Oxford is a city of dreaming spires, Matthew Arnold’s phrase, the 1866 poem “Thyrsis,” the tribute to his friend Arthur Hugh Clough, and the description that has defined the city for 150 years, and the dreaming is earned: the 38 colleges of the university (the oldest, University, Balliol, and Merton, all founded in the 13th century, the quadrangles, the libraries, the chapels, and the sense of walking through a history of English architecture that spans 800 years), the Bodleian Library (the second-largest library in Britain, the 12 million items, the reading rooms, and the Duke Humfrey’s Library, the 15th-century room, the books chained to the shelves, and the most beautiful room in Oxford. ~£9 for the guided tour, and the essential experience), and the Radcliffe Camera (the circular domed library, the most beautiful building in Oxford, and the view from the tower of St Mary the Virgin, the 127 steps, the best view of the city, and the most beautiful photograph you will take. ~£5). Oxfordshire is more than Oxford: the Cotswolds (the stone villages, the rolling hills, and the silence of the countryside that is the antidote to the city), the Thames (the river, the punting, and the best afternoon in the county), and Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Winston Churchill, the most beautiful stately home in England, and the grounds, the lake, the bridge, and the column of victory, that reward a full day. Here are the top five things to do.

1. Explore the University, the Essential Oxford

The Oxford college is a world in miniature: the quad (the grass, the chapel, the dining hall, and the silence of the library), the porters’ lodge (the gate, the visitor’s book, and the sense of being admitted to a private world), and the chapel (the stained glass, the organ, and the evensong, the choir of the college, the service, and the most beautiful 45 minutes in Oxford. Free, and the essential Oxford experience. Check the college websites for the evensong schedule). The essential colleges: Christ Church (the largest and most famous, the Great Hall, the “Hogwarts” dining room of the Harry Potter films, the meadow, and the cathedral, the smallest in England and one of the most beautiful. ~£16, and the queue is the worst in Oxford. Book online, and go early), Magdalen (the deer park, the cloisters, and the Addison’s Walk, the circular path through the meadow, the river, and the most beautiful walk in Oxford. ~£10), and Merton (the oldest quad in Oxford, the library, the oldest continuously functioning academic library in the world, and the most beautiful, least-visited college in the city. ~£5). More UK →

2. Visit the Bodleian Library and the Radcliffe Camera

The Bodleian is a legal deposit library, every book published in the UK is stored here, and the guided tour (~£9 for the standard tour, £14 for the extended tour, the essential experience, the reading rooms, the Convocation House, the 17th-century courtroom, the Parliament of the Royalists during the Civil War, and the Duke Humfrey’s Library, the oldest reading room, the books, the silence, and the sense of walking into a painting. Book online, weeks in advance for the summer). The Radcliffe Camera is closed to the public, the reading room of the Bodleian, open only to the students and the scholars, and the view from the outside (the Radcliffe Square, the dome, and the most beautiful building in Oxford) is the essential photograph.

3. Tour Blenheim Palace, the Churchill Connection

Blenheim Palace, 8 miles from Oxford in Woodstock, is the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to be called a “palace,” and the connection is Winston Churchill (born at the palace in 1874, the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and the American heiress Jennie Jerome, and the house, the Long Library, the Churchill Exhibition, and the grave of Churchill and his wife Clementine at the church of St Martin in Bladon, 1 mile from the palace). Entry: ~£35 (the palace, the park, and the gardens, expensive, and the annual pass, the free return for a year, makes the price more palatable). Allow a full day: the palace (the state rooms, the tapestries, and the library, the longest room in any private house in England), the park (the Capability Brown landscape, the lake, and the Grand Bridge), and the gardens (the formal gardens, the rose garden, and the Churchill Memorial Garden). The essential experience: the walk to the Column of Victory (the Doric column in the park, the statue of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, and the view of the palace). Lunch: the Churchill Arms in Woodstock (the pub, the fireplace, and the best meal near the palace. ~£15 for a main).

4. Punt on the River Thames and the Cherwell

Punting is the essential Oxfordshire summer experience: the flat-bottomed boat, the pole, the river, the Cherwell through the University Parks (the slow, the green, and the most beautiful stretch of river in Oxford) or the Thames (the Isis) past the Christ Church Meadow. The punting at the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse (~£20 per hour for the punt, the £20 deposit, and the 2-hour minimum, the essential Monday afternoon, the Pimm’s, and the 2 hours of the punting that is the most beautiful 2 hours in the Oxford). The essential punting instruction: the pole goes in at the angle, the push is from the shoulders, and the first 10 minutes will be embarrassing regardless of the preparation. The essential punting route: the Cherwell from the Magdalen Bridge to the, the 1-hour return, the 2-hour to the Victoria Arms (the pub at the halfway, the garden, the Pimm’s, and the best punting pub in Oxford).

5. Walk the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the 790 square miles of the limestone hills, and the most beautiful countryside in the England, is the essential Oxfordshire day trip. The essential Cotswold villages: Bourton-on-the-Water (the “Venice of the Cotswolds,” the River Windrush, the low bridges, and the most touristy village in the Cotswolds, the essential for the first-time visitor, the model village, and the 10 minutes of the charm that is worth the 2 hours of the parking), Stow-on-the-Wold (the market square, the antique shops, and the most beautiful church door in England, the door of St Edward’s Church, the yew trees, and the Tolkien connection, the inspiration for the Doors of Durin in the Lord of the Rings), and the Bibury (the Arlington Row, the 14th-century weavers’ cottages, and the most photographed street in England. ~£5 for the parking, and the 30 minutes of the walking that is the essential Cotswold photograph). Essential walk: the 7-mile circular from the Bourton-on-the-Water to the Lower Slaughter and the upper Slaughter (the River Eye, the 2 Slaughters, and the pub at the end, the Slaughters Inn, the fireplace, and the best lunch in the Cotswolds).