Visitors can explore the city in a new way by taking a bike tour along with their ride on the open-top bus.

City Sightseeing Oxford has partnered with Oxford-based Bainton Bikes to allow passengers to hop on and off the bus and explore the sights in more detail by bike.

The bikes are available to hire in time slots near several City Sightseeing Oxford bus stops and are unlocked via a code on an app.

All you have to do is buy a Bainton Bike add-on ticket.

To help tourists get the most of out of their trip, the cycle company has created some self-guided tour routes of different lengths.

One of the routes is the Westgate Centre to the River Thames, Boathouse Island, Christ Church and Oxford Castle Quarter.

There is also an ‘off the beaten track’ route and ‘Oxford highlights’ journey, directing visitors to beautiful parts of the city otherwise missed.

Bainton Bikes is an independently owned cycle hire and tours company that has a base within Walton Street Cycles as well as hire locations throughout the city, the Cotswolds, Cheltenham and various location across southern England.

In 2011 it became the first cycle operator in the UK to become an accredited Quality Assured Visitor Attraction by Enjoy England.

Owner Kevin Moreland said: “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with City Sightseeing Oxford, our partnership is the first step within a larger project to integrate multi-modal transport within the city.

“Both Bainton Bikes and City Sightseeing Oxford have operated our respective tours separately for several years offering visitors a different experience but now with our respective services and tour routes combined we provide visitors the opportunity to reach parts of the city otherwise missed, providing a much fuller and unique Oxford experience.

"Part of the beauty of this joint venture is the simplicity - simply hop on a bus and explore, then hop off and on to a bike to explore areas buses can’t reach, such as Port Meadow or some of Oxford's picturesque waterways, and then hop back on the bus.”

Jane Marshall, head of tourism at City Sightseeing Oxford, added: “The visitor economy is so important to the overall economic health of the city and forming strong partnerships to attract people to visit and provide a great experience are key to its success.

"We are pleased to have formed an innovative partnership with Bainton Bikes that will provide great value to our visitors and help them enjoy Oxford.”