Oxford and Cambridge are both popular destinations for British and International visitors alike: Oxford receives roughly 8.8m per year and Cambridge receives 4.6m (source: National Statistics). In both cases, their world famous universities are the main reason for this, giving the cities the majority of their historic buildings (both universities date from the 13th Century), green spaces, and inspiring views. In Oxford, there are an incredible 900 buildings that are either listed or have been recognised as having historic or architectural merit, and the joy for visitors is that they are all located within a very neatly packed single square mile.



Both Oxford and Cambridge Universities are world class academic institutions: consistently ranked the top two in the UK, they also rank second and third globally after Harvard (source: QS Ltd; Times Higher Education Supplement, 2007). Students travel from all over the world to attend, both for the excellent higher education but also to experience student life in the hallowed cities.

Many famous graduates have helped to spread the reputation of the universities, both through returning to far corners of the world, and through their subsequent achievements. From Cambridge, these include ecologists Charles Darwin and Sir David Attenborough, physicist Sir Issac Newton, actors John Cleese, Hugh Lawrie and Sacha Baron-Cohen (Ali G), the author Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Princes Charles and Edward, poets Siegfried Sasson and William Wordsworth, Economist John Maynard Keynes, Prime Ministers William Pitt and Oliver Cromwell, and Sportsmen Mike Atherton. Oxford, for its part, has had a role in educating four British, and at least eight foreign kings, 47 Nobel prize-winners, three Fields medallists, 25 British Prime Ministers, 28 foreign presidents and prime ministers including Indira Ghandi and Bill Clinton, seven saints, 86 archbishops, 18 cardinals, and one pope. Seven of the last eleven British Prime Ministers have been Oxford graduates, including Tony Blair. Oxford's strengths in the arts are reflected in several famous authors (including Evelyn Waugh, Graham Green, Aldous Huxley, JRR Tolkien, Oscar Wilde and Lewis Carroll) and actors (including Michael Palin, Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Grant).

In addition, the cities have featured in several films including the recent Harry Potter films, where various parts of Oxford University have played roles: the Bodlein Library's Divinity School was used as Hogwarts Sanatorium, the Duke Humphrey's Library was used as the Hogwarts Library, and Christ Church college's dining hall was used as the Hogwarts dining hall. And all corners of the University were used in The Golden Compass.

It is the combination of being able to trace the footsteps of these famous graduates and actors and the ability to experience life inside the universities that is making the college bed and breakfast service so popular. Drawing one's curtain back to see an Oxford quad or Cambridge court, stumbling down a creaking 500 year old wooden staircase en route to breakfast in a magnificent dining hall is an experience that few forget. In addition to this, the colleges are all wonderfully central and the rooms (starting from ?40) are more affordable than local hotels. Most are single but twins are available. All have their own washbasin and an increasing number now have ensuite bathroom facilities.

Currently, three colleges offer and three offer accommodation in Oxford. But you can't book direct with the college so don't call them: they share a website that helps you check availability and book online: http://www.universityrooms.co.uk