How to visit and what to see at the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford: opening hours, prices

My most recent Oxford visitNear London, I started it by going to the main Tourist Office which is in the very center of the historic university city.

In the official brochure I could see that in the Top 10 Oxford Attractions, number 1 is occupied by the building called Radcliffe Camera, which is very close to said office, so the next step was to look for it.

This seemed logical to me since the great attraction of visiting this city located on the north london is to visit the buildings linked to its historic university, from the famous colleges, to other places such as a library.

History of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford

Known in English as Rad Cam, it is a historic building with a circular floor plan, of the so-called architectural style English Palladian, a variant of the baroque style that developed during the 18th century on the islands.

La Radcliffe Camera I found it in the center of the meadow of a rectangular square that is delimited by two other of the most prominent monuments of the city, the Bodelian Library and church of Santa María la Virgen.

Built in 1749 according to the architect's design James gibbs, was intended to house the Radcliffe Scientific Library, which happened until 1850 when its collection was moved to another location.

Since then the building began to be known as Radcliffe Camera, after becoming the main reading room of the aforementioned Bodeliana Library, in which it was integrated.

Completely decorated with paintings on its walls and ceilings, the building of the Radcliffe Camera It has space to hold up to 600.000 books.

It is logical that in a city with a university character, buildings dedicated to libraries have become some of its main tourist attractions.

How to visit the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford

Face to visit the Radcliffe Camera, if you're Oxford resident You can enter whenever you want by having the possibility of registering as a member of the Bodelian Library, and thus access the interior of the building to consult a book in its reading room.

On the other hand, if you do not have a membership card, as is the case of those of us who go as tourists, to visit it you have to sign up for the guided tour of the Bodeliana Library during which you also access the famous Rad Cam.

There are several guided tour options, but only the 90 minute tour includes the Radcliffe Camera, in addition to the visit of the ancient Bodelian Library and Duke Humfrey Library.

Schedules and prices visit Radcliffe Camera

The Schedules for guided tours of the Bodeliana Library In the aforementioned 90-minute tour they are, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 9,15:11,15 a.m., and on Sundays, at 13,15:XNUMX a.m. and XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.

El price of admission (2020) is 15 pounds.