You can’t think about Oxford without thinking about the university.

It has almost 40 colleges, all dotted around the picturesque city.

Cobbled streets, neatly mown lawns, cute cafes and beautiful architecture fill this great city and great bell towers and slim spires adorn the pretty skyline.

The work of architects Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, James Gibbs, William Orchard, Thomas Jackson, William Butterfield and Sir George Gilbert Scott can be seen all around.

Old Tom tower of Christ Church college, Oxford University.

Interestingly, no one knows exactly when Oxford came to be, however, the place ‘Oxenford’ is attributed to Saxon Princess Frideswide, who supposedly set up a monastery there when she managed to get away from a lecherous suitor thanks to divine intervention.

True or not, by the 12th century, Oxford was already established as an education centre.

King Henry II had prevented English students from studying at university in Paris, so they settled in the city for their education.

The first colleges were University College, Merton and Balliol.

Over 800 years, the university grew to become a federation of almost 40 self-governing colleges.

Famous writers, artists and poets have studied and taught here and these include Samuel Johnson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Gerard Manley Hopkins, JRR Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh, John Betjeman, Iris Murdoch, Philip Pullman, Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones – to name just a few.

Merely walking along the streets of this most beautiful city is inspiring in itself.

For literary aficionados like myself, knowing that Oxford has seen the likes of a plethora of literary giants is exciting beyond measure. And walking down a little street to see the lamp post and the two little golden satyrs that sit on top of a wooden door that were said to have been the inspiration for Mr Tumnus in C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe from his Chronicles of Narnia can only be described as a little taste of heaven for me.

Back to the colleges, most of the older ones (with the exception of University and Pembroke) are open to visitors at certain times, most often in the afternoons. Many allow access to their chapel, quads and sometimes the dining hall.

There’s the good old tourist bus which drops you off at prime locations, but you can also take walking tours, which I prefer as this gives you the opportunity to get your bearings as well as to have a tour guide who can give you more detailed information and lets you ask your own questions.

Knowing the city has seen a plethora of literary giants excited me beyond measure

There are different kinds of walking tours on offer, specifically university-themed, or you can jazz things up with a Tolkien tour, a ghost tour, a Harry Potter tour, or even, the one we opted for: the Inspector Morse tour.

These can be booked through the Tourist Information Centre in the city centre, or through the information centre at the station as soon as you arrive.

While it is impossible to go through all of the colleges, some can be highlighted.No one can talk about Oxford without mentioning Magdalen College. Founded in 1458, it boasts 100 acres of spacious grounds, riverside walks, an ornamental deer park and a cloistered quadrangle.

This college’s buildings on High Street, next to Magdalen Bridge, are among the most beautiful in Oxford.

The soaring Gothic tower is one of the most recognisable features of the city’s skyline. Back in the 17th century, during the English Civil War, lookouts kept watch from the top for Cromwell’s troops and even kept a handy supply of rocks to drop onto the enemy.

An interesting note about this college is that at 6am on May Day each year, choristers from Magdalen College and Magdalen College School assemble on the roof of the Great Tower to sing, culminating with the grace, Te Deum patrem colimus.

The tradition is followed by much revelry, including champagne breakfasts and Morris dancing.

Merton lays claim to being the oldest college in Oxford.

It’s also one of the best preserved and the majority of its structures date back to the Middle Ages.

Its buildings in Merton Street are among the oldest and most interesting in Oxford.

The chapel there deserves mention, whose ‘T’ shape style became the model for many other college chapels in the city.

T. S. Eliot fans will be delighted to learn that a bust of this poet by Jacob Epstein sits in the library.

Christ Church boasts the largest main quad that is home to the famous Old Tom, a tall tower, which forms part of the city’s recognisable skyline.

Christ Church has educated 13 British prime ministers, the most of any Oxford college.

The cathedral is also a must-see. Enjoy the gorgeous grand stained glass windows and high vaulted Gothic ceiling at this, one of the smallest Anglican cathedrals.

If Oxford has tickled your fancy, summer is an ideal time to visit, not just because of the weather, but because a lot of the student quarters are turned into accommodation for tourists.