Trinity College

What can you do with £1.50? Down payment on a G&B almond chocolate bar? Deposit on an M&S sandwich?
Or, give it to the pleasant fellow in the little cubicle at the entrance to Trinity College, Oxford and take yourself on a mini tour round the grounds, popping into the chapel and the dining room en route.
Not a round the world trip this, but cheaper than paying the tuition fees.
Really nice to see the imposing quadrangles and the old buildings steeped in learned history. Fun dodging the serious students scurrying to their tutorials and it’s relaxing to gaze at the ornate ceiling of the ancient chapel.
Make yourself at home in the Harry Potteresque dining room with the long bench tables, wood panelling and fusty straight laced portraits frowning at the young students’ indiscretions.
See if you can spot the shadow of Charles Dance and wonder if this is where the inspiration for the TV series began. Spicy.
The gardens are spacious and very pleasant.
Recommended.

Trinity is one of the quintessential Oxford colleges. Not quite as grand as Christchurch or Magdalen, it is perhaps in a slightly more central location and is right near where some of the walking tours of Oxford start. The great thing about Trinity is that it’s surrounded by iron railings, so you can see into it without having to pay.
Despite being near the centre of town, it’s got a surprising amount of open space in it, with several large quads, the standard beautiful Oxford gardens and even a patch of woodland, which makes a refreshing change from the very obviously cultivated grass.
The chapel is reputedly the first neoclassical one of its kind, partly designed by Christopher Wren (who also designed St. Paul’s Cathedral). The West tower shows the college’s age. The statues on top represent astronomy, theology, medicine and geometry — perhaps the main subjects when the college was founded.
The buildings are old and grand. If you get a chance to look round, the dining hall is very pretty, with portraits and old wooden benches and tables. The college also has a squash court hidden away near the dining hall. Access is annoying because of the electronic gate system, but the porters are very friendly. There are two porters’ windows: as far as I can tell, one is for students and the other for visitors, but I get it wrong every time!