Magdalen

Lonely Planet review

Set amid a hundred acres of lawns, woodlands, river walks and deer park, Magdalen is one of the wealthiest and most beautiful of Oxford's colleges.

An elegant Victorian gateway leads into a medieval chapel with its glorious 15th-century tower, and on to the remarkable cloisters, some of the finest in Oxford. The strange gargoyles and carved figures here are said to have inspired CS Lewis' stone statues in The Chronicles of Narnia . Behind the cloisters the lovely Addison's Walk leads through the grounds and along the banks of the River Cherwell for just under a mile.

Magdalen has a reputation as an artistic college and some of its most famous students and fellows have included Oscar Wilde, poet laureate Sir John Betjeman and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.

The college also boasts a fine choir that sings Hymnus Eucharisticus at 06:00 on May Day (1 May) from the top of the 42m-bell tower. The event now marks the culmination of a solid night of drinking for most students as they gather in their glad rags on Magdalen Bridge to listen to the dawn chorus.