The Bodleian Library opening hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00 and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, but closures change month to month, and the Divinity School closure dates matter more for most visits. Everything else is in this guide. If you want to compare what you can buy, my page on Bodleian Library tickets lays out all three options.
Bodleian Library Opening Hours
The Bodleian’s plan your visit page gives these Bodleian Library opening hours, which the exhibition galleries share:
| Day |
Hours |
| Monday to Friday |
9:00 to 17:00 |
| Saturday and Sunday |
10:00 to 17:00 |
The same page lists November, December and January changes, including Divinity School closures on several November dates, when some tours shrink to 30-minute Duke Humfrey’s Library tours, and Weston Library closures on 24 to 26 December and 1 January. Google Maps returned no hours table for the library, so I rely on the official Bodleian Library opening hours, and the full library site is bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
A GetYourGuide operator gives exact dates. The Visit Oxford Tours listing for its Divinity School tour states that the Divinity School is closed all or part of the day on a list of dates, and that tickets were removed from sale on them. Today, 7 November 2026, is one of those dates.
| Year |
Closed dates listed by the operator |
| 2026 |
30 and 31 October; 1, 6, 7, 13 and 14 November |
| 2027 |
23 January; 27 February; 6 March; 14, 15 and 22 May |
On closure dates the Visit Oxford Tours operator says it can sometimes arrange a later entry, usually at 3:30 pm after the tour ends, and offers a separate New College tour instead. Those are the operator’s terms, so read your confirmation.
Bodleian Library Opening Times
Bodleian Library opening times for a visitor tour are not a reader’s day, so the start time on your ticket is your real opening time. The official tours are a 15-minute self-guided Divinity School slot at £3, a 30-minute guided tour from £12.50 and a 60-minute tour from £17.50 (official tours page). The Bodleian says peak days (weekends and 1 July to 31 August) often sell out within an hour of the Weston Library opening. For the Visit Oxford Tours option, the guide meets you at the Oxford tourist information centre at 15 Broad Street, wearing a red lanyard or a Harry Potter gown and hat.
For Footprints, the day trip from London meets outside Gloucester Road Underground station in South Kensington, and the walking tour’s meeting point depends on the option you choose.
Old Bodleian Library Opening Hours
The Old Bodleian is the historic part of the library, and the Divinity School belongs to it. The Old Bodleian Library opening hours are tied to tours, with no walk-in hours of its own: the Bodleian says you need a tour ticket to enter it. Its 30-minute tour takes you inside the Divinity School and the Old Library, and the 60-minute tour covers the Old Library, Convocation House and the Chancellor’s Court (tour FAQs). The Visit Oxford listing adds that the interior of Duke Humfrey’s Library is not included in its tour and can be booked directly.
Is the Bodleian Library Open to the Public
Partly. Within the Bodleian Library opening hours, the Weston Library is free to enter and has exhibition galleries, while the Old Library and Radcliffe Camera need a tour ticket. Wikipedia describes the Bodleian as the main research library of the University of Oxford (Wikipedia), and it was founded in 1602. I’d read that as: the historic showpiece rooms are open for visits on tickets, and the reading rooms are not a sightseeing stop. Visitors must be 11 or older to go inside the library.
Bodleian Library Entrance
Start at the Weston Library on Broad Street, OX1 3BG. With a pre-booked tour ticket you can enter the Old Bodleian directly through the Great Gate on Catte Street, per the official visit page. For a GetYourGuide walking tour, your guide leads the group from the meeting point to the Divinity School; for the Visit Oxford option, that is the red sign outside the tourist information centre on Broad Street.
Bodleian Law Library Opening Hours
The Law Library is a reading library for readers, not a tour stop, and none of the three listings covers it. I did not read its opening hours, so if you are a student or researcher with a reader card, the Bodleian site is the source.
Bodleian Library After Hours Tour
None of the three GetYourGuide tickets is an after-hours tour. The Bodleian’s own tours page lists an After Hours Tour at £25 per person, with dates to be confirmed, so check it for the next release (official tours page). The later entry time of about 3:30 pm that the Visit Oxford operator mentions is for closure days, not a night visit.
How to Get to the Bodleian Library
Oxford is about 90 km from London. National Rail lists services between London and Oxford at nationalrail.co.uk, and I did not verify journey times, so check there. If you want to skip the planning, the Footprints Oxford tour with Christ Church and Bodleian Library includes return transport from London for $200 over 10 hours. In Oxford, the Bodleian is in the city centre on Broad Street, and the Radcliffe Camera, Weston Library and University Church of St Mary the Virgin are each within about 2 minutes on foot (my estimate from map coordinates). Visit Oxfordshire is the tourism board for local planning.
Best Time to Visit the Bodleian Library
The Bodleian does not publish quiet hours beyond its standard Bodleian Library opening hours, but it does say weekends and 1 July to 31 August are peak days that often sell out within an hour of the Weston Library opening, while extra weekday tickets are released online at 9am UK time. Avoid the closure dates above, and note the Footprints listing says Divinity School entry is subject to availability in peak season. Open-Meteo data for Oxford in 2025 shows November as the wettest month at 17 rainy days and about 4.8 sunshine hours a day, with sunset near 16:14, while May and June are brighter (Open-Meteo).
Footprints Tours
Harry Potter Walking Tour Including New College
- ★ 4.7 (1,822 reviews)
- 1.5 - 10 hours
- Free cancellation
My pick: If you are booking one thing before checking hours: the $47 Footprints walking tour with Divinity School and New College, 4.7 from 1,822 reviews.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
- ✓ Guide
- ✓ Entrance to Divinity School (subject to availability during peak season)
- ✓ Entrance to New College
- ✓ Harry Potter quiz
Not included / not suitable
- ✕ Gratuities
- ✕ Entrance to Christ Church
Meeting point: Meeting point may vary depending on the option you select. Check availability for more details.
Languages: English
Duration: 1.5 - 10 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Mikayla did a very great job! It was awesome, can totally recommend the tour!” – GetYourGuide review
Planning a Visit Around the Bodleian Library Opening Hours
With Bodleian Library opening hours of 9:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 17:00 at weekends, and one more check of the Bodleian Library opening hours before you travel, the safest plan has three steps. First, pick the tour, because your slot decides when you enter. Second, compare your date with the closure table above, since a closed Divinity School ruins a Harry Potter themed visit but not a walking tour of the colleges. Third, read the confirmation e-mail for the meeting point, because the Footprints listing says the meeting point may vary with the option you select.
A few details from the listings help with timing. The Visit Oxford Tours walk is about 1.5 hours to 105 minutes, so a late-morning start leaves the afternoon free for the other colleges. The Footprints day trip takes 10 hours and includes free time to explore at your own pace, which is where you would fit lunch. Reviewers of the walking tours praise guides who mix history with film locations, so I’d pick a slot with a named guide rating over a slot at an hour you prefer.
What to Know Before You Go
Wear comfortable shoes, whatever the Bodleian Library opening hours on the day: the Bodleian says all its guided tours involve stairs, and the 90-minute tour involves a lot of walking (official). For the exhibition galleries, bags larger than about 50 x 40 x 25 cm, large rucksacks and wheeled cases are not allowed and cannot be stored; neither are food and drink, including bottled water. Photos are allowed for personal use, but not flash, tripods, selfie sticks or video cameras, and not inside the Radcliffe Camera. Visitors must be 11 or older, and the Bodleian’s own tour tickets are non-refundable (tour FAQs). The Footprints Harry Potter tour lists gratuities and Christ Church entry as not included, and the day trip lists tips.
When you are ready to compare prices, the full list of every Bodleian Library ticket I compared is on the hub. Questions about the Bodleian Library opening hours that change after this page was updated belong with the Bodleian itself. Back to the ticketguide24 home page for other attractions.
