Oxfordshire is a fantastic place to live and work, and we hope you will find our Welcome Guide useful as you begin to discover the county — whether it is shops you are after, or some of the more curious nooks and crannies.

The city of dreaming spires may be packed into a small area geographically, but it punches above its weight in every other respect.
The ancient university has no central campus, but is a collection of independent colleges housed in stunning architecture and set alongside a picturesque river.
From the twin towers of All Souls College, to Hertford’s Bridge of Sighs, the university’s buildings offer a glimpse at our historical heritage.

But while the city has more than its fair share of classical architecture, from the front quad of The Queen’s College to the gargoyles watching over Brasenose and Lincoln Colleges, it is perhaps the mix of ancient and modern that makes Oxford special.

The colleges are home to a living, breathing community, which thrives in today’s ever more complicated, technology-led world.

Oxford is a location favoured by film and television crews. The hugely successful TV series Morse, and its spin-off series Lewis, used the city as an atmospheric backdrop for their crimefighting capers.

On the big screen, two films based on Oxford author JRR Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit are to go into pre-production this year.

There is the possibility that two Oxford-related blockbusters could go head-to-head in the cinemas with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, sequels to The Golden Compass, based on Cumnor author Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, progressing.

And they could even be competing with adaptations of Narnia books by fellow Oxford author CS Lewis — Prince Caspian is due for release in May after the success of the 2005 movie The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe.

A new film version of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited was recently filmed here.

Oxford is, and has long been, a leader in the science and medical spheres.

There are leaders in the fields of environmental science and nuclear technology.
Its businesses are booming, and it is home to many leading players from the arts world.

There are more philanthropists and free thinkers here than you can shake a stick at.

Ancient traditions sit easily with the cutting edge. Rituals like May morning are celebrated as vigorously as they were hundreds of years ago.

Cornmarket Street, the city’s central thoroughfare is an excellent example of Oxford’s mix of the old and the new.

At pedestrian level, it is full of modern shoppers and modern shops, but the few who do cast their eyes upwards are rewarded with a host of interesting buildings in a wide variety of styles, and from across the eras.

It is too easy for those of us who live here to forget the importance of Oxford’s architecture. Often it is the visitor who reminds us of the city’s finer points.

Oxford is a city of treasures. Amazing artefacts from around the world at museums such as The Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers, through the architectural gems mentioned above, to some of the most unusual and charming pubs to be found anywhere in the world. There really is something for everyone.

Where else can you go punting along an idyllic riverside before stopping off for a traditional pub lunch?

Where else can you admire the ancient buildings before taking in a multicultural carnival or arts performance?

Where else boasts such an array of literary talent?

Where else could have been the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, or Narnia, or Middle Earth?

Where else do the country’s movers and shakers throw hot pennies at children, or carry a wooden duck around on a stick?

Only in Oxfordshire.