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Oxford walking tour with TM
Christ Church College & Cathedral visit & lunch
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage visit
Shakespeare’s Birthplace visit
- Entrances are paid by voucher for all visits
- Check in advance for special events, closed areas of sites etc.
- Drop off and Pick Up on Beaumont Street.
- Especially check times of Christchurch College. Booking slot MUST be adhered to.
- There are lots of places for lunch in Oxford.
- If no theatre in Stratford, group will see a Shakespeare play in London.
- Be strict with the timing on this day – it is tight.
Opening days/times, entrance fees, telephone numbers etc. listed on Yellow Pages.
8:00 Depart London for Oxford. Take M40.
You can make a stop at the Oxford Services, for toilets and coffee. This is 20 minutes prior to Oxford city centre. This helps with walking tour. However, be mindful about your Christchurch booking time.
9:30 – 10:00 Arrive Oxford. Remember to allow time for group to get lunch.
Oxford
Set down and pick up in Beaumont St. and arrange time/place for departure. If you decide on the Martyrs Memorial impress on group that they will be making their own way back to the coach from Christchurch so to pay attention to route and find bearings, and they need to be on time. Otherwise make a meeting spot on Cornmarket/Carfax Tower and walk to the coach as a group.
Conduct your walking tour, starting at the Martyrs Memorial and finishing at Christchurch. Make sure they know the location of the meeting point.
Coaches May drop off round the corner on St Giles rather than Beaumont Street.
Oxford College Visit
Christchurch – in recent years this has become tricky to incorporate easily into Oxford walking tour. Despite what is outlined in this guide, depending on booked timeslot you may be required to go straight to Christchurch and then do walking tour afterwards.
Ticket office is the thatched barn on the opposite side of the Broad Walk in Christ Church Meadows. Groups are to be taken to the grassed area to the side of this building to collect multi-media guides.
The introduction on the audio guide can be listened to prior to entering through the archway of the New Buildings of Christchurch college. It is then numbered taking in the Dining Hall, Tom Quad, Peckwater Quad before doubling back to see the Cathedral and exit through the same archway you entered. At this point you return multi media guides.
Toilets – some are still open just off the Cloisters as you exit the cathedral, but the main ones now located in Ticket Office/Shop Barn.
Larger groups may be split over different entrance times. Annoyingly not always the subsequent time slot. You may need to remain outside to make sure people are not disorientated for the rest of their time in Oxford at the end of their visit.
New College – If the office decides Christchurch is not feasible as an option, New College has been used as an alternative. Less rigid than Christchurch, larger groups may still need to split into sub groups but that will only be a short wait for those standing on New College Lane. Chapel, Cloisters (Harry Potter filming location) Dining Hall and part of the old medieval wall of Oxford in the gardens of the college. There are toilets but not well signed, people should ask if necessary.
Oxford – Facilities/places of interest/shopping
Oxford Tourist Office, Broad Street, 01865 656430
www.oxfordcity.co.uk
Toilets At the back of the Covered Market on Cornmarket & within Christchurch College.
Cash-points & Bureau de change ATMs: Carfax, Cornmarket, Marks and Spencer on Queen Street.
Covered market (closed Sundays) places to eat, craft, souvenir shops, toilets at back of building.
St Mary’s Church: Worth climbing the tower for a small fee. 360 degree views of the dreaming spires. The café is also excellent.
13:00 Depart Oxford for Stratford. Vary the departure time depending on what time you arrive in Oxford. Good idea to travel to Stratford on the A44/A3400. The A44 will bring you through Woodstock.
14:00 Arrive Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Give approximately 45 minutes for the visit.
14:45 Depart for Stratford Town Centre and the Birthplace
15:00 Arrive Stratford
En Route to Stratford
Take A44 northbound out of Oxford. 8 miles on, you drive through Woodstock. (Royal Associations since Saxon times, a Royalist base during Civil War) and the entrance (the Triumphal Arch) to Blenheim Palace on the left-hand side. Architect – Sir John Vanburgh (the playwright). Built for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (look out for column). Gift from Queen Anne and a “grateful nation” after the Battle of Blenheim. The only Palace in England built specifically for non-Royal use. Landscape Park – Launcelot ‘Capability’ Brown.
There will be booked times on your voucher for both visits. The Cottage is more flexible in 2022 the Trust adhered very strictly to the timed entrance at the Birthplace. Ensure group is aware that having left the sites, they cannot re-enter.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (Shottery)
Set down in Cottage coach park. Arrange time for departure. Re-group at the coach. Walk group to entrance (Now located next to shop just by coach park) & into gardens. Keep group together (they often disperse into toilets inside the gardens or to take photos of the beautiful gardens). As soon as cottage guides are ready, you have to move. Shop at the Birthplace stocks exactly the same merchandise as at Cottage.
Shakespeare Centre and Birthplace
Set down in the Birthplace coach park (Windsor St.). Walk group to Centre and Birthplace (Henley St.). Warn group to take care when crossing Windsor Street. Pay with voucher in the centre. Centre is very strict on timings. Your group will only be admitted at their booked time. Bag check, toilets available small exhibition, then entry into gardens, the house and shop. Remind groups that if they exit the gift shop they can’t re-enter. At height of season can become crowded. Ensure group is aware of meeting points/times before they disperse for free time. A good place to meet after the visit is the Jester statue (top of Henley St.).
Holy Trinity Church
Itineraries now often include entry to Holy Trinity Church to see the burial place of William Shakespeare. There is a fee to enter the chancel of the church where the burials are located, and as of 2019 they have a card machine to process payments. Groups must be pre-booked and opening timings have been restricted. www.stratford-upon-avon.org church website for more details.
Theatre
Ensure groups are aware of meeting point after the play. Coaches can park for group collection on Waterside. Journey time back to London is approximately 2 hours. Take the motorway all the way. Check that you have the correct mobile number for your driver as frequently, you will have a different driver for your return journey to London and you will need to liaise about your pick-up point after the play.
Facilities/places of interest in Stratford
Tourist Information Office, Bridgefoot, 01789 264293.
www.visitstratforduponavon.co.uk
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk
Holy Trinity Church Trinity Street. Sanctuary doorknocker, lovely stained glass, Shakespeare buried in chancel (entrance fee to chancel). Weeping willows in graveyard, picturesque location by river.
Halls Croft Old Town Street. Home of Susanna Shakespeare (eldest daughter) and her doctor husband, John Hall. Fine exhibition of Elizabethan Medicine. (entrance fee)
New Place Chapel Street. Admission charge. New Place was Shakespeare’s last residence (closed in the winter).
Royal Shakespeare Theatre & Swan Theatre Stratford home of the RSC. Waterside. Backstage tours, excellent theatre bookshop and souvenirs. www.rsc.org.uk/theatretours
Gower Memorial Bancroft Basin by Bridgefoot. Statue (1888) of Shakespeare surrounded by 4 figures from his plays.
Grammar School Exhibit on Elizabethan School life. Admission Charge.
Shopping Good mix of High Street and Shakespeare souvenirs.
Bureau de Change – Post Office – Henley Street (opposite white Barclays Bank building)
Cash-points – All major High Street Banks.
