Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers

A Victorian court of iron and glass full of dinosaur skeletons, and at the far end a door leading to another museum: the Pitt Rivers, wooden display cases packed with objects from all over the world, in dim light. Both are free and open every day from 10:00 to 17:00, on Parks Road, a five-minute walk from the Bodleian.

It is the easiest plan in Oxford with children: you can touch the odd fossil, there is a dodo (Lewis Carroll saw it here) and there is no need to book. The Pitt Rivers runs family activities on Saturdays. Allow an hour and a half for both.