How to Take a Self-Guided Harry Potter Tour of Oxford: A Step-by-Step Guide

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When you picture Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you’re probably picturing Oxford University. It’s true that many of the movies were filmed at Oxford!

This medieval city and university are home to stunning architecture, a deep history, and beauty around every corner. Naturally, it was a fitting place to build the world of Harry Potter.

It might seem overwhelming to tackle the university specifically for magical filming locations, but with this step-by-step guide I’ll share exactly how to take a self-guided Harry Potter tour of Oxford. I’m dishing how to find the locations, how much it costs, how to do it in just one day, and more tips so you can have a magical time, not a stressful one.

Map of Your Magical Day at Oxford

How to get to Oxford University

If you’re driving by car, from London you’ll take the M40. The most important part when driving in to Oxford is that parking is scarce and instead, it’s better to use their Park and Ride system.

These are parking lots (called car parks) that are on the outskirts of the city center. From there, they have buses that you can take into town.

I parked at the Thornhill Park and Ride and took bus 400 from stop B to Queens Lane. The Park and Ride system in Oxford costs £4 for the parking and bus (including the return trip) for 1 person and £5 for two people.

Keep your ticket so you can show it to the driver for your return trip to be included.

It takes about 2 hours to get to Oxford from London, depending where in the London you start your drive from.

You can also get there by public transit, specifically the Oxford tube that takes you to the Thornhill Park and Ride. The journey takes about an hour and 45 minutes and it’s actually a coach, not a subway. There’s WiFi, air conditioning, and charging ports available on board.

It costs £14.50 for adults one way with a student, senior, young adult, and child discount available.

Finally, you can get to Oxford on a guided tour that includes transportation from London and may even include a trip to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. I’ll share more options as we go!

Overwhelmed? Consider joining my wizard-themed group trip to England in May 2027! We have private transport and a full day to spend at Oxford.

Orientation of Oxford University

Before I dive into the details of how to tackle a Harry Potter day in Oxford, it’s important to get oriented with the university.

First, Oxford University is split into various colleges and entities. Kind of like in America, we have the College of Agriculture or School of Business. Oxford University is the same.

To see the Harry Potter sites, you’ll need to visit three of these entities – New College, Bodleian Libraries, and Christ Church.

The first two are within walking distance of each other and you certainly can walk to Christ Church, but there are also buses in the city that can take you closer if you want/need.

Because each of these three spots is separate from the next, they also each have their own admission prices, availability, and visiting schemes. I’ll cover each in detail, so hang in there!

Should You Take a Guided Tour

While it may seem overwhelming to plan this day yourself, my hope is that with this guide, it will feel totally doable and help you avoid feeling like you need to pay for a guided tour.

Overall, I don’t think a guided tour is worth it and here’s why.

There aren’t that many Harry Potter focused guided tours to choose from. While I definitely see one option, it doesn’t included admission to all the colleges so it seems like extra unnecessary money to me.

However, if you love trivia and want to learn more in a deep dive, this may be a good option. Just know you’ll have to pay extra for admissions and it may be difficult to do it all in a single day.

The other reason is that many guided tours of Oxford are actually full day trips from London that include more than just Oxford. Now, I’m a big fan of the surrounding area – the Cotswolds especially – but if you’re tight on time and set on seeing the Harry Potter filming locations, I really don’t think these combo trips will be right for you.

There are two exceptions! First is the combination tour of Oxford and the Warner Brothers Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter. This tour gives you time in Oxford so you can see the filming locations you want and you’ll get to experience the Harry Potter Studio Tour, which is a must for any Potterhead traveling the UK!

It comes with transportation, the admission to the studio tour, a short guided tour of Oxford, and free time in Oxford to explore on your own. A good value in my opinion.

The other is my fully Harry Potter inspired group trip to England! We spend an entire day in Oxford and it’s all planned for you so you don’t need to worry about all these details. I’ve planned it myself and I’m bringing you with me! Our next dates are May 2027.

A Self-Guided Harry Potter Tour of Oxford

Despite all that, I really think a self-guided Harry Potter tour of Oxford University is best. It’s doable in one day and isn’t too much planning! I promise!

I’m writing all the locations in the order that I suggest you visit them. That’s due to opening times, crowd levels, and convenience of the locations relative to each other. You can absolutely switch this around as you need, especially if there are closures or tickets have sold out at Christ Church for certain times.

New College

Let’s start at New College. This is likely the quickest spot to see as there is really only one true filming location within New College.

But first, to find New College, you’ll want to navigate to New College Lane. Once you find that road, you’ll walk to the end where you’ll run into this nondescript brown door. That’s the entrance!

You can’t get tickets ahead of time and instead pay an £8 admission upon arrival. They only take contactless form of payment and there’s concession (discounted) prices for students. 

Before you walk away from the entry area, be sure to check the signs on the ground leaning on the walls to learn more about Harry Potter filming at New College.

Draco Tree

The first and most important filming location to see is what’s colloquially called the Draco Tree. This is the iconic tree where Draco Malfoy is turned into a ferret by Mad Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire.

The quad that it sits in was also used for a few scenes in Goblet of Fire where the students make fun of Harry with Potter Stinks pins and he tells Cedric about dragons being the first task. It’s also where Harry and Ron run into each other while they’re going through their moody little spat.

To find this quad and the tree, when you enter New College, you’ll want to take a left hand U-turn to a corridor behind you and to the left.

Walk through there and you’ll be in the corridors surrounding the quad. It’s impossible to miss the tree because it’s the only tree there!

Mini Great Hall

Technically this next spot was not a filming location, but it did partially inspire the Hogwarts Great Hall as it matches the one in Christ Church (the true inspiration).

To find it you’ll walk out of the Draco Tree corridor entrance where you entered from and walk directly across the quad to the left corner. There’s a staircase going up and at the top you’ll see this mini Great Hall.

Bodleian Library

The next stop on your self-guided tour is the Bodleian Library, which is home to two locations – the Divinity School and Duke Humphrey’s Library.

To get there, you’ll want to navigate to a stone quad on Catte Street. It’s on the same side of the street as the massive Radcliffe Camera building (the dome) and between that and New College Lane.

Tickets for the Bodleian Libraries go on sale a month in advance and you definitely want advanced tickets. To see the Harry Potter sites, you only need a 30 minute guided tour, although they have longer tours if you’re interested.

If you’re visiting in peak season (June through August), I recommend getting them as soon as possible. Outside of summer, you can probably get your tickets 2 weeks in advance and be fine.

The 30 minute tour is £10 per person and covers the Divinity School admission, so you don’t need to purchase that separately.

Divinity School

The Divinity School is where the infirmary was for the first two films. It was also the space where Professor McGonagall teaches the students to dance ahead of the Yule Ball.

To get there, when you’re in the Bodleian Libraries quad, it’s just through the center back door. You’ll need to show your tickets to enter.

If you’re only visiting the Divinity School, you can purchase your admission there and standalone admission is £2.50 per person. 

Duke Humphrey’s Library

To see Duke Humphrey’s Library within the Bodleian Libraries, you’ll need to access it via that guided tour I mentioned above.

This was the Hogwarts Library in the first film especially. It was the Restricted Section and where Hermione and the boys try to read up on Nicholas Flamel.

It’s truly a beautiful library and so interesting! On the tour, you can learn about how the historic books were chained so they weren’t removed from the library and how any open flames were banned. So yepp, that lantern Harry carries in Sorcerer’s Stone is a fake!

Christ Church

The final big hitter location is Christ Church. You’ll see the entry stairs that the first years wait on before getting sorted, plus the inspiration behind the Great Hall, and a corridor used in filming. 

Before you can see everything, you first need advanced tickets. These tickets are made available the Friday before the following week and they sell out pretty quickly, particularly in peak season (summer).

I recommend setting some alarms so you don’t miss it because when they sell out, there’s really no way to get access to Christ Church without a ticket.

Admission costs vary by season and are at maximum £22 for adults. They do have student prices, but they 100% ask for your ID and if you don’t have it, they’ll charge you the difference. Ask how I know 🥴.

Once you arrive, you’ll need to go to the Visitors Centre on Broad Walk first thing to trade in your eVoucher for an included audio guide, which acts as your indicator to staff that you have a ticket for entry.

You can proceed to the Meadow Building across the way to enter Christ Church.

The audio guide will take you through the college explaining the Harry Potter sites a bit and all the other interesting tidbits like the Alice in Wonderland window in the Great Hall and the No Peel door.

The “Hogwarts stairs” are one of the first few stops, so you’ll find it pretty easily. The stairs are the most popular spot on the tour, so be patient for photos and be respectful of other people’s visits.

The Great Hall is also here. While this Great Hall was really just the inspiration for the Hogwarts one, it will take your breath away with how similar it is! To find it, you just go up the Hogwarts steps to the top and it’s straight through.

Finally, as you proceed through the tour, you’ll come across a corridor that was also a filming location. It was used when Harry learns that his father was a seeker, too. Its close to the exit, so keep an eye out. It’s not mentioned on the audio guide, so it’s a bit easy to miss.

That’s everything! Can you believe it? 

How Much it Costs to See Everything

You can save if you only see the Divinity School instead of the full Bodleian Libraries tour and if you can capitalize on Concession prices if you’re a student.

Where to have lunch in Oxford: Turf Tavern

I skipped lunch, I know…who is she? But not really, I just didn’t want to break up the flowwww. For lunch, I recommend Turf Tavern.

Not only is it a beautiful space with little alcoves to get away from the crowds, but it’s where the Harry Potter cast would frequently hang out when they weren’t filming in Oxford.

Kind of a two-for-one special.

I had a burger and fries and while it was expensive, all food in the UK is expensive. It was a solid burger! The ambience really completed the meal.

Can you see all the Harry Potter Oxford sites in one day?

Yes, 100% you can do this all in one day. In fact, if you’re on a bigger UK road trip, I wouldn’t recommend spending more than a day in Oxford. 

Not because there’s nothing else to see – on the contrary, Oxford is a deeply historically significant town and university – but, there’s just so much to see in England and the UK as a whole!

Staying the Night at Oxford

Did you know you can spend the night in Oxford? Depending on the time of year, Oxford opens its doors to visitors and you can spend the night there.

The best place to do so would be at Christ Church so you can see the Hogwarts steps at night and without the crowds. Plus, you can have breakfast in the Great Hall!

You’d have to visit during the appropriate time, which are school holidays in March/April, July, August, and September.

Rooms sell quickly and availability can change rapidly, so check back often. Spring dates become available around November and summer dates in January.

You can book your stay here.

Please note that only those 18 and older can stay there.

Can I dress up?

Yes! I wore a full Hogwarts student uniform complete with robes and I wasn’t the only one! Okay, I saw one other person, but hey, it still counts.

Live up your wizarding world dreams and go big!

I actually really loved how much the staff would start conversations with me about Harry Potter because of my outfit. We talked about the filming sites and Hogwarts houses a lot.

Be aware that sometimes strangers may try to take your picture without your consent. I didn’t have this problem here (as far as I know), but I have friends who did experience this.

Closures and Hour Changes

Before you visit, a quick word to the wise. Oxford University is an operating school…duh, Alanna (you say). So that means sometimes there are closures to the public for various holidays, events, and what have you.

Be sure to check closures before planning your trip so you don’t miss anything you may want to see.

• New College closures
• Bodleian Libraries closures
• Christ Church closures

When to visit

I visited in mid-June and while I lucked out with the closures, I would have LOVED to spend the night at Oxford to see the sites at night. Alas, the university rooms were still occupied by students, so I couldn’t.

We also just missed a wedding that happened the day before at the Divinity School, so it would have been closed had we visited the previous day.

Considering crowd levels and closures, I would try to visit during their spring break in March or April, or September to be able to spend the night.

Overwhelmed? Did you know I host group trips to Potter-themed filming locations? Let the Ravenclaw plan it all out for you. Just show up! Browse our trips here.

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