Oxford

The university library reopened in 1602 and takes a copy of every book published in Britain. Nothing leaves on loan, and the story runs that Charles I was refused; the old reading rooms are seen on a guided tour only, with cameras off.

A round reading room ringed by shelves on two levels, with underground stacks and a tunnel running from beneath it through to the Bodleian.

Its college chapel is also the cathedral of the Oxford diocese, the only place in England where the two are one. The stair up to the hall has a low fan vault, and the photograph queue backs down it. Late in the afternoon a service stops cathedral visits.

The university museum opened in 1683 and charges nothing. A cabinet of curiosities was its seed and the collection splits by floor, so coming down from the top runs as a timeline, while the rooftop restaurant keeps serving after the galleries close.

Dinosaur skeletons stand under a roof of iron and glass, and every column uses a different British stone. The 1860 debate on evolution happened in this building. Through the side door the Pitt Rivers is dark enough that torches are lent out.

Laid out in 1621 to grow medicinal plants, it is the oldest botanic garden in Britain. A low wall puts it hard against the Cherwell, and glasshouses divide the tropics from the desert. In winter the outdoor beds empty and only the glass is worth it.

The church came down and only the tower was left at the four-way crossing. 99 steps reach the top, the shaft is barely shoulder-wide so climbers and descenders have to yield, and no new building in the centre may rise above it.

The name misleads: it dates from 1379, and a stretch of the city wall still serves as its boundary. An old oak stands in the cloister, which is why film crews keep coming. The founding deed obliges the college to maintain that wall, and it still does.

If the pole sticks in the mud, let go of it. Boats hire from the landing under Magdalen Bridge and work up the Cherwell, and Oxford poles from inside the hull rather than the stern platform. Summer weekends can mean a two-hour wait.

Cattle and horses roam an unfenced meadow. The ground has never once been ploughed. When the river spills in winter the whole flat floods, and a hard freeze brings skaters onto it. The walk out from the centre takes twenty minutes.

A covered skyway linking the 2 quads of Hertford College, finished in 1914. People name it after the Venetian Bridge of Sighs, though it looks more like the Rialto. The best angle is from the mouth of New College Lane.

The university's ceremonial hall, an early design by Christopher Wren completed in 1669. Matriculation and degree ceremonies are still held in Latin. Climb past the painted ceiling into the cupola and spires surround you through its round windows.

An anthropology museum, opened in 1884, reached only through the back of the natural history museum. Objects are grouped by type, not region, so one case mixes instruments or boat models from several continents. The light is low and small torches are lent out.

Founded in 1458, and pronounced maudlin. Inside its walls lie a deer park and a riverside walk. At 6am on 1 May the choir sings high up on the Great Tower while crowds gather on the bridge below.

A roofed market set up behind the High Street in 1774. Butchers, cheesemongers and cake shops press along narrow aisles, handy for buying lunch. On Sundays fewer stalls open.

Baroque seat of the Dukes of Marlborough at Woodstock; UNESCO added it in 1987. Winston Churchill was born here in 1874 and that room is shown. The bus out of Oxford needs roughly 30 minutes; park and lake can be ticketed on their own.

A castle raised by the Normans in the 11th century, used as a jail until 1996. Guides in convict costume lead you up St George's Tower and down to the crypt. The old cell block is now a hotel that sleeps guests in the cells.