Tours Of Oxford Private Walking Tours For The Discerning Traveler

Two hours walking the City with our guide Chris went by in a flash. There is so much history and culture to learn about that we could have done several more hours . Chris is very engaging and knowledgeable about everything Oxford!

Chris was fantastic. This is definitely an interactive tour that sparks interesting conversation. His knowledge of history and Oxford is excellent. He offers great insight and special tidbits. Forget the "touristy" tours and spend time learning about Britain and Oxford. Don't miss this!!

If you are a traveler and not a tourist, this is the experience for you! Chris Peters is a brilliant historian whose personal insights and insider access to Trinity and Balliol was a once in a lifetime experience. It’s obvious the other tour guides admire his vast knowledge of town and gown. One student guide passed us and quipped “He knows his onions.” Highly recommend.

Chris was fantastic - we absolutely recommend his services for people interested in exploring Oxford, especially the University scene. My wife and I booked a two hour tour with him today. He was knowledgable, engaging, he adjusted his delivery to our interests, and he was generous with his time. In addition to the overview of the city, its architecture and its history, he gave us a wonderful deep dive into one of the colleges; he arranged this when it was otherwise not open to visitors, so it was a very special experience. He has a long-standing and active relationship with the University, so his insights were based on real experiences. Consistent with his tag line, he treated us as discerning travelers, and we appreciated it. Also, I recommend you book him directly to cut out the middleman.

The private tour allowed us to tailor our visit to the things that meant the most to our Oxford enthusiast. It was an excellent experience. Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Chris was knowledgeable, personable, and open to requests. He knows Oxford well and was able to explain the college system to us. He took us to some lovely places and gave us the history and told us about the architecture. We spent a couple of interesting and enjoyable hours in his company.

We were in the safe hands of a very knowledgeable local, Chris, who curated a very enjoyable afternoon tour. Our only complaint, it ended far too quickly.

Chris is a true gentleman and scholar. We greatly enjoyed our tour with him. He was extremely knowledgeable with extraordinary breadth and depth in his presentation which was highly interactive and engaging. We are looking forward to meeting him again.

Guide did not arrive. Nothing else to say.

Tom far exceeded our expectations with this tour! He was so knowledgeable about all of the things that interested us - the history of the area and the University, the Inklings members, and the architecture. He was a personable and experienced guide and we had such a fun time with him. This tour was certainly one of the highlights of our visit to England!

Great behind the scene of some wonderful Oxford colleges. Dan was a great story teller and we learned a lot of new facts about Oxford.

Tom was personal and high-calibre from our first interaction. From the advance planning to the actual day we arrived on the train from London, he went above and beyond in multiple ways to make our three-person Inklings & Wesley Tour a remarkable experience. I shopped around a fair bit before I found Tom as one of the tour guide team members. He was incredibly knowledgeable and made every stop fun and enjoyable. We spent several hours with him but it felt like barely a few minutes. We felt so fortunate - like we had hit the Oxford Tour guide jackpot!

Our guide Chris was both extremely knowledgeable and great fun to be around. We highly recommend his tour!

Chris kept our diverse multi-age party of 11 people enthralled during the whole 2 hours. He has a wealth of fascinating historical and local knowledge and anecdotes! Thank you!

Chris was wonderful! Funny, personable, knowledgeable and a wonderful story teller. Do not pass up a chance to tour Oxford with him. Highly recommend , 5 stars for sure!

Chris’s tour of Oxford was absolutely fantastic! From the moment we met him, his passion for the city’s history and culture shone through. He brought the university’s stories to life with fascinating insights, witty anecdotes, and just the right balance of humor, history and detail. We saw all the highlights — from the colleges and hidden courtyards to literary landmarks — and Chris made each stop feel special. He tailored the tour perfectly to our group’s interests and answered every question with enthusiasm. If you’re visiting Oxford, do not miss this tour! Chris is knowledgeable, engaging, and clearly loves what he does. It’s the best way to experience the magic of Oxford and will definitely book him again the next time we visit.

Thanks to Chris for giving us a wonderful tour of Oxford through a fascinating historical lens. He is both knowledgeable and engaging, bringing the colleges, architecture, and chapel we visited vividly to life with true stories and fun facts. My daughter, who loves English literature, thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him — his insights ranged from classic works to contemporary novels. Even my son, a typical IT enthusiast, was captivated by the stories behind Oxford’s magnificent scenery, especially those about student life and the thrilling boat races between colleges. This tour was worth every penny — highly recommended!

We (me, my wife, and my daughter) had a lovely tour and afternoon with Chris. Starting off with the communication before our tour, Chris was proactive to reach out and provide general information, and was so kind to exchange messages with me about our particular interests and other things to do (Blackwells!) before our tour. We were particularly interested in the college chapels and Evelyn Waugh - and we spent the afternoon seeing a Oxford and absolutely incredible chapels, learning the history of Oxford from Chris, and having great conversations about English literature. Everything about Chris and this tour felt personalized and Chris is just a great guy ... easy to talk to, learn from, and laugh with. We will definitely look him up when we return to Oxford. Thank you, Chris, for a memorable experience.

We had a most enjoyable and informative time with our guide Chris. I would highly recommend Chris. He explained our tour excellently to our small group of four women.He is very knowledgeable about the Oxford colleges.

Our guide Chris was fantastic! Very knowledgeable about Oxfords buildings, history, and lots of fun facts. I highly recommend this tour and try to get Chris for your guide.

Memorable Oxford Tour with Chris P We visited Oxford for the first time at the end of June and chose Chris’s tour based on his excellent reviews. We were looking for something more personal than a large group tour — ideally led by a seasoned local and Oxford alum — and Chris delivered exactly what we hoped for. From the start, his humor, deep knowledge of history, and easygoing nature made the tour both engaging and memorable. He took us through Oxford’s highlights and hidden corners, weaving in stories and insights that brought the city to life (ask about the ghost stories!). It never felt rushed or scripted, just thoughtful and fun. Looking back, our time in Oxford will always be connected to the experience Chris created for us. We highly recommend his tour to anyone wanting a more intimate and authentic way to discover the city. PS - And Chris, if you’re reading this, apologies for the late review! We’re the New Yorkers who visited on June 30th. Thank you again for sharing your time and perspective with us. You're the best!

Excellent private tour of Oxford. Got to visit Essex college and see what it's like to be a student. Chris was highly knowledgeable, engaging, and fun. Highly recommended!

Chris was a wonderful guide. He was friendly, thoroughly versed in Oxford history and was interested in making our tour in line with our interests. Chris seems to know many people on the Oxford campus and, as a result, gaining admittance to various colleges and buildings was a breeze even when nominally closed to the general public. Booking was easy and confirmation texts arrived in advance including helpful information on other things to do as well as restaurant recommendations in the area. When we return to Oxford, we plan on booking another tour with Chris since, even though our tour ran well over the allotted time, we know that there is much more to see which we will only do with Chris. A total five star experience!

What made this tour so special was our guide Tom McDonnell. Informative naturally, but funny, interactive and just brimming with personality. What a great time we had! Tom made our visit to Oxford so enjoyable!

Chris gave our family an excellent, informative tour of Blackwell’s, Trinity College, All Souls, and St. Mary’s. His storytelling, humor, and deep knowledge of Oxford history captivated us all. We’d highly recommend him for your tour!

Chris was able to take the four of us deep into medieval and academic Oxford history. We could not ask for more! What a great experience. Thank you

What a tour!! I booked this as a present for my grandfather, aiming for a personalised, small group, in depth tour- and Chris utterly delivered! I can only describe the experience as like reading the most engaging history book you can find. Chris has an excellent depth of knowledge across the history of Oxford- from the Bronze age to current day- covering religion, college life, town and gown relations, architecture, and artwork. I cannot reccomend this tour enough, it really feels like a tour before mass tourism.

A great couple of hours with Chris visiting two colleges and university libraries with a huge amount of historical and architectural information delivered in a very relaxed manner. Would highly recommend whether you are familiar with Oxford (as we are) or new to it (as our friends were).

Tom was excellent in all respects. So knowledgeable yet attentive to the various ages of our kids. Felt like an ‘insider’s’ tour of Oxford.

Chris is an absolute gem of a guide. Having attended Oxford himself, along with his impressive background in religion, architecture and British history it was an unforgettable experience. Equal parts personal, humor and historical we were all mesmerized by Chris stories and highlights that I guarantee you won’t get on any other tour. We traveled with our 11 and 13 year old sons and they were equally engaged as Chris made the experience relevant to us as much as them. He was also kind enough to point out places to have lunch before we arrived and other sites to see in Oxford. A treasured experience we will never forget. Thank you Chris!

Chris Peters met us as scheduled at the front entrance to an Oxford landmark. Our tour was thorough but unhurried. We had been to the city briefly many years before, and yet we saw both the town and the University with new eyes. Chris attended Oxford and decided to become a guide for folks like us after his retirement. This meant that he knew a lot of things in depth. Further, as an Alumnus, he was able to show us a few things that would not have been open to us otherwise. Chris was a fountain of information, including many quirky, offbeat or even bizarre bits of wisdom. These included the admission and operation of All Souls College, which has no students (!), or a bookstore what has 5km of shelves in a single underground room, which is not all directly underneath the store. From architecture to theology, from ingredients in the mix of factors that created the Renaissance to Harry Potter film locations, two Yanks got an education at Oxford! (And the tuition was quite reasonable, given Oxford's normal rates...) One piece of advice: You will learn much more if you don't just listen. Listen, discuss, and ask questions. Chris is up for it...

We met Chris on what is probably one of the coldest days of 2024 and we asked for a tour with insight into how the university came to be how it is today. Chris was fantastic; engaging and entertaining in equal measure and, despite the very cold temperatures, we thoroughly enjoyed our time with him, learning loads in the process. Even my husband, who is an alumnus himself, learnt plenty of interesting facts and information. Chris managed to explain the history of how the colleges formed, interweaving history, religion, culture and architecture - fascinating! Would highly recommend if you are in Oxford.

Chris Peters led our group of 6 friends on an amazing 2+ hour tour of Oxford. Chris has an incredible knowledge of and passion for the the art, the architecture and the history of Oxford. He set the pace and focus of our tour based on what we were most interested in seeing and learning. Chris was extremely engaging throughout the tour, sharing stories and his intimate knowledge of university. The combination of Chris' humor, knowledge, and passion really made the history feel so accessible. Our only disappointment was that we didn't have more time! If you want to get the most out of your tour of Oxford, you need Chris Peters as your guide! Thank you, Chris!

Chris was an excellent guide. He was very knowledgeable, welcomed questions and didn't get lost in too much detail. He brought to life the history of the colleges at Oxford and shared some of the broader history of Oxford.

We loved meeting Chris and exploring the city with him as our guide. We traveled from Mexico to discover more about the english culture and Oxford was a surprise. I enjoyed hearing about the bookstores, Oxford University and somo of the colleges, the most famous writers, including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien. Another thing that I loved was that Chris shared with us his personal experience in Oxford, studiying and living there. He is a jem! We had the best time. Thank you Chris!! Hope we met again.

My 18 year old daughter and I took the walking city tour in the morning and then the private tour with Chris Peters in the afternoon. The first tour gave us a broad overview of Oxford university. But Chris was able to take us inside one of the Colleges, and answered all the historical and cultural questions going back to the Saxons, Anglican - Catholic split, and the Reformation. Chris was able to also elaborate on the lasting influence of the Oxford university, and he showed us some very special sites.

Excellent and interesting tour with pleasant and knowledgeable guide who showed us many things we would have otherwise missed. The history and anecdotes were fantastic and my group of 8 really enjoyed! the afternoon. Thanks!

We are two couples in our 60s who wanted a proper historical tour of Oxford (without Harry Potter stuff!) Chris was a mine of information. He explained the origins of Oxford and why it became the leading centre of teaching. We adored our trip around the Bodleian, Trinity and New College - without a guide we would never have found all the treasures. We would all recommend Chris highly!

A wonderful tour! Chris was so knowledgeable and interesting. He bespoked the whole experience for us and made it great fun. Thank you, Chris- highly recommended!

Chris was a wonderful guide for 8 of us. He took us to parts of Oxford uni that we would never have found (or been allowed entry to) and was a very knowledgeable on the history of all aspects of Oxford. Certainly not your run-of-the-mill guide with a completely defined route and narrative. Tailored our tour to our interestes. Definetely Recommend!

Just returned from UK and Tour of Oxford was one of the highlights of our trip. Tour guide was so very knowledgeable and having lived in Oxford as part of the University could give some great insight into the school. He wanted to know what we were interested in and tailored the tour accordingly. He was on no time schedule and really gave us a wonderful tour of so much of the university. Highly recommend this tour to get a feeling of what Oxford is all about.

Chris was an amazing tour guide. His knowledge of history and the university was incredible, and his personality and passion shine through in every tour he gives. My wife and I only had a few hours in Oxford, and we didn’t realize we were traveling there right in the middle of hundreds of graduation ceremonies and parties. Even though it was a very busy day and many locations were closed, it didn’t phase Chris. He still gave us a wonderful tour and found additional stops where we could go inside and look around, allowing us to make the most of our time. While we spent 2 hours with him, I think we could have spent days chatting about British history and seeing the sites. He gave us great recommendations for dining and shopping while we were in town as well. This is a 5 star tour company, and Chris was a 5 star guide!

Interesting, pleasant and competent guide who showed us interesting things. Much better than following a group.

Overall, a good walking tour of beautiful Oxford University. The guide was knowledgeable and likable enough. However, The guide emailed me the day before and told me that there would be an additional entry cost. It wasn’t about the cost, it was more about being asked to pay additional dollars and we really we really didn’t get Togo into the chapel because the boy’s choir was practicing and the chapel was about to close!? It was very odd and we were all turned off….

Chris was a super guide - good fun, full of information, brought the beauty of Oxford alive with background and context. Thoroughly recommend.

Chris took my husband and I on a walk around some of the very interesting University spots in Oxford. His knowledge was wide and varied and obviously he had personal experience of being a student which made the tour so interesting. Lots of stories and details you would miss out on if you simply walked about yourselves. We had some laughs along the way and saw inside buildings we never would have entered otherwise. Definitely worth doing and highly recommended

Chris Peters is a gem full of knowledge. He kept my teen sons entertained for hours with his wealth of historical data, personal experiences, entertaining stories and anecdotal quips. Chris brought Oxford to life for our family.... a highlight of England for us! If you are going to Oxford, hire this treasure of a guide to answer all your questions and highlight all this area has to offer.

Chris was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, witty, flexible, and pitched a really interesting tour at a perfect level.

The guide who accompanied us was very knowledgeable and was good fun. The tour helped us to decide where else we wanted to visit. The guide also pointed out two great pubs which both had a lovely 'pub' feel and atmosphere.