A city, up close

Oxford is built around its university — the oldest in the English-speaking world — and its skyline of spires and quads is instantly recognisable from the "dreaming spires" description coined by the poet Matthew Arnold. Christ Church, the Radcliffe Camera, and the Bodleian Library sit within a compact centre easy to walk in an afternoon, and the Cherwell and Thames both run through the city, with punting a local tradition on either river.

11 walking tours filmed here