our family is going to the henley regatta in july and I was thinking of staying at oxford university.
There are many colleges that offer accommodation and I wonder which would be the most beautiful?
I would rather stay someplace with character then someplace new. Are they close together or very spreadout? Is location something we need to consider?
Thank you for any information about the campus!

I would not worry about location. They are all farily close to one another. Iwthout knowing what kind of accomidations would be offered at each college or which colleges will be offering accomidations, it is hard to offer an opinion on which would be the most beautiful. Even some of the "newer" colleges are beautiful while some of the older have more recent additions that are not so great. Not much help. Sorry. If you have a question about a specific college or a list of colleges you are considering, please posts those.

Most medieval, Tudor or Stuart colleges have some new (ie, 1900 or later) buildings - many of them very fine, or with spectacular views.

But the following colleges contain virtually nothing before 1880 and so you should omit them if you're snobbish about age:

Green (though it contains the wonderful Radcliffe Observatory all the accommodation is modern), Harris Manchester, Lady Margaret Hall, Kellogg, Nuffield, Somerville, St Anne's, St Antony's, St Catherine's, St Cross, St Hilda's, St Hugh's, Templeton, Wolfson.

As DanM says, many of these are excellent examples of 19th or 20th century architecture, and pretty well all have the proper "quad" character. I'd grab whatever I could if I were you.

In my opinion, Magdalen College blows all the others away. But that's because of its extensive grounds, including the Deer Park and Addison's Walk. The cloister there is also lovely.

Next in line would probably be Christ Church College, the chapel of which doubles as the town's cathedral.

And my sentimental favorite is Exeter college where I studied one summer. Seriously, its chapel is a little jewel box worth seeing.

The town is quite compact, however, so you will get to see as much as you want regardless of your location.

Another misleading example is Pembroke, where I studied. An old college with many modern rooms that are nothing more than US style dorm rooms.