Six cameras where the toll booth used to be
The first thing Oxford asks of a driver is not a coin but a route. The four central filters, on Hythe Bridge Street, St Cross Road, St Clement's Street and Thames Street, run every day from 07:00 to 19:00, and you cannot buy your way past any of them. Get it wrong and the letter asks for £70.
A Hogwarts hall that was built in a studio, and a dome you mostly cannot enter
The classic disappointment is Christ Church's Great Hall as "the Hogwarts hall". Warner Bros. built a studio replica based on it; the dining hall itself was not used for filming. What was filmed is the Bodley Tower staircase just before it. Go for the college and the staircase, not for the film set.
The second is the Radcliffe Camera. It is a working reading room, and the only public way inside I found is the Bodleian's weekend walking tour, from £30. I would skip it and spend £7 on the University Church tower opposite, which looks straight down on the dome.
Breakfast at Brown's when the Covered Market opens
The Covered Market opened on 1 November 1774 and still has butchers in it. It opens at 08:00 Monday to Saturday, 10:00 on Sunday. Brown's Cafe serves a full English for under £10 according to the guides, plus Portuguese fish fritters at the counter. I go at eight, before the Park & Ride buses unload.
Trust the filter map, not the satnav
The filters are new and most satnav data is not. Open the council's filter page and route to the car park, not the college. The two outer filters, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, only run Monday to Saturday 07:00–09:00 and 15:00–18:00.
Pass one and the fine is £70, cut to £35 if paid within 21 days and raised to £105 after 28. For the first six months a first offence gets a warning letter instead. Residents and Blue Badge holders can get permits; the council's FAQ says short-term hire cars cannot apply, and it says nothing about foreign number plates. I would not test that silence.
Three free museums, two towers and a college staircase
The Bodleian's Divinity School costs £3 for a 15-minute look. To see Duke Humfrey's Library upstairs, book the 30-minute tour, from £12.50.
Christ Church wants you to book online. The multimedia guide is included and compulsory. Stand on the Bodley Tower staircase, the one that was filmed.
The Ashmolean is free and open daily 10:00–17:00. I do one floor and leave.
The Pitt Rivers Museum opens at noon on Mondays. Tuesday to Sunday it is 10:00–17:00, free. The Museum of Natural History next door is free daily.
Carfax Tower is 99 steps for £4. In October it closes at 16:00; children under five are not allowed up.
The University Church tower is 127 steps and £7, on the church's own page. Children under 8 cannot go up. This is the view down onto the Radcliffe Camera.
The Bridge of Sighs dates from 1914. The story that Hertford closed it to make overweight students take the stairs is false: using it saves climbing. You look at it from the lane.
A full English, a steak pie and a jar from the High Street
Start with the full English at Brown's. For lunch, Pieminister does steak and ale pie with mash and gravy, 11:00–15:00 according to the guides. The butchers here, M. Feller among them, sell Oxford sausages. Then a warm dark-chocolate cookie from Ben's Cookies, from £1.50 in the guides.
Take home Oxford marmalade. Sarah Cooper first made it in 1874 above the family shop at 84 High Street, where a blue plaque now hangs. The market stays open until 22:00 Thursday to Saturday.
Broad Street at Christmas, and a choir on a tower at six in the morning
The Christmas market fills Broad Street from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 31 December 2026, stalls until 20:00 Thursday to Saturday, closed Christmas Day. Its own organisers point drivers to the Park & Ride, and I agree: the £3 ticket covers five of you.
May Morning is 1 May every year: at 06:00 the Magdalen College Choir sings from Magdalen Tower to crowds on the High Street and Magdalen Bridge. The High Street, Longwall Street, Rose Lane, Merton Street and Queen's Lane close to all traffic, bicycles included, from 02:00 to 09:00. The council has not yet posted a 2027 page.
What's on
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 21 November – 31 December 2026 | Christmas market on Broad Street; stalls to 20:00 Thursday to Saturday, closed 25 December. The organisers recommend the Park & Ride |
| Until about late March 2027 | First six months of the traffic-filter trial (from 28 September 2026): a first offence gets a warning letter |
| 1 May 2027, 06:00 | May Morning: Magdalen College Choir sings from Magdalen Tower; High Street and nearby streets closed to all traffic 02:00–09:00 (2027 page not yet posted) |