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C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their literary friends gathered at the Eagle and Child pub.
(Photo: Janeob9, via Flickr) |
Though Oxford is renowned for its highbrow academic pursuits, many of the best works to come out of its hallowed halls are the most whimsical, from authors beloved by kids and grown-ups alike, like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, and Kenneth Grahame. Begin a children’s literature tour of the city with an English breakfast ($10) at the Eagle and Child, where Tolkien, Lewis, and their friends the Inklings met to discuss their latest projects. Walk south on St. Giles, make a left on Broad Street, and stop into Blackwell’s Bookshop, which opened in 1879 and includes a rare juvenilia collection, with hard-to-find gems, such as an inscribed first edition of Roald Dahl’s The Twits ($589). Continue along Broad Street and make a right on Catte Street. Stop for an hour tour ($12) at the Bodleian Libraries, which stood in for the Hogwarts infirmary and library in the Harry Potter films. Outside, on the northwest wall, look for the new gargoyles and grotesques unveiled in 2009, which include Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Aslan from the Narnia books. Follow Catte Street to High Street, turn right, and then make a left on St. Aldate’s Street. At the Museum of Oxford (free), look for historic items like Lewis Carroll’s pocket watch. Continue along St. Aldate’s and visit the university’s largest college, Christ Church, where the Great Hall served as inspiration for the Hogwarts dining hall ($12). It was also in this college that Charles Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Carroll) studied mathematics and later met his muse, Alice Liddell, the dean’s daughter. Back on St. Aldate’s, join in a Mad Hatter�esque afternoon tea party ($14) at Cafe Loco, which boasts murals inspired by the book’s illustrations. Next door, browse for White Rabbit tote bags ($19) and Cheshire Cat silver earrings ($37) at Alice’s Shop, which opened in the mid-1960s in the quaint grocery store that inspired the Old Sheep Shop in Through the Looking-Glass. Continue south along St. Aldate’s until you reach the Folly Bridge over the River Isis (the name for the Thames in these parts), where you’ll join the two-and-a-half hour Alice in Wonderland Cruise ($42), which follows the same route Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell took on a fateful rowing trip in 1862, when Carroll began reciting his fantastical stories to Alice and her sisters. After the cruise, watch the sun set over the Thames with a meal of venison steak ($31) or wild boar sausage ($20) at the the Head of the River, a traditional pub.