We stayed in Oxford to get an early start for the Harry Potter walking tour at Oxford University the following morning. We bussed into town to avoid the congested narrow streets and tricky parking. The first thing we noticed when we got off the bus was the real life example of the classic ‘dad joke’ – there was literally a cemetery in the dead centre of town! 

We visited the original Blackwell’s Books, a family business which was established on Broad Street in 1846 and now has 30 stores operating across the UK. It held the world record for a number of years for having the largest room in the world that sold books. It was very large indeed!

Oxford was first established in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon period as a river crossing for oxens (thus the name - a ford for oxen). It was interesting wandering through the ancient city streets full of amazing Gothic architecture on our way to and from the tour. 

Now a city of 170,000, Oxford has centred around its university since the 12th century. There are dozens of university colleges, campuses and residences dotted across the city.

As you can see from the third photo, cycling is super popular as the central area is relatively flat with lots of narrow streets. In fact Oxford has the second highest rate of people who cycle to work in the UK after Cambridge.