Mystery Picnic in Oxford

For couples

Charming streets, hidden nooks, dreaming spires

The name Oxford brings to mind thoughts of a centre of learning and stunningly beautiful classic architecture and the famed 'University City' delivers on this promise. A date spent walking together through its streets provides a sumptuous feast of gorgeous university, college and associated church buildings to gaze at and admire. With their warm, honey coloured facades, echoing with histories of commitment and dreams followed they also provide the perfect atmosphere for romance. A Mystery Picnic adds to this atmosphere by making your tour of the city one of exploration, discovery, achieving (or just muddling through!) and celebrating, something extra-memorable for you as a couple to have done together. Solve clues together, collect your picnic treats from local food stops to share, and enjoy discovering the city side by side.

For friends & families

A city full of stories for both young and old

Choosing Oxford as the place to do your Mystery Picnic is also perfect for ensuring you have the best ingredients for a great day out with friends or family. There is so much to see and admire even before you get to the mystery or picnic parts of the day. Around the centre you will come across grand college gateways, old world cobbled lanes, looming stone towers, domes and buildings that look like they have come straight from a fairytale, all packed into a city that is also vibrant and modern. And let us not forget the picnic part of your day, around the city there is plenty of green space too. University Parks and Christ Church Meadow with river views, Wellington Square close at hand, or South Park with views that capture the grandness of the entire city.

The University of Oxford began as a centre of learning in the 11th century and remains one of the world's leading universities. The iconic Radcliffe Camera, completed in 1749 as Britain's first circular library, remains an active working library, with underground passages beneath Radcliffe Square connecting it to the Bodleian. Capture the kids' imaginations and tell them to be careful where they tread! And then there is Oxford's Covered Market, with more than 250 years of history behind it and over 50 independent food, drink and retail businesses. Who knows, perhaps you will be paying it a visit? Oxford really is a place for both the old and young and adding in the additional fun of solving clues and going on a food treasure hunt as you explore the city ensures you don't just get to see the city, instead you will experience it.

Why go premium?

For when you want the day to feel a little more special

The Premium Mystery Picnic adds extra treats and indulgences to the clue-solving food adventure. In Oxford, with historic college streets, riverside green spaces and famous architecture all around you, it is an easy way to turn an anniversary, birthday or just-because day together into something that feels a little more special.

And afterwards...

The picnic does not have to be the end of the day

Once the picnic is finished, Oxford gives you plenty of reasons to stay a little longer. Book a Bodleian Library tour to step inside spaces such as Duke Humfrey's Library and the Divinity School, buy a visitor ticket for Christ Church, explore Oxford Castle and Prison on a guided tour, or wander through Oxford Botanic Garden, founded in 1621 and the oldest botanic garden in the UK. If you haven't already overdosed on culture and history by then, the Ashmolean Museum has free general admission and more than three centuries of history of its own.