What: 3 hour private tour of Oxford University. We were interested in a campus tour of Oxford…read moreUniversity and since Oxford doesn't offer that and there is no actual "campus" since it's made up of multiple schools and buildings, we did the next best thing. Arron was our guide and he was extremely knowledgeable, funny and full of stories and interesting insights on college life and the application process as he is a current student. We highly recommend this company!

"It takes one to know one"…read more That playground taunt easily applies to my experience with Footprints Tours, an organization through which you can make advance reservations for free walking tours of Oxford. Why? Because I, too, lead a free walking tour albeit elsewhere on the planet. As someone who leads tours and cares greatly about tour quality I recognize a great tour when I come upon one. Chris, my Footprints Tour guide provided exactly that. He was animated, interesting, kept things moving, and told interesting stories. A couple of days later I saw another guide leading a tour - assumedly from a different company - and after hearing what he said at a particular stop all I could think was "I'm so glad we went with Footprints and so glad Chris was our guide". The tours are supposed to run 2 hours. Chris went a bit over which was my sole criticism of the tour. Attention spans are short and that two hour maximum is at the outer edge of how long people will engage for. Assuming you book with Footprints Tours you'll arrive at the stated location and find a ton of tour guides assembled. But walk into the Oxford Tourist Information Center to check in and they'll promptly tell you which guide you are assigned to. People who lead these free tours do conclude with an "ask". That is: a donation is sought and assuming Chris' tour is the standard, it is definitely earned. I understand the worth of someone talking - actually, "performing" - for two hours and I happily made what I felt was a generous cash donation. You'll likely be inspired as well. After I'd booked my free Footprints Tour I had begun to think perhaps a paid tour would be better and momentarily thought of canceling. I'm so pleased that I didn't. The Footprints Tour led by Chris (on June 22) would be quite difficult for anyone to top. Excellent.

This tour brought me so much joy! I originally wanted to do the cs Lewis/jrr Tolkien tour but I…read morewasn't in Oxford on the right day for that. I signed up for the literary tour and I turned out to be the only one on the tour. So My guide took me by so many places that were relevant to Lewis/Tolkien. What an unexpected delight! There was plenty of other literary history too! It was the highlight of my trip to England!

This tour is definitely worth it! Our guide actually went to Oxford, so his understanding is an…read moreinsiders'. I won't tell you all the things I learned and spoil it for you, but I can't keep quiet about two of them: First, students are NOT primarily lectured to as in most American universities. Instead, they have maybe one lecture a week on a topic. The rest of the week they spend discussing with a professor in their college (Oxford is comprised of 38 colleges). Is it any wonder most students leave there with knowledge firmly in their heads, rather than "I forgot. I learned it for the test and then forgot it"? Second, why is the grass in the courtyards so amazing? Because only professors are allowed to walk on it! Can you imagine what would happen if we told American students that they were not allowed to walk on the grass, but their professors were?!

For fans of the ITV/ PBS series Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, and/or Endeavour, the Inspector…read moreMorse Walking Tour (from the Oxford Official Guided Walking Tours) is a MUST!! Our guide was Heidi, and she was fabulous. Enthusiastic, clear-speaking, and a font of knowledge about the Morse-based TV shows, and their filming in Oxford. It's a 2 hour walking tour...at a brisk pace over cobbled streets....so wear your comfy walking shoes! Also, although some random facts about Oxford and the various colleges are thrown in here and there, don't expect this to be a good introductory tour to Oxford in general. (The tourist board does offer other, more general tours of Oxford though, all at very reasonable prices!) So, book yourself for the Morse tour, and I'm sure you'll be like me, and will have some marathon streaming sessions of the series when you return home!

Let me start by saying the Cotswolds are absolutely beautiful. Our guide Steve, went the extra…read moremile to make sure that we had a good time and answered all of our questions. Steve was the most knowledgeable since he lives in the village. He was personable and helpful. I would highly recommend this tour. I would recommend this tour to family and friends, and ask for Steve.

Our family recently completed a 2.5-day private tour of the Cotswolds with Dave, and we highly…read morerecommend him and the entire Go Cotswolds team! From initial outreach to planning/booking to the trip itself, our 8-person group had a fantastic time, and loved our experience in various villages of the North Cotswolds plus Castle Combe and Bath. Lisa was incredibly helpful throughout the planning process, helping us to shape a multi-day tour for our family. She was highly responsive and communicated clearly in answering our questions and helping us consider the options. Once we arrived in the Cotswolds, Dave provided an amazing experience for our multi-day tour. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and funny throughout the tour, and provided excellent advice on when to rearrange the itinerary to get us to popular spots before they were overrun with people. We greatly appreciated his expertise and flexibility in adjusting the plan as we went to let us spend more or less time in spots based on our preferences -- which, given our family, was necessary more than once, and a huge bonus to a private tour vs. public tour. The Go Cotswolds vehicle was roomy, comfortable, and well-air conditioned, a plus given that we arrived mid-heat wave. Our tour was the perfect way to explore this beautiful region for the first time. We can't wait to come back!

I did a lot of research when picking a private tour company and went with this one because of the…read moremix of well-known spots and off the beaten tiny villages you would never know about if you were on a big tour company. Prior to the trip, Lucy was so helpful navigating my train ride from London with the strikes and bridge closures. We did the Ultimate Cotswolds Tour (8 hrs) and loved it. The tour was seamless and every little detail was thought out including little maps at each village and even taking us to an extra spot because we had a little extra time. Richard is an excellent driver which is crucial navigating the backroads!

If you are looking for a great trip through the Cotswolds, look no further…read more We happened upon Cotswolds Guided Tours on Trip Advisor and are glad we did. Right from the get go Lucy was very helpful in getting our trip booked. She opened up a tour as they didn't have one scheduled. We were met by Richard in front of our hotel promptly at our meeting time. We had a total in our group of 7 people and fit perfectly in their comfortable van. Richard used a microphone in the van so that we all could hear his narrative. He was very insightful and knowledgeable of the area and was able to answer all of our questions. We had ample time at each stop and he even walked along a bit and offered to take pictures at all the key photo spots. We had a wonderful time and would highly recommend the tour if you happen to be in The Cotswolds on vacation or a day trip from London.

We sat on the top front seats of the tour bus. It was the covered section…read moreIt was raining 2 to 3 inches of water collected under my feet and soaked my shoes Nasty experience especially since the bus was new

Good way to see Oxford especially for the first time. Buses come every 10 minutes and recorded…read moreinformation is good to hear. I road around once to see where I wanted to get off and it gave me a good overall feel.

A bit has changed since my last experience with Mad Max Tours, including a much more limited…read moreoffering. There are three tours to choose from now: Tour 1 (I have not done [because I've seen them all before]): a tour of Stonehenge, a walk in Castle Combe Village, a photo stop at Cherhill White Horse, a visit to the Avebury Stone Circles, a photo stop at Silbury Hill, lunch at Lacock National Trust village. Tour 2 (I recently did): The Cotswold Villages Experience which includes very accessible and highly informative visits/walks through Castle Combe Village, Bibury & Arlington Row, Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-On-The-Wold, as well as Malmesbury Abbey & Market Cross. Get ready to be absolutely immersed in the Cotswolds! While our guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the area (we learned so many interesting things!) and thoughtful of bio breaks, we felt the day could have been paced better. We were rushed at Bourton-on-the-Water and Malmesbury Abbey; but, we had *far too much* time at both Stow-on-the-Wold (all fourteen of us ended up standing on the street for forty minutes or so waiting for our guide to show back up; that being said, you should absolutely take Mad Max's recommendation to get lunch at Cotswolds Baguettes and eat them near the church with the famous Yew trees!), and - maybe because our tour guide had a personal connection to it - Arlington Row, where we spent a very, very long time standing in front of people's houses. Tour 3 (I have not done): special access to Stonehenge. I do LOVE these kinds of (almost) all-inclusive tours; they take away the anxiety of needing to drive or come up with an itinerary. They also allow you to truly take in the incredible scenery from comfortable small buses that navigate lots of back roads expertly! I just found this particular tour to be a little less personal than when I first visited a few years back (and compared to our experiences with the Heart of Scotland tours out of Edinburgh) AND I'm missing the more varied selection of tours they used to offer as well.

We did the Cotswold tour 8/23/24…read more Scenery wise the tour was interesting, transiting through the lovely and history rich Cotswolds villages. Lunch however was a disaster. After being told, numerous times, told NOT to eat Lunch in Bourton and wait for Stow-On-The-Wold for a sumptuous lunch, we arrived in Stow to find every single pub closed, many for 3-4 days. We wound up having a lunch in a pasty shop that was, as a British Baking Show would call it "Not Worth the Calories. What I don't understand is that the same tour came here 2 days ago so why did they not forward this information? We could of had a lovely lunch in Bourton.

My 12 year old daughter and I went on their Blenheim tour and thoroughly enjoyed the palace and the…read moregorgeous countryside. Our guide made history come alive with funny stories. Would recommend it highly mot just for history buffs but also to escape the crowds of Oxford. I also did their Oxford walking tour with college entries with Alasdar, owner of the company and former prof who is very informative about the university's past and current status. Great small group tour.

great guide( honestly laughed all the way), great tour and the most accommodating company - allowed…read moreus to reschedule due to last minute sickness and been the most helpful along the way. highly recommended

It was a very rainy day when we took this tour, but the food, scenery and wonderful tour guides…read moremade up for it in a big way! This was the perfect combination of activities and just the right size for a tour. We had an informative and very fun day. For anyone thinking about touring in the Cotswolds, this tour is a 'no brainer'!

If you like cottages, English villages, countryside and history, this is the "must" tour for you!…read moreOur guides Robin and Charlottes, were wonderful and charming, driving us around and providing so much insightful information regarding past and present intelligence on history of different villages and cottages. Our base location, the "Secret Cottage" property is darling and a dream setting! The food and beverages coordinator Chrissy, is the most gracious and kind host! We were served three meals: Late continental breakfast, huge lunch and afternoon sweets/tea. This is a great way to spend the afternoon in the countryside, a hour away from London! Book this tour! It is seriously worth it! If you see Robin the guide, tell him that Gary, the "American" sent you!

I rented a boat for 2 hours to go on the river with my children. They were really good and I will…read moredefinitely use them again. Upon arriving the manager was really friendly and could not have been more helpful. I did not have the feeling of any schedule for other things he had to do, even we were only renting for 2 hours, there were other customers and it was probably a busy day for them. The service was quick, efficient and no one was left waiting. He took us out on the boat and showed us what to do, recommended a route and all went well. It is a lovely part of the river as is most of the Thames in that part of the world. My children were a bit nervous as it was their first time on a boat like this and so we came back early. Chertsey Meads Marine Hire were understanding and accommodating, we did not feel silly in any way. On entering the place there are old vehicles, loads of boats, engines and other things all over the place, this is a proper boatyard and not an amusement theme park. The people working there seems to be proper experienced boating people. The boat was not new, it was not passed it either, but certainly well used. The cushions were perfectly clean, the rest of the boat not that clean but still fine. However it was a strong boat probably meant to the massive use that comes with boat rentals, it seemed totally reliable and felt totally secure which to me is what mattered. I was very happy with it There were many other customers, all seeming really happy, having a good time and enjoying the boats. On a great sunny day in that part of London on the river, it would be hard not to. I hope to return again soon.