Oxford 3-hour self-guided walking tour and scavenger hunt

Are you looking for things to do in Oxford? Try our 3-hour self-guided walking tour and scavenger hunt to walk this historic city focused on education.

Walk from St Mary Magdalen’s to Christ Church, then on to Oxford University and back again, while crossing many significant towers, colleges, museums, and monuments. Solve challenges at every stop to learn your next destination. You’ll also learn some local history and fun facts.

Scavenger Hunt information :

What you'll see

Saint Mary Magdalen Anglican Church
Oxford Town Hall
Modern Art Oxford
Christ Church
Wellington Square
Oxford Playhouse
Radcliffe Camera
Oxford University
And much more!

Specifications & Requirements

Starting point: outside Saint Mary Magdalen Anglican Church, 9 Magdalen St, Oxford OX1 3AE, United Kingdom
Distance: 4.3 km / 2.7 mi
Duration: 3 hours
Method: walking
Required: Fully charged smartphone with internet access (data plan) – Wifi will not be enough.
Suggested:
- Water bottle
- Local map

History

Ancient History

This area is settled by Anglo-Saxons around 900 CE, around a river crossing.

In the early 1000s, many Danes were killed here, which lead to Denmark’s invasion of England in 1003. Later in the century, the Norman Invasion heavily damaged the city.

At the end of the 12th century, its citizens established their own city charter. King Richard I (1189-99), King John (1199-1216) were born in Beaumont Palace in Oxford.

The University of Oxford came about in joining many individual halls, which later became colleges. St Edmund Hall (from 1225) remains, as do University College (1249), Balliol (1263), and Merton (1264).

The Church supported these colleges at a time when the works of ancient Greek philosophers were being translated, in the hope of reconciling those teachings with Christian ideology.

Modern History

King Charles I held court in Oxford during the English Civil War (1642-51). King Charles II also held court in Oxford during the Great Plague of London (1665-66).

In the late 18th century, canals were dug to connect Oxford to Coventry, and the River Thames. In the 19th century, railways connected Oxford to London.

During the great war (1914-18), students went off to enlist, while new soldiers were trained here, and returning soldiers were treated here in new hospitals.

Morris Motors Limited was established in Cowley on the south-eastern edge of the city, changing it’s once predominantly academic population into a mixed one. 20,000 worked at Morris. The plants later built the BMW Mini.