The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, with teaching from at least 1096. The city centre is filled with colleges built around quadrangles, earning Oxford the name City of Dreaming Spires. The round Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian Library are its most famous buildings.

Blenheim Palace near Woodstock was built between 1705 and 1722 for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, after his victory at the Battle of Blenheim. It is a masterpiece of English Baroque. Winston Churchill was born here in 1874. Its park was landscaped by Capability Brown. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Cotswolds are an area of rolling hills in southern England known for villages of honey-coloured limestone. Bibury, with its row of 17th-century weavers' cottages called Arlington Row, is often called the most beautiful village in England. Other villages include Bourton-on-the-Water and Castle Combe.

Warwick Castle is a medieval castle on a bend of the River Avon, developed from a fort built by William the Conqueror in 1068. Its towers, walls and great hall are among the best preserved in England. Today it is a visitor attraction with shows, a trebuchet and displays of medieval life.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town in Warwickshire, famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare in 1564. His birthplace, a half-timbered house, is a museum. The town also has Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried, and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the river.

The Peak District was Britain's first national park, created in 1951, in the hills of Derbyshire and nearby counties. It has limestone dales, gritstone edges and moorland. Mam Tor, the Shivering Mountain, gives views over the Hope Valley. Villages such as Castleton are known for caves where Blue John stone is mined.

Chatsworth House is a grand country house in the Peak District, home of the Dukes of Devonshire. Built from the 1680s, it is filled with art, sculpture and fine rooms. Its huge park was shaped by Capability Brown, and its gardens have the Cascade water feature and the Emperor Fountain. It has appeared in films such as Pride and Prejudice.

The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209. Its colleges line the River Cam, where visitors go punting past the Backs, the gardens behind the colleges. King's College Chapel, with its fan-vaulted ceiling and Christmas carol service, is the most famous building. The Mathematical Bridge and Bridge of Sighs cross the river.