A Tour Guide’s Perfect Summer Day in Oxford

Founded in the eighth century, Oxford has been home to the oldest English-language university for 800 years. These days, the once-sleepy Saxon settlement is a confluence of sandstone buildings and chain stores, Latinate ceremonies and comedy shows; “the city of dreaming spires” has featured in the magical world of Narnia, Alice’s Wonderland, and (most recently) in Willy Wonka’s cinematic universe.

I first moved to Oxford in 2021 as a Princeton Sachs scholar. The city has since become a version of home, where — in my work as a writer and occasional tour guide — I’ve witnessed the spectacular ways in which stories come alive in a place so rich with history and thought. Though winters bring the quiet joy of mulled wine and long nights, summer is the best time to visit a city where the water invites swimmers and boaters for a good day’s outing, and where the sun — so delightfully shared with friends in Oxford’s many beer gardens — sets long past 9 p.m.

For those in the mood for a particularly energized day out and about, here are my suggestions for what would comprise a perfect summer’s day in the city.

Start with coffee and a cheese-and-Marmite croissant

Start your day with a coffee and pastry at one of Oxford’s independent cafés. There’s the Missing Bean on Turl Street, the original location of the homegrown coffee roastery that serves single-origin coffees and freshly baked bread (including vegan and gluten-free); Common Ground on Little Clarendon Street, where the living room-like space is shared with a record shop and secondhand bookstore; and Market Tap in the Covered Market, which serves sourdough cinnamon rolls and cheese-and-Marmite croissants baked by Proof Social Bakehouse — a refurbished brewery-turned-bakery — in south Oxford. Looking for a more traditional breakfast? Try a full English at Brown’s Café in the Covered Market, an Oxford institution since 1924.

An inside view of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin.

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Then take a morning stroll through historic Oxford

A three-minute walk from Turl Street and the Covered Market is the blue-domed Radcliffe Camera, home to the university’s famed History Faculty Library. Beside it, you’ll find the all-graduate All Souls College, where fellows have had to endure one of the world’s most idiosyncratic entry examinations (with past questions including: “What is love?” and “Should we bring back woolly mammals from the dead?”); the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, where Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s 16th-century trial marked a climax in the Protestant Reformation; and the Old Bodleian Library, which dates to the early 17^th century and houses enough shelves to build a road to London and back. To continue your walk, go north toward “Oxford’s oldest monument,” Port Meadow, a stretch of woods and floodplain that has been a historic site for cattle grazing since the 11th century — and, more recently, for watching birds and native ponies flit and stroll.

A view of several stores inside of the Covered Market.

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Save room for the Sunday roast

On Sundays you can’t go wrong with a roast, dozens of iterations of which you can find in pubs and restaurants across the city. The Perch (located along the Thames near Port Meadow) is a popular spot for eating grilled meat and veggie Wellington al fresco, while the family-run Chester Arms, on the eastern end of the city, is known for its generous portions (and long Sunday queues). The Covered Market, which was founded as a butchers’ hub in 1774 and has since become one of the longest continually running markets in England, is generally a good place for cheap and cheerful cuisine any day of the week — of the many independent eateries there, my favorite is Oxford-born-and-made pizzeria Sartorelli’s, where the sourdough is named Sarah.

One exhibit inside the Museum of Natural History.

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Unwind with an afternoon at the museum(s)

Ward off the post-lunch snooze with a museum (or two). One of the best things about British museum culture is its accessibility: Most of the time, exhibits are free. Visit the Pitt Rivers, a museum of anthropology, and the connected Museum of Natural History, where the world’s only surviving dodo soft tissue is housed. (My favorite exhibit is the collection of trinkets used in magic rituals, on the first floor of the Pitt Rivers.) If you’re into art and artefacts, the university’s art and archaeology museum the Ashmolean is the place to peruse Chinese ceramics, Cretan urns, and a remarkable collection of Stradivari’s legendary violins. (Pro tip: Ashmolean’s café upstairs serves a stellar afternoon tea as well as a simpler cream tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam.)

Enjoy a dinnertime meal (if your stomach has room)

Oxford is most beautiful in the dewy light of golden hour — making al fresco dinners (weather permitting) a must-do. North of the city center, The Medley is a beautiful, outdoor-only beer garden that serves creative pizzas (think cavolo nero with fennel sausage and chili dressing). Down Oxford’s Cowley and Iffley Roads are loads of independent restaurants: consider seasonal meals with great wine at the gastropub The Magdalen Arms, delicious and compulsively shareable plates at Za’atar Bake, or a spicy Sichuanese dinner at Zhang Ji.

Live it up with a little night music

Walk from Cowley Road along Donnington Bridge to catch a gypsy jazz act at Isis Farmhouse (Sundays at 7 p.m.), where the pub’s owner, Noreen, whips out her fiddle and dances on stage. At the end of Botley Road travelers can find a reliable — and often intergenerational — night out, where students and older locals dance to live DJ sets at Tap Social’s The Taproom.

In the mood for a show? Check out what’s on at New Theater Oxford, known for showing West End classics like Mamma Mia! and Kinky Boots, and the Oxford Playhouse, where you can watch works by student directors. On Saturdays, Jericho Comedy puts on two lively sets in Common Ground with comedians visiting from all over the country. Though most pubs close around midnight on the weekends, the late-night scene often continues in nightclubs until dawn — you might see students dressed in formal hall attire walking about town on your way home.