Harry Potter Walking Tour of Oxford Including New College
Overview
Available languages
1 hour 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Muggles welcome! Go inside New College and the Bodleian Library on a magical adventure into the medieval buildings of Oxford University. With a fun Oxford student guide, complete with a quiz, the odd prop, and terrible jokes and puns! Suitable for devout Harry Potter fans, along with those publicly unwilling to admit their devotion, and those with no prior interest but looking for a fun way to explore! The tour includes other famous books such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings - along with the history of Oxford University.
Additional Info
Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Specialized infant seats are available
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
During peak season (June–August), access to the Divinity School is extremely limited due to frequent closures and high demand, and may not be included in the tour. While some companies may claim otherwise, we prefer to be honest upfront rather than risk disappointment on the day.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Professional guide
Gratuities
What To Expect
Blackwell's Bookshop
Not quite Flourish and Blotts but as close as a muggle bookshop can be. Blackwells is the dream of every Ravenclaw, holding approximately holding 250,000 volumes, which translates to 3 miles of books! This is even more impressive knowing that their first store measured only 12 feet square, and held just 700 used books. Don't forget to have a look at the roof of the building from a distance. Don't worry the stone figure you'll see on top isn't someone petrified. It is a statue by Antony Gormley; one of a series of sculptures called “Another Time II”.
Bodleian Library
One of the largest libraries in England and home to archaic medieval books on spells and wizards!
Options
2022/23
Reviews
718 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Our tour guide Liv was...
Katrina L,
Jun 12, 2025
- Viator
5.00Our tour guide Liv was attentive and full of information. She spun in Harry Potter facts throughout while still providing enough information about Oxford. Well done!
Just okay- does not include Bodleian Library admission!
Ashley M,
Jun 9, 2025
- Viator
3.00This was just okay. Our tour guide was very sweet and smart, but was just so-so on both Harry Potter facts and Oxford history. We were also disappointed because the itinerary for the trip said that the Bodleian library was included and it, in fact, was not. We went into the Divinity School, which is technically a part of the Bodleian, but we assumed based on the description which states "One of the largest libraries in England and home to archaic medieval books on spells and wizards! 15 Minutes- admission included " that we would get to see the actual library. Because of this, we did not buy additional admission tickets for the library and therefore it was sold out for the day and we couldn't even visit after the tour.
Better to visit the Divinity School and New College on your own
Elaine W,
Jun 5, 2025
- Viator
2.00Disappointing tour given the cost. It did not feel worth the value, and I would not recommend to others. For one thing, we didn't cover several of the places listed on the itinerary (Clarendon, Radcliffe Camera, or University Church of St. Mary the Virgin) and there was no mention about the topics highlighted for each of those locations on the itinerary. I for one was interested to hear about the historical areas of study (e.g. alchemy) given the tie-ins to Harry Potter. I was mystified as to why we spent 10 minutes in Blackwell's. It was interesting to hear about the large room of books, but we did not need to have free time to check out a bookstore when that could be done outside the tour. The Harry Potter quizzes should have been more tied to the locations visited (e.g. what animal did Mad-Eye turn Draco into?), which would have made the content more engaging. Some of the questions were related and I appreciated those, but there were also many others on generic, unrelated Harry Potter facts, which was not the best use of the tour time. Lastly, I was surprised that a Harry Potter tour of Oxford would neglect to mention Christ Church as another filming location - I understand if it doesn't fit into the itinerary but not mentioning it all when we covered a lot of other irrelevant info did not make sense. I appreciated the energy of our tour guide but I don't feel like I learned much on this tour. I would have liked to hear more facts about Harry Potter filming in Oxford. In addition, the parts of the tour about Oxford and the University should really focus on more engaging anecdotes (e.g. there was a long drawn out story about a student prank, that didn't seem to have any payoff). Overall it was fun seeing the filming locations at the Divinity School and New College, but I felt I could have visited on my own and saved some money.
Fun & Interesting
Kathleen A,
Jun 4, 2025
- Viator
5.00Our guide Alice was fun and knowledgeable. My teenage grandkids loved it! Learned a lot about the university. Well worth the time!
Great leadership bad platform Viator provider
Timea H,
May 31, 2025
- Viator
5.00Paula was a great guide. Unfortunately, the meeting point link of Viator is not right when you go to it. You have to enter the address manually into Google. Otherwise, you end up somewhere else and then have to run in stress to the other location about 10-15 minutes away is on foot... Has been warned several times to Viator to change this but unfortunately is done for people who can only do such tours with limited health. Is this a knock-out?
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Operated by Footprints Tours Limited