About Eccentric Oxford walking tours

Eccentric Oxford: a guided walk around the city revealing the eccentric characters associated with Oxford throughout the centuries.

Town & Gown Walking Tours are designed to entertain and inform both local people and visitors to the city.

1000 Years of Oxford in 100 Minutes!

  • Ideal for both locals and visitors – tours reveal the eccentric characters & tales associated with Oxford down the centuries, and celebrate the city’s rich history.
  • As featured on BBC1’s South Today

Why come along?

  • Acquaint yourself with the city’s history, from Danish raiding parties (1007) to exams-are-over parties (2007).
  • Learn about Oxford’s plagues, riots and eccentricities, and how all of Britain’s great universities (plus Cambridge) originated from Oxford’s pioneering model.
  • Hear about Oxford’s eccentrics, scientists, novelists, Prime Ministers, pioneers, actors, inventors, poets, TV stars, criminals and politicians (there is some inevitable cross-over within the last two categories).
  • Enjoy some fascinating facts that we’ve mined about Oxford

“Town & Gown Walking Tours” were launched in 2006 to offer an innovative and humourous approach to guided tours on foot in Oxford. The tours have already been featured on BBC1’s South Today, BBC Radio Oxford, in the Oxford Mail, and soon to be on BBC Radio 4.

The tour includes…

  • The University’s official guide for students on “how to tell if an Oxford woman is a prostitute”
  • The student hung for being a highwayman
  • The first Englishman to fly
  • Which famous writer arrived with a loaded pistol for a duel on a college quad lawn
  • The reasons why some famous names have been expelled from Oxford University over the years

Along with …

  • Who lost a fight with Isaac Newton, then discovered cells, invented sash windows and the microscope
  • Which college was founded using the profits of prostitution
  • Which parts of Oxford are connected to Harry Potter, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Philip Pullman, Blackadder, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Oscar Wilde, John Betjeman, Hugh Grant, Fiona Bruce, Michael Palin, and Al Murray (alias ‘The Pub Landlord’)

Click here for forthcoming tour dates

Tour cost: only £5.00
Just turn up on the day, or reserve a place by contacting: oxfordgame@btinternet.com or telephone 01865 775171

Tours meet at: Martyrs’ Memorial (opposite Randolph Hotel) [map]