Sightseeing | International Round Table Symposiums

Sightseeing in Oxford

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum.

Christ Church Dining Hall

The Hall. It shows the Renaissance magnificence of Cardinal College and suggests the scale it might have reached had it not been for Wolsey’s fall. Until the 1870s this was the largest Hall in Oxford, but then the newly-founded Keble College ensured that their hall was slightly larger (legend has it by only a single metre). It was this Renaissance splendour that attracted the makers of the Harry Potter films to build a replica of the Hall in their London studios

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.

New College Evensong

The New College chapel is a place of sanctuary, of ancient words and music, of peace and contemplation. The traditional Anglican service of Evensong is at the heart of the chapel’s life. May you find peace and light in this place where prayer has been valid for more than 600 years.

Christ Church College, Oxford

Oxford University Parks

This beautiful space, originally owned by Merton College, was purchased by the University in the 1850s and first laid out as a Park for sports and recreational purposes in 1864. The park boasts a choice of walks, a large collection of trees and plants and space for informal games and picnics. For those that enjoy sport there’s the opportunity to catch a game of cricket, lacrosse, tennis, football or rugby. Harry Potter fans may even encounter a game of Quidditch in play.

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History

A museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the university's chemistry, zoology and mathematics departments.

Sheldonian Theatre

Built from 1664 to 1669 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the University at the time and the project's main financial backer. It is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies.

Oxford Botanical Gardens

Oxford Botanic Garden, founded in 1621, is home to over 5,000 different types of plant from around the world. The historic Walled Garden (formerly a Physic Garden) is a green oasis of calm in the centre of Oxford. Seven display glasshouses contain tropical rainforests, the world's largest water lilies, carnivorous plants, desert cacti, and alpine flora.

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual role as cathedral and college chapel is unique in the Church of England.

Pitt Rivers Museum

The Museum displays archaeological and ethnographic objects from all parts of the world. The General Pitt Rivers's founding gift contained more than 26,000 objects, but there are now over half a million.

The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is an Oxford church situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of university and college buildings. St Mary's possesses an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street, and a spire which is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England.

Sightseeing in England

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 until 1952.

The British Museum

The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. The British Museum was the first public national museum in the world. The Museum was established in 1753.

Blenheim Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the monarchy of the United Kingdom. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.

The Cotswolds is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames. The predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, towns, and stately homes and gardens featuring the local stone. Designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, the Cotswolds covers 787 square miles.

Bath

The Roman Baths are well-preserved thermae in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. A temple was constructed on the site between 60-70AD in the first few decades of Roman Britain. Its presence led to the development of the small Roman urban settlement known as Aquae Sulis around the site. The Roman baths—designed for public bathing—were used until the end of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th Century AD.

Borough Market

A wholesale and retail market hall in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London, with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were built in the 1850s, and today the market mainly sells specialty foods to the general public.

Westminster Abbey

A large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. All coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the Abbey since 1100.

Piccadilly Circus

A road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction. The Circus now connects Piccadilly, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, Coventry Street and Glasshouse Street. It is close to major shopping and entertainment areas in the West End

The Palace of Westminster

Serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its name, which derives from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to several historic structures but most often: the Old Palace, a medieval building-complex largely destroyed by fire in 1834, or its replacement, the New Palace that stands today. The palace is owned by the Crown.