Whether they still house treasures, were once the homes of lords, or have given rise to legends, these university buildings reflect the history of Europe and its evolution. If you're jealous of the students lucky enough to be there, you should know that all these campuses provide virtual or guided public tours. An opportunity to go back in time to your studies, if only for the sheer visual pleasure of it all.

Students at the University of Salamanca know that finding the frog carved into the facade of the Escuela Mayores ("Major School") building means they're sure to pass their exams. Unless you'd rather rely on the strength of Hercules, god of effort and work; or Venus, an allegory for passion and knowledge, who are also carved in the historic stones of Spain's oldest university.

Founded by King Alfonso IX of León in 1218, it initially accommodated students in the cloister of its cathedral, until the Escuela Mayores building was erected two centuries later. This gothic-style building, decorated with frescoes of plants, is arranged around a central courtyard, with Escuales Menores ("Minor Schools") completing the main building.

Now spread over nine campuses, the university comprises 16 faculties, as well as three technical schools and three university colleges. It comprises more than 31,000 students – in addition to a group of storks that have taken up residence on its roof.

Visits are offered all year round (for a fee), bookings are not required. www.usal.es

What do Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Hodgkin, Albert Einstein, Indira Gandhi, Ken Loach and Emma Watson have in common? They all studied at Oxford. Ranked as the world's best university for the past seven years by Times Higher Education magazine, it is also the oldest in the English-speaking world: Instruction was already taking place here in 1096. At that time, many Englishmen preferred to cross the English Channel to study in Paris, but enrolments at Oxford University grew rapidly from 1167, when King Henry II of England forbade his subjects to go and study in France.

Now spread across several buildings in the old town, the university comprises 39 colleges; with over 25,000 students studying political science, English, business, fine arts, philosophy and more. In addition to its lecture halls and its emblematic circular library, the Radcliffe Camera, the university boasts the Sheldonian Theatre, where lectures, concerts and ceremonies are held; as well as several museums, galleries and parks which are open to the public.

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