OxfordwalkingtoursofoxfordReviews of oxfordwalkingtoursofoxford.com

This is *not* a free tour. I've done many free walking tours in the past, and always tip something at the end. This is advertised as a free walking tour, but the tour guide demanded I "tip" mid way through the tour, otherwise I couldn't continue. He had a bullying nature and said "everyone else has paid other than you". When I questioned why it is advertised as a free tour if they demand payment, he referenced all other tour companies charging for a tour. The tour itself was ok, but I left (after tipping) part way through because I felt bullied by the tour guide and didn't want to be part of that anymore. There are other options for free walking tours of Oxford, try those first!

Absolute scam!!! We left the tour after 20 minutes. It was suspicious. I searched for reviews afterwards and unfortunately many many tourists are affected. Next day we saw again another group with more than 40 people. I do not understand this scam at this scale is even possible in a historical city such as Oxford. The city has also responsibility to protect tourists who pay to see the city.

AVOID AVOID AVOID! Avoid at all costs! Matthew is not a bad tour guide…. He is a scammer. The temptation was to laugh at him for being bad at his job. But we soon realised it was us who were being foolish, not him. Matthew is a sinister character who knows exactly what he’s doing. By constantly using classic tactics of delay, confusion and repetition, he stumbles through a 90min tour of nothingness whilst fleecing people out of A LOT of money. He requests payment for his ‘free’ walking tour close to the beginning. If you refuse to pay anything, he kicks up a fuss. Whilst some sensibly pay the minimum amount of £7, others pay £30, clinging onto the idea that amazing times lie ahead… But before and after paying, all Matthew does is take you pointlessly up and down streets. He jokes and waffles his way through useless information whilst making false promises and announcing unnecessary ‘comfort breaks’. His promises revolve around ‘inside’ access to buildings which does not exist. But he strings along an enormous group of people by continuing to confuse and delay. My personal favourite moment came when he told us to look around the public gift shop in the Bodleian Old School Quad (anyone can do this, it’s completely free)… afterwards, he then said the gift shop visit was in fact the lecture theatre visit he promised at the start… Claiming the gift shop was ‘inside a lecture theatre building’. When I challenged him on this, he got angry. Beneath the shamelessness and ridiculous nature of it all, the reality is that Matthew is a successful con artist, making lots of money by praying on people’s vulnerabilities. Because we’re English and paid just £10 each, we were able to stomach it and laugh it off. We can always go back another time. But for other foreign tourists visiting for the first and last time, it’s much more upsetting. Some likely went up to the £30 payment, meaning he stole massive sums of money for nothing. Ultimately, people come to our famous towns and cities for a great experience. They don’t expect to be conned on a ridiculous scale and made a fool of. The likes of Matthew are giving our tourist hotspots a bad name and that’s really upsetting. He’s an awful person and you should never book with him.

This is a scam. We will be calling the police. We wasted over two hours with literally no useful information. The website advertises walks into many of the university buildings. We were only allowed into a chapel and… a gift shop. What the website advertises is NOTHING like what we experienced. At some point he asked us not enter the chapel all together as otherwise they’d think we were a tourist group, which is exactly what we were. That’s when we realised he was not a legitimate tour guide. It was too late as we paid him already. We will report this scammer immediately.

It's a scam The guide will request money for about nothings If you don't at least 8£ you don't walk

If I could give this conman 0 stars, I would. Avoid this tour at all costs. He goes by "Matthew", and he's not a student or former student of Oxford. Unfortunately, I only had a short time in Oxford and the walking tour I had booked with him was a scam, and it was too late to sign up for another tour. If you want to book a legitimate free walking tour, contact the Oxford Tourist Information. Fortunately, I left within 5 min of the tour because he wasn't providing any historical information - only sprinkled a fact here and there, and then masked his lack of knowledge with jokes and Harry Potter references. I'm appalled at Oxford for not kicking this man out of their community. He forces people to pay their gratuity around 15 min in.

This guy Matthew is an absolute, dispicable scam artist. He took £34 off us today, a family of four, one of which is under 5 years old! He can't speak English properly, he did not give us many facts. Made the tour longer by going round in circles. Pressurised us immensely, in front of the rest of the group, that we should pay him more than £20. No scruples. After 15 minutes of the tour, he started asking for money. This guys should not be allowed to be there. AVOID HIM. We didn't get to go in ANY buildings with him and he has rubbish jokes. Scam artist. My kids wanted to see thr Harry Potter locations that's why we booked him, he did not show us any or direct us there. When we asked him a question, he was talking back in a rude way as if we were bothering him. SAVE YOUR MONEY!! I've also let the university know. Report him to Oxfordshire Trading Standards and Oxford Tourism Board.

Unfortunately it’s really a scam and the so called tour guide/operator, Matthew, a scary figure. We were warned at the meeting point by a lady that this tour is a scam and when we decided to still try it, Matthew quickly told us that he needed to be paid because this tour could never be for free or pay as you like. He became rude when we said that then the lady was right and this tour is in fact a scam. We went our own way and found out that the Divinity college was closed for the day. Avoid and don’t pay.