Oxford Castle and Prison

We were staying near Oxford for a few days and given the wet weather decided to visit the Castle and Prison. We booked our tickets online the day before, which was a straightforward process I would definitely recommend using Redbridge Park and Ride. It cost £2.50 for the day with free bus travel into the city. This avoids the £5 congestion charge. We arrived early and they happily switched us onto an earlier tour. The staff in the shop/reception were friendly and knowledgeable. Anne was our tour guide and she was brilliant. She gave us an interesting and easy to follow history of the castle and prison which lasted 50 minutes. We went up St George's Tower first, visited the crypt, a few different prison cells and heard some fascinating stories and facts along the way. Anne was characterful, charismatic, friendly and really made the tour for us with her knowledge and passion. Thank you Anne. The tour lasted about 50 minutes then you are free to explore the exhibition, crypt and prison cells again at your leisure. You can't go back up the tower again unsupervised for safety reasons so make sure you get all the pictures you want when you're up there. I would definitely recommend this attraction. We were there about 2 hours in total. It's also close to the main indoor shopping centre and also the park and ride bus stop. There is also a coffee shop but we didn't use it. Toilets are also available.

Myself and 2 others visited here! Our tour guide Rory was good, knowledgeable and engaging. The prison was fascinating, cannot believe it was still operating until 1996! There was a good back history on the tour and the view from the tower was amazing. The gift shop was good although we bought a letter opener and it said it was £26 and we got charged £40, so not overly impressed by that, we disnt notice at the time. Pros: an hour tour, interesting history, good shop, free time to reexplkre any part apart from the tower. Small tour group. Cons: only if youre not able bodied the toerr is over 100 steps, but the view is amazing!

Well worth a visit. Guide Anne was very knowledgable and spoke clearly and in a friendly manner. You get to climb uneven steps in the oldest section for a wonderful view of Oxford, check out Victorian and Georgian cells while listening to great stories and getting a sense of life in the prison. The Norman crypt is eerie but beautiful and at the end you get to wander at your own pace through exhibits of artefacts and more stories.

Bought tickets in advance, but the staffs were quite helpful as to where to wait for the tour to start. To go into a lot of places, the guide will take you on the 1-hour walk. The guide was very informative, explaining the full history of all parts of the castle. For a 101 stair climb, you won’t be required to go if you feel like you cannot complete it due to the steepness and how small the steps are. Throughout, everything was very nicely presented. Well recommended.

We absolutely loved the tour - it was the perfect activity for a rainy day in Oxford. We arrived an hour early, and the receptionist kindly moved us to an earlier slot so we didn't have to wait, which we really appreciated. The tour guide was incredibly enthusiastic and friendly, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the fascinating anecdotes he shared.