Terms and conditions

About these terms

These terms apply to every tour booked with Oxford Tour Guides, whether you book with us directly or through a travel advisor or tour operator. Please read them before you confirm a booking, and ask us if anything is unclear.

Oxford Tour Guides
Email: info@oxfordtourguides.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)7761 949422

Booking

• Enquire using one of our forms, by email or by phone. We will reply with a proposed guide, route and fee. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
• Your booking is confirmed when we confirm your guide and send your invoice.
• If you book for other people, such as your family, a group or your clients, you accept these terms on behalf of everyone in the party and should pass on anything they need to know.
• Please tell us when you book about children in the party, wheelchair users and any access needs, so that we can plan a suitable route.
• You can ask for a particular guide. If they are not available, we will suggest another guide with full knowledge of the subject, for your approval.

Prices

• Prices are per guide, not per person. They are full prices, with no VAT added.
• Up to 2 hours: £185 per guide. Half day, up to 4 hours: £250 per guide. Full day, up to 8 hours: £420 per guide.
• Tours on UK bank holidays cost £20 more per guide, and Christmas Day is double. Tours in a language other than English cost £10 more for up to two hours, £20 more for a half day and £30 more for a full day.
• One guide takes up to 19 people. Larger groups need more than one guide.
• Your price covers the guided walk itself. College or attraction entry, punting, food and drink, transport and extra guides for larger groups are paid on top. We can book college entry for you and add it to your invoice, or you can pay on the day where that is possible.

Payment

• Once your guide and tour are confirmed, we will send an invoice with a secure card payment link.
• Payment is due 14 days before your tour. If you book within 14 days of the tour, it is due straight away. For bookings at very short notice we may agree that you pay on the day.
• Travel advisors can ask us to invoice the agency or the client directly.
• Tips are not expected but are welcome if you have enjoyed your tour, and are paid directly to your guide.

If you change or cancel

Our guides are freelance and hold your date for you, so there is a charge if plans change. Our charges are in line with Guild of Registered Tourist Guides guidance:

• more than 7 days before the tour: £50 per guide;
• 7 days to 48 hours before: 50% of the fee;
• within 48 hours, or if you do not arrive: the full fee.

If you have already paid, we will refund the difference. Please tell us about any cancellation by email, so that we both have a record.

You can ask to move your tour to another date instead. Date changes are subject to guide availability.

If we need to make a change

• If your guide cannot lead your tour, for example through illness, we will do our best to find a replacement guide. If we cannot, we will tell you as early as we can and either refund you in full or offer another date.
• Tours run in most weather. If we are advised to cancel because of the weather, we will refund you in full. In stormy weather or high temperatures your guide may take cover from time to time.

On the day

• Meeting point. We will agree a meeting point with you when you book. We can meet wherever you like; the most common meeting points are the Ashmolean Museum, the Martyrs' Memorial and the train station.
• Running late. Guides are booked for the agreed time and may have another tour afterwards, so they may not be able to stay on. If you are running late, let your guide know. The tour may still need to finish at the booked time.
• Colleges and attractions. Colleges are private property and their opening can change at short notice, so we cannot guarantee entry. Your guide will recommend which to visit on the day. Christ Church tickets for groups of 13 or fewer can be booked only around a week before; larger groups must book directly with the college, and we will plan your tour around that booking.
• Children. Children up to 17 must be accompanied by a supervising adult or teacher over 18, who remains responsible for them throughout the tour.
• Walking. Tours are on foot, over historic streets and some uneven ground. Please wear comfortable shoes. There are very few public toilets in Oxford, so it is best to plan ahead before you start.
• Dogs. Dogs are welcome on the walk but not inside colleges and other sites. Guide and assistance dogs are allowed; please tell us in advance so that we can let the sites know.
• Photography. Photography is allowed inside colleges, but some chapels display signs where it is not.
• Please follow your guide's directions and the rules of the colleges and sites you visit.

Day trips beyond Oxford

For tours to Blenheim Palace, the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath and Stonehenge, entry charges and transport are not included unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.

Our responsibility to you

• We will provide your tour with reasonable care and skill, using accredited guides.
• We are not responsible for delays, closures or changes caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as severe weather, transport disruption or a college or attraction closing.
• Please look after your own belongings during the tour.
• Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law, and nothing affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

Comments and complaints

If something is not right, please tell your guide on the day or email us as soon as you can, so that we have the chance to put it right.

Your information

Our privacy policy explains how we use the information you give us.

Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.

These terms were last updated on 26 October 2026.