Oxford Walking Tour: Books, Beasts and Bards

Hello and welcome to Oxford! My name is Sara. I successfully completed my training and examinations as a City of Oxford Green Badge Guide in 2023, winning an award for best city tour. By choosing a Green Badge Guide you can assured that you have chosen a professional who is both knowledgeable and who will take care of your needs. I am also a member of the Oxford Guild of Tour Guides. The Guild provides ongoing training and opportunities for members to take private tours around some of the best sites in the city. I am also accredited to guide in Christ Church and Worcester College allowing me to take private groups on tours of these spectacular Colleges. Before guiding I worked as a teacher and lecturer for 25 years. I am happiest researching and sharing my time with groups of people eager to know more. I studied History and Italian in my first degree and have completed a MSc in learning and teaching here in Oxford. As an historian I have a passion for the stories of people from the past, entertaining visitors with tales of their sometimes astonishing, and often times terrible, lives. The best thing about being a tour guide is that I meet many people from all around the world and help them get the most from their trip. Oxford is an absorbing city, I love showing visitors the sights and best places to explore. It is brimming with amazing places to visit. There are many colleges and University buildings such as the iconic Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian Library; world class museums; parks and gardens including the Botanical Garden; civic buildings, markets and shopping centres. The city is bounded by two rivers; the Cherwell and the Thames so you can take time out on a waterside walk or even try your hand at punting. Within the walls of one college there is even a deer park. My love of Oxford began when I studied at Brasenose College, one of the 39 University colleges. I enjoy spending time here, staying on my narrowboat out of the hustle and bustle. If you have time, it is well worth going beyond the city centre. Why not head east across Magdalene Bridge to Cowley Road a lively cosmopolitan part of Oxford where you can eat food from all around the world? You can step off the train and follow the canal to Jericho a vibrant suburb, glistening with student life, independent shops, cafes and bars. It also boasts the Jericho Tavern where local bands Radiohead and Supergrass once performed. Near here, in Port Meadow, one of my favourite walks follows the Thames to a wonderful Pub called the Trout in Wolvercote. Summertown, to the north of the city, is a great place for shopping, food and entertainment. You will find cafes, restaurants and the North Parade Saturday Market and an Arts Centre. Tolkien fans can seek out two of the houses where he lived on Northmoor Road and the most adventurous can hide a punt at the Cherwell Boathouse. I offer a number of guided tours of Oxford. The most popular tour takes in the highlights this city has to offer. It can be adapted to include visits to Divinity School and a College. I am also happy to create tours of the city to suit your needs and interests. These bespoke tours can be for half a day or a whole day as well as the shorter 1hr 30 - 2hr guided walks. Visitors often miss out on fantastic opportunities when visiting Oxford as there is just so much to see. Perhaps you have fallen in the trap of missing out a museum because it is just so large you do not know where to start. Or you have given up on finding a great restaurant because you just do not know what is on offer. Communication is key, I take pride in ensuring that each tour meets the needs and interests of my guests. Come on a tour and let me share with you Oxford’s fascinating tales and curiosities. My special interests include: the city’s art and architecture; books and libraries (my special subject at University was the Medieval Book), the University; ghosts and grizzly events; the Pre-Raphaelites, gardens and parks, Harry Potter; Colin Dexter’s Morse; literary Oxford; Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland; CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien; Phillip Pulman and Lyra's Oxford; Sir John Betjeman poet and socialite; the history of science and medicine; crime, punishment and policing through time; plagues and warfare; waterways; and the story of women in Oxford.