Ominous Oxford - Oxford's Best Ghost Walk!!

We had an absolutely brilliant tour with our guide Joel. We really lucked out as we were the only people in our tour. Joel was a really enthusiastic guide, very knowledgeable and tailored our tour so that it wasn’t too scary for my daughter and nephew. We were regaled with gruesome tales of Oxford’s ghosts, snippets of history and inspiration behind some of the city’s famous authors. The length of the tour was about right, the kids were flagging a bit at the end, but the time and volume of stories represented good value for money. We’ll definitely be back for the Odd Oxford tour and plan to do the Norwich tour too

A ghost tour of the beautiful, misty and atmospheric city of Oxford on Halloween should have been a fun, spooky experience but it was a huge dissapointment. This should be renamed to the worst ghost tour of Oxford. Not only were the stories themselves tame, dull and lacking in substance but the story telling was plain dreadful. Boring and meandering with inane tangents. It was so bad, we had to laugh about it in the pub afterwards.

Although our guide (I don't think he told us his name) had memorised a lot of detail I'm afraid the tour didn't have the ghostly feel we were after especially on the evening before Halloween. It 's definitely not Oxford's best ghost walk as it's billed to be. It was really a historical tour full of facts after facts that were impossible to remember and only a few short stories about ghosts thrown in ( ....almost all tall, thin and headless). I would say it's not suitable for children at all (lots of words that they won't have heard of or can't relate to and no exciting engagement). The tour also ended at the History of Science Museum but according to the itinerary it should have taken us to Dead Mans Walk, Blue Boar Lane and also Christchurch. I think we were short-changed here. It all felt quite awkward as the guide had obviously learnt a lot of information, but he was reciting it off rote and so it was hard to feel engaged. He was very polite and gentlemanly though and perhaps with time will hone the spook factor.

A brilliantly bonkers evening. We had a fun and entertaining evening with Joel. It was a wonderful way to see and learn about Oxford and its place in history.

Not as spooky as I expected but my 12yo loved it

The meeting place could be a little clearer, however thankfully our tour guide looked the part (long coat, swanky hat and a notebook) so we knew we were in the right place. Tobias came over and introduced himself to us all immediately; we started a little earlier as it was just the 4 of us on this particular tour, and we had a fantastic time. He was extremely knowledgeable, polite and interesting; he can spin a good yarn. It was a fabulous mix of spookiness and history, perfect for our little group! Would definitely recommend and look forward to hopefully returning to Oxford ASAP and doing some of the other things he recommended to us. Thanks Tobias!

Noel was a great guide . He made the evening brilliant

Fantastic experience, Tobias was an absolute gentleman with incredible knowledge and thoroughly entertaining. Lots of interesting Oxford history, would recommend to all.

We had a magical night among Oxford’s ominous spires with our guide, Joel, the master of historical detail and spooky lore.

Joel was a brilliant guide delivering spooky tales with the perfect blend of humour and fear.

Amusing, informative, appropriately attired, and hugely knowledgeable, our guide Joel has the inside story on every Oxford ghost.

I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle amble through the moonlit streets of Oxford. A captivating spooky tour filled with local history and clever storytelling. Thank you Joel for an entertaining night!

Fabulous way to spend an evening. Our guide was very entertaining, full of energy and enthusiasm and made for a great spooky story telling evening. Highly recommend it.

My brother and I did a tour with Joel in August. My dog was able to join us too. We had the best time. Joel was so personable and friendly. The stories and legends were really interesting and fun. Joel also loved my dog and made a lovely fuss of him. Definitely worth it. Would go again!

Joel was an informative and funny guide, and we’ve came away with some great stories about Oxford’s past.

I want to start by recognizing the excellent customer service. The day before our tour, I needed to change our reservation, and the staff responded quickly, accommodated the change without any fee, and were friendly and helpful throughout. That experience deserved the five-star rating I gave them in a separate survey, and is the only reason I gave the overall tour 2 stars rather than 1. Unfortunately, the Ominous Oxford Ghost Tour itself was a very different experience. I recognize that a tour can vary depending on the guide, so I'm reviewing the experience we had rather than making assumptions about every tour. Our tour felt much more like an Oxford history and movie tour than a ghost tour. Many of the ghost stories advertised in the tour description were never mentioned. The few that were included felt like an afterthought—often just a quick comment that a location was haunted before moving on. There was very little storytelling, suspense, or atmosphere. Any questions I asked to engage our guide in further conversation about the stories were brushed off, leaving me to believe she didn't really know the stories at all. One stop near Christ Church, which seemed like it should have been a highlight, amounted to little more than pointing out the location with no mention at all of a ghost. Another ghost story was so brief and confusing that it was difficult to follow. The tour also ended about 10 minutes early. When we first met our guide, we had high hopes for an engaging ghost tour. Instead, it felt like a history/film tour with occasional references to ghosts. I genuinely hope this was an isolated experience, because the company's customer service was excellent. However, based on the tour we received, I can't recommend it to anyone looking for a memorable ghost tour.

Joel was very enthusiastic about each site and ghost story in the tour. I believe he provided a good amount of history to bring context to the ghost stories. His enjoyment for the stories was highly contagious and he made the tour a very pleasant experience for us.

Joel— was an exceptional tour guide. I had a really good time learning about the history along with the ghost stories.

The Tour with Lizzie was just amazing!

Joel was a fantastic host with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Oxford built from many years of living here. The ghost stories were fun but it was the added info that made it special. A great way for explore the town.

We really enjoyed our tour with Joel! He made us (couple and one dog) feel very welcome and at ease, was super knowledgeable, had a good sense of humor and was very dogfriendly. Was it spooky? Mid July in full daylight, not so much. But I imagine this tour in the dark of winter and I can definitely see it working. The duration and distance were perfect for us, we could ask all the questions we wanted . Recommend!

Entertaining and knowledgeable. Friendly guide. Duration about right.

Joel gave us a great tour. Lots of interesting and funny stories. Mum has slight mobility issues and he slowed it down and made sure she could keep up. She’s also a bit a deaf and heard every word 😂 We recommend you “tick buckets” for this tour. Thanks Joel 5⭐️

Joel was amazing! He was really knowledgeable and passionate.

Great experience, very immersive, very expressive.

Joel was great. Fountain of knowledge. Good jokes. High energy. We had a great time. Lots of fun.. tailored to our needs. Highly recommend.

Very entertaining ghost storys with fantastic story telling

Had a fantastic Tour of Oxford with Joel l, his knowledge and enthusiasm really make this trip! We are local to the area but still learnt so much and would definitely recommend.

I took my two sons- aged 10 and 13- on this tour, and we didn't really know what to expect, but it surpassed our expectations. We've lived in Oxfordshire for years, but discovered new parts of Oxford that we'd never known about before. Our tour guide- Joel- was fantastic: entertaining, interesting, and really easy to talk to. Luckily, we were the only ones on this particular tour time, so we had him to ourselves, and got to ask lots of questions. He tailored the tour to their history interests too. My sons haven't stopped talking about it since!