10 facts about Oxford that aren't in the guidebooks
# 10 facts about Oxford that aren't in the guidebooks
Oxford doesn't fit into one visit. You discover it slowly, like its colleges. 😊 These ten facts are what a local guide would tell you along the way, between one stop and the next.
- Nobody will ask you for a guide's licence. In Oxford there is no state licence and no compulsory register for guiding in the street. Anyone can advertise and work as a guide in public spaces. The Blue Badge qualification is voluntary, not a legal requirement. What you do pay for is the inside of some places, like Christ Church or the Sheldonian Theatre.
- A college that is also a cathedral. Christ Church is both at once: a college and a cathedral. Inside, students, clergy and tourists share the space. Entry to the college and the Great Hall is paid.
- 6.4 million visits in 2024. Almost all of them were day trips: 5.4 million. Together they left £957 million, up 11% on 2022. The figure is for the city, not the county (which counts 25.3 million).
- The city counted 32 million footsteps. The city council recorded just over 32 million pedestrian footsteps in 2024. It is not the same as "visits": it is a count of foot traffic. Another way of measuring Oxford — by steps, not by tickets.
- Europe's oldest library is still working. The Bodleian is the oldest library in Europe in continuous operation. It is also the second largest in Great Britain. Its Old Schools Quadrangle and the Divinity School are open to the public. The reading rooms can only be seen on a booked guided tour.
- The "dreaming spires" were born in a poem. The nickname comes from Matthew Arnold, in his poem "Thyrsis" (1865). Ever since, Oxford has been the city of dreaming spires.
- Hogwarts' Great Hall was inspired in Oxford. The Great Hall of Christ Church inspired the Great Hall in the films. The stone staircase and the Divinity School were used in filming. Little wonder Christ Church is Oxford's most visited college: nearly half a million visitors a year.
- This is where Malfoy was turned into a ferret. The scene was filmed in the cloisters of New College. On the same walk you see the room that became the hospital wing and the library where Harry hides under his cloak. Oxford is full of Hogwarts.
- A pub where two friends invented two worlds. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet at the Eagle and Child. They read their chapters aloud there. Out of those meetings came Middle-earth and Narnia.
- Alice began in a shop. On St Aldate's stands Alice's Shop, the shop from Alice's story. The story began close by: at Christ Church, Lewis Carroll's college.
Want to see it up close?
- Walk among the dreaming spires
- Find the real Hogwarts, location by location
- Follow the stories, from Alice to Middle-earth