The dome from above
127 steps up the University Church tower for GBP 7 give you the classic overhead shot of the dome.
Diliff — CC BY 2.5 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Oxford's most famous building is one you cannot walk into. The Radcliffe Camera, the round stone dome on every postcard and biscuit tin in the city, is neither museum nor church but a working reading room of the Bodleian Library, where students sit over their books while tourists circle outside with cameras. It went up between 1737 and 1749 on money left by John Radcliffe, royal physician to William III and Mary II, to a design by James Gibbs, and it was the first circular library in England. The 'camera' is Latin for chamber, nothing to do with photography, though the building has ended up as the most photographed thing in Oxford. The square around it, Radcliffe Square, is really the whole show: the library standing alone in the middle, ringed by the Old Bodleian, Brasenose and All Souls colleges and the University Church. There is no ticket, no gate and no closing time; you arrive when you like and stand where you like. The best moment is early morning before nine, when the square is nearly empty and the light sits low on the honey-coloured stone, or after dusk in summer when the dome is lit. In the July and August school holidays the square fills with tour groups from about ten until late afternoon, so plan around that. As for the inside, the only route is the Bodleian's 'Radcliffe Camera and City of Oxford' walking tour, run on Saturdays and Sundays only, at GBP 30 per person for 90 to 120 minutes, of which roughly half an hour is spent inside the round room. Tickets go online at 09:00 UK time on the first of each month for the following month's tours and sell out quickly in summer; the minimum age is 11. The tour is in English only and starts from the front steps of the Weston Library opposite. Our honest advice: do not hold out for the tour if your time is short. Pay GBP 7 and climb the tower of the University Church next door, 127 narrow stone steps, for the classic overhead view of the dome you have seen everywhere. The tower is open 09:30 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday and from noon on Sundays, with last entry at 17:30; children must be at least 8, and it is no place for pushchairs or anyone who finds stairs hard. The square itself is old cobbles, so expect a bumpy ride for pram wheels. It is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Oxford station, and if you are driving, leave the car at one of the Park and Ride sites on the edge of the city, since the centre is all but closed to traffic.
127 steps up the University Church tower for GBP 7 give you the classic overhead shot of the dome.
Before nine the square is nearly empty and the light sits low on the golden stone, before the tour groups arrive.
Designed by James Gibbs and finished in 1749 from a royal physician's bequest, it is still a reading room full of students.
Radcliffe Square, Oxford OX1 3BG
University Church of St Mary the VirginThe best photograph in Oxford is not taken from any street. It is taken from a n1 minute walk4.8
Bodleian LibraryNobody has been allowed to borrow a book from this library since it opened in 161 minute walk4.5
Sheldonian TheatreBefore Christopher Wren built St Paul's, he was an Oxford astronomy professor wi2 minutes walk4.8
History of Science MuseumIn the entrance gallery, behind glass that gives nothing away from a distance, s2 minutes walk4.3
Carfax TowerOxford runs on an odd rule: nothing new in the city centre may rise higher than 4 minutes walk4.5For most visitors the outside is enough. The tour runs only on Saturdays and Sundays, in English, for ages 11 and up, sells out in summer, and spends just half an hour inside the room. If you love libraries and architecture it is a rare treat; otherwise spend GBP 7 on the University Church tower and get the better view.
The square, yes: free and open, though the old cobbles are hard on pram wheels. The tower bars under-8s and has no room for pushchairs, and the interior tour is for ages 11 and over. With small children, allow a quarter of an hour in the square for photos and move on.