of land incredibly rare in a medieval city. Here you will learn about its close connection to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - along with its decision to be held to a different time zone than the rest of Oxford. Those who have selected the option to enter Christ Church will then have their pre arranged tickets given to them, and they will be free to explore the college at their own pace. The guide will be at hand before entering to offer further advice and guidance. Please note - the structure on the day may differ.

Wizarding Oxford Tour: Follow in Harry Potter’s Footsteps

8. Wizarding Oxford Tour: Follow in Harry Potter’s Footsteps

Embark on a magical adventure with our Wizarding Oxford Tour and follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter! Our tour takes you to three enchanting locations: New College, the Divinity School, and the Bodleian Library. At New College, explore the same walls that were featured in the films and uncover the secrets of this breathtaking location. The Divinity School served as the infirmary in the movies, where Harry and his friends practiced their magical skills. And at the Bodleian Library, immerse yourself in the wizarding world and relive your favorite scenes. Don’t miss your chance to experience the magic of Harry Potter on our unforgettable tour. Join us now and create memories that will last a lifetime!

Oxford: Oxford and Empire Walking Tour by Oxford Students

9. Oxford: Oxford and Empire Walking Tour by Oxford Students

The Oxford and Empire Walking Tour focuses on the University as an institution that produced knowledge, qualifications, and networks, which found their more durable expression on a global scale. ‘Oxford and Empire’ starts at the Natural History Museum, highlighting the close links between the development of knowledge about the natural world and the early explorations voyages, the start of a documentation of the natural world on European terms. This rise of the sciences within the University courses coincided with the development and rise of the high imperial period in Britain. The Great Evolution Debate took place at the Natural History Museum, and its legacy loomed large with the creation of the Pitt Rivers Museum in a back building shortly after, to host the university’s anthropological collections in a typography which reflected fast developing social Darwinists’ beliefs in a hierarchy of civilisations. The tour thereafter takes us to the Rhodes house, interrogating the origins and legacies of a scholarship made of white men from the colonies, and further questions the imperial origins of a series of faculties in Oxford, such as Geography, Plant Science, and International Development. Ultimately, it is a tour that aims to highlight the complex and reciprocal relationship between Oxford and the Empire, and how it endures through the University's global appeal to this day.

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What people are saying about New College

Overall rating

4.6 / 5

based on 1,932 reviews

The tour was excellent, we enjoyed finding out the history of the places we have seen and the guide, Rob, was amazing and he answered all the questions.

Knowledgeable, a little humour and great sights. Get a real feel for the history of the city and some filming locations

Fantastic tour with an amazing tour guide called Jeff who made the tour fun and informative.

Loves every minute! Monique was really fun, and knew EVERYTHING about HP

Magnus was an excellent, amusing and informative guide