Magdalen College, at the east end of the High Street beside the River Cherwell, is widely considered the most beautiful of Oxford's colleges. Founded in 1458, it has an unusually generous amount of land for a city-centre college: a deer park, riverside meadow, and punting along the Cherwell all within its boundaries. The college tower — completed in 1509 — dominates this end of the city, and its reflection in the river is one of Oxford's most-photographed images.
The college is open to visitors in the afternoons during term time and more broadly during the summer. The medieval cloister is a tranquil place to walk, and the riverside walks along Addison's Walk (a circular path through the college's water meadows) are lovely at any time of year. Alumni include Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, and Dudley Moore. The old-fashioned punting operation beside Magdalen Bridge rents both self-drive and chauffeured punts — this is the most popular stretch of river for punting in Oxford.