Duke Humfrey's Library
Oxford's oldest reading room, its medieval oak shelving unchanged, reached only on a guided tour.
Remi Mathis — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Nobody has been allowed to borrow a book from this library since it opened in 1602, and that includes King Charles I, who asked in 1645 and was refused. That stubbornness is the reason the Bodleian is still one of the most celebrated university libraries in Europe and one of its oldest: everything comes in, nothing goes out. The Old Schools Quadrangle, its doors lettered in gold with the names of the old faculties, is free to wander and worth a pause on its own as you pass between the Sheldonian Theatre and the dome of the Radcliffe Camera. The interiors are another matter. The 15th-century Divinity School, with a carved stone vault carrying more than four hundred crests, can be seen on a self-guided ticket of just £3 and fifteen minutes; Harry Potter fans will recognise it at once as the Hogwarts infirmary. The prize, though, is Duke Humfrey's Library, a medieval reading room whose oak shelving has barely changed in centuries, and it opens only to guided tours: a 30-minute tour from around £12.50 that pairs it with the Divinity School, or a 60-minute tour from around £17.50 that adds Convocation House and the Chancellor's Court. Non-flash photography is allowed on the tours; the only room where cameras are banned is the Radcliffe Camera, which itself can only be entered on the weekend walking tour. A plain word for Gulf families: the guided tours do not admit children under eleven, and every one of them involves stairs with no lift. If you are travelling with younger children, do the Divinity School on your own and then cross Broad Street to the Weston Library, where free exhibitions show rare manuscripts and there is a café, a shop and room for a pushchair. In July and August tour tickets sell out fast. Tickets go online at 09:00 UK time on the 1st and 15th of each month: the 60-minute tour is sold entirely online, while the 30-minute tour releases about half its tickets online and keeps the rest for the desk on the day, so book before you fly. In September and October the rooms close often for graduation ceremonies, so check the closure list before fixing your day. Getting there is simple: Oxford station is a fifteen-minute walk, and drivers should use one of the Park and Ride car parks on the edge of the city, since central Oxford has little parking and a zero-emission zone. The library closes at 17:00 all year like most of the city's sights, but on a winter evening the rain-slicked quadrangle under the lamps has a charm of its own.
Oxford's oldest reading room, its medieval oak shelving unchanged, reached only on a guided tour.
A 15th-century carved stone vault bearing more than four hundred crests, and the Hogwarts infirmary in the Harry Potter films.
Free exhibitions of rare manuscripts across the street, with a café and shop, and the right choice for those with young children.
Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG
Sheldonian TheatreBefore Christopher Wren built St Paul's, he was an Oxford astronomy professor wi1 minute walk4.8
History of Science MuseumIn the entrance gallery, behind glass that gives nothing away from a distance, s1 minute walk4.3
Radcliffe CameraOxford's most famous building is one you cannot walk into. The Radcliffe Camera,1 minute walk4.6
University Church of St Mary the VirginThe best photograph in Oxford is not taken from any street. It is taken from a n2 minutes walk4.8
Carfax TowerOxford runs on an odd rule: nothing new in the city centre may rise higher than 4 minutes walk4.5If you are after the Harry Potter room and a photo under the carved vault, the self-guided ticket does the job. Duke Humfrey's Library, the part that sets the Bodleian apart from any other library, is only seen on a tour, and the 30-minute version is enough for most visitors.
The quadrangle, the Divinity School on a self-guided ticket and the free exhibitions in the Weston Library, all of which allow a standard pushchair. The guided tours do not admit children under eleven, so do not try to book them in.