Tour FAQs

Tour FAQs

Visiting the libraries

The Bodleian Library is made up of several buildings, and three libraries:

  • the Old Library (includes Duke Humfrey's Library)
  • the Radcliffe Camera
  • the Weston Library

Our 30-minute library guided tour can take you inside the Divinity School and the Old Library, and our 60-minute library guided tour can take you inside the Old Library, Convocation House and Chancellor's Court. To go inside the Radcliffe Camera, join one of our Radcliffe Camera & City of Oxford Walking Tours.

Find out more about the history of the Bodleian Library, or discover our spaces. 

Yes – the only way to go inside the Radcliffe Camera is by joining the Radcliffe Camera & City of Oxford Walking Tour, which includes a tour inside the Radcliffe Camera. This tour runs on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Tickets are released online at 9am on the the 1st of each month for tours taking place in the following calendar month. These tickets are only available to buy online.

Please note: upcoming closures may affect our tour schedule. 

We also offer special Radcliffe Camera tours (available seasonally), including our After Hours Tour. 

The Old Library and Radcliffe Camera are working libraries. You must join a 30-minute or 60-minute library guided tour to go inside the Old Library, and a Radcliffe Camera tour to go inside the Radcliffe Camera. 

The ground floor of the Weston Library is free to enter and you don’t need a ticket.

Yes – our outdoor audio trail offers a closer look at our beautiful and historic buildings. It will take you inside the Divinity School, and around the exteriors of the Old School Quadrangle, Clarendon Quadrangle, Radcliffe Square and the Weston Library. It comes with a free history trail for children.

The audio trail is £5.50 per person, and available to buy from the ticket desk in the Weston Library. 

All library guided tours and city walking tours are delivered in English. We do have written translations of these tours available in different languages – please speak with a member of the Tours team before starting your tour to request a translation.

Our outdoor audio trail is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

The content of our tours is not suitable for children aged 10 and under. In addition, the Bodleian Library is a working library used by Oxford University staff and students, and noise must be kept to a minimum.

While our 90-minute tour has been popular with visitors, it depends on access to spaces that are occasionally unavailable due to private events and other activities. As a result, the tour cannot be scheduled as regularly as we would like.

From Tuesday 1 September, the 90-minute library guided tour will be replaced by two Radcliffe Camera and City of Oxford Walking Tours. By focusing on a route that we can deliver consistently, we will be able to offer access to the Radcliffe Camera every weekend, making it easier for visitors to plan and book with confidence. 

All tour attendees must buy a tour ticket, including University and Bodleian Reader card holders. 

Press and media visits must be arranged in advance with the Press Office. 

Please note: due to capacity limits, we are only able to offer a very limited number of complimentary press/media tours. We regret that we must decline the majority of requests.

Tickets & booking

Buy tickets online

Tickets for many of our tours must be booked online in advance. Check the tour product page for details of when tickets will be released.

For the 30-minute library guided tour, about 50% of tickets are released online in advance. On off-peak days (Monday – Friday from 1 September – 30 June) we release additional tickets online on the day at 9am (UK time). If the tour you would like to join is sold out online, you may be able to buy tickets in person on the day. 

Buy tickets in person

For the 30-minute library guided tour, about 50% of tickets are only available to buy in person on the day. Visit the ticket desk in the Weston Library. 

On peak days (Saturdays and Sundays, and 1 July – 31 August), tickets usually sell out within an hour of the Weston Library opening, so we advise arriving early. 

Closures

When planning your visit, check for any upcoming closures that will affect the tours we can offer.

We are not able to take payment over the phone. You must book tickets through our website or in person. 

We're unable to reserve tickets due to the large number of onsite visitors we receive each day. 

We have recently made changes to our ticketing release schedule to make more tickets available to buy in advance. However, due to very high demand, our tour tickets often sell out online.  

If the tour you would like to join is sold out online, tickets may be available on the day.

Between 1 September – 30 June, we release additional tour tickets online for weekday tours at 9am (UK time).

For selected tours (including our 30-minute library guided tours), 50% of tickets are only available to buy in person on the day from the Weston Library. We recommend arriving within an hour of opening to avoid disappointment.  

The tour product page will indicate whether more tickets will be released. 

As one of the oldest parts of the University of Oxford, many of our spaces are used for important academic ceremonies such as graduations or Encaenia.

We also host smaller internal events, private external events (such as weddings), and filming. During these times, we are unable to offer tours. 

The Bodleian Library is first and foremost a world-class working library. To avoid disturbing readers using the library, and to provide the best possible visitor experience, our tour groups are intimately sized. Tour groups are limited to 14 people. 

Many of our buildings are hundreds of years old and designed for much more restricted usage. This means that we also have to limit access for conservation reasons.

Tour tickets are non-refundable.

If you’re unable to join your tour for any reason, please contact us by telephone on 01865 287400 so that the tour guide does not wait for you.

We reserve the right to cancel any tour at short notice. In this case, we will refund any pre-purchased tickets.

Your confirmation email may take up to 30 minutes to reach your inbox. Please check your spam/junk folders. If you still cannot find it, please email us before your visit so that we can help: tours@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 

Your tour visit

We'll send your tickets with your confirmation email as a PDF attachment. We encourage you to show these tickets on your device, but you can also print them out. You must present one ticket per visitor. 

Yes – you're welcome to take photos in our spaces, except inside the Radcliffe Camera. Please don’t use flash, or photograph readers or staff. Images are for personal, non-commercial use only. 

For commercial uses of visitor images, contact Imaging Services.

Filming is not allowed anywhere on our site without prior permission. If you'd like to enquire about commercial filming or photography on our site, contact events@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 

Accessibility

Blackwell Hall (Weston Library), the Divinity School, Convocation House and Chancellor’s Court are wheelchair-accessible. However, the Old Bodleian is a historic listed building, and all library guided tours involve stairs. Find out more about accessibility at our site.

If you or someone in your tour party has accessibility requirements, please contact us ahead of your visit on tours@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 

Guide dogs and assistance dogs are welcome on our tours. No other dogs or animals are allowed on our site or our tours.

Need more help?

If your question about our tours isn't answered on this page, please email tours@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or telephone 01865 287400.

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