Punts on the river, chapels older than most countries and a museum full of treasures: Cambridge is a university town you can see in a day and love for a lifetime.
Cambridge has been a place of learning for more than eight hundred years. Its university is one of the oldest and most famous in the world, made up of thirty one colleges, many of them with medieval courtyards, chapels and gardens running down to the River Cam. Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking all studied or worked here, and the city still hums with ideas.
For visitors, Cambridge is a joy because so much is packed into a small, flat centre that is easy to walk or cycle. This guide covers eight things we would put on a first visit, with tips on timing, tickets and the best way to see the colleges, followed by where to eat and how to get there from London and the airports.
1. King’s College Chapel
King’s College Chapel is the most famous building in Cambridge and one of the greatest examples of late Gothic architecture in the world. It was begun in 1446 on the orders of King Henry VI and took nearly seventy years to finish, through the reigns of five kings. The chapel was completed under Henry VIII, whose initials and emblems are carved all over the walls.
Step inside and your eyes are drawn straight up to the ceiling. It is the largest fan vault in the world, a stone ceiling of delicate ribs that seems far too light to stay up. The tall windows are filled with sixteenth century stained glass, telling stories from the Bible, and they are among the finest of their age anywhere in Europe.
Behind the altar hangs The Adoration of the Magi by Rubens, one of the most valuable paintings in any church in Britain. The carved wooden screen that divides the chapel was made for Henry VIII and carries the initials of Anne Boleyn. There is a small exhibition about how the chapel was built.
The chapel is home to one of the world’s best known choirs, which sings Evensong on most days during the university term. Attending Evensong is free, and hearing the choir in that building is a moment you will not forget. On Christmas Eve, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is broadcast around the world. There is a charge to visit the chapel outside services, and it closes for some events, so check before you go.
2. Punting on the Cam
Punting is the classic Cambridge experience. A punt is a long, flat bottomed boat pushed along with a pole that you plant on the riverbed. Gliding along the river past the colleges is one of the loveliest ways to spend an hour in England.
The most famous stretch is the Backs, where the river runs behind several of the grandest colleges, including Queens’, King’s, Clare, Trinity and St John’s. You pass under a series of beautiful bridges, including the wooden Mathematical Bridge at Queens’ and the covered Bridge of Sighs at St John’s. The views of King’s College Chapel across the lawns are the most photographed in the city.
There are two ways to go. A chauffeured punt tour, with a guide doing the hard work and telling stories about the colleges, takes around forty five minutes and is the easiest option. You can also hire a punt and do it yourself, which is great fun but harder than it looks, and many first timers end up spinning in circles or losing the pole.
Punts leave from several points along the river, including Quayside, near Magdalene Bridge, and near Silver Street and the Mill Pond. Prices vary, so it is worth comparing a few before you book. The river is busiest on summer weekends, when there can be traffic jams of punts on the Backs. Early morning or early evening is calmer and the light is softer.
3. The Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the university’s art and antiquities museum, and one of the finest museums in Britain outside London. It was founded in 1816 with a gift from Viscount Fitzwilliam, and its grand building on Trumpington Street has columns, a dome and marble halls. Entry is free.
The collection is huge and varied. There are Egyptian coffins and mummies, Greek and Roman sculpture, medieval manuscripts, arms and armour, coins and ceramics. The painting galleries include works by Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne and Picasso.
It is easy to spend a whole afternoon here. If you only have an hour, head for the Egyptian galleries and the Impressionists. The museum shop and café make a good break between sights.
Cambridge has several other excellent university museums, most of them free. The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has objects from around the world, the Sedgwick Museum is full of fossils and dinosaurs, the Museum of Zoology has a huge whale skeleton hanging in its entrance, and the Polar Museum tells the story of the explorers of the Arctic and Antarctic. Kettle’s Yard, a house full of modern art arranged just as its owner left it, is one of the most peaceful places in the city.
4. Trinity College and the Wren Library
Trinity College, founded by Henry VIII in 1546, is the largest college in Cambridge, and one of the richest. Its Great Court is said to be the largest enclosed courtyard in Europe. Isaac Newton lived and worked here, and legend says he measured the speed of sound by stamping his foot in the cloisters and timing the echo.
The college’s alumni include dozens of Nobel Prize winners, six British prime ministers and many famous writers and poets. Outside the main gate grows an apple tree said to be descended from the tree that inspired Newton’s ideas about gravity. Look up at the statue of Henry VIII above the gate, which holds a chair leg instead of a sceptre, thanks to a student prank long ago.
The Wren Library, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and completed in the 1690s, is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Its treasures include Newton’s own notebooks and the original manuscripts of Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A.A. Milne, who studied at Trinity. The library is open to visitors at limited times, usually around midday on weekdays, so check before you go.
Next door, St John’s College has beautiful courts and gardens and the Bridge of Sighs. Many colleges charge an entry fee, and most close to visitors during the exam period in late spring and early summer. If a college is closed, you can still see a lot of it from the river.
5. The Botanic Garden
The Cambridge University Botanic Garden covers forty acres, a short walk from the railway station. It was opened on this site in 1846 by John Henslow, a botanist who was a mentor to the young Charles Darwin. It is one of the most beautiful gardens in the country.
The garden is laid out with lawns, lakes, rock gardens and beds of plants from around the world. Its glasshouses hold tropical rainforest plants, desert cacti and alpine flowers. There are more than eight thousand species of plants in the collection.
Among its trees is one grown from Newton’s famous apple tree, and there are champion trees of great age and size. The winter garden is lovely even on a grey day, with coloured stems and scented flowers. Spring brings blossom, and summer brings the herbaceous borders to their peak.
There is a café, and the garden is a peaceful place to relax between sights or while waiting for a train. There is an entry charge. It is a lovely spot for families, with plenty of space for children to run around.
6. Great St Mary’s and the city centre
Great St Mary’s, the university church, stands on the Market Square in the heart of the city. Its tower is one of the best viewpoints in Cambridge, and you can climb just over a hundred steps to the top. From there you look down on King’s College Chapel, the Senate House, the market and the rooftops of the colleges.
The Market Square below has hosted a market for centuries, and today its stalls sell fruit, vegetables, books, clothes and street food every day. On weekends there are more arts and crafts. It is a good place to pick up lunch.
Nearby, on the corner of Bene’t Street, is the Corpus Clock, an unusual modern clock with a giant metal insect called the Chronophage, or time eater, on top. The clock is deliberately inaccurate, speeding up and slowing down, as a reminder that time is fleeting. Crowds gather to watch it.
Just along Bene’t Street is the Eagle, a pub where scientists Francis Crick and James Watson announced in 1953 that they had discovered the structure of DNA. In the back bar, the ceiling is covered with the signatures of airmen from the Second World War, written with lighters and candles. It is one of the most famous pubs in England.
7. Grantchester
Grantchester is a pretty village about two miles south of Cambridge, reached by a lovely walk or punt along the river. The path runs across Grantchester Meadows, where cows graze beside the water and willows hang over the river. It is one of the best known walks in England.
The village is famous for the Orchard Tea Garden, where visitors have sat in deckchairs under apple trees and eaten scones since the end of the nineteenth century. The poet Rupert Brooke lodged here before the First World War and wrote a famous poem about the village. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, economist John Maynard Keynes and novelist Virginia Woolf all visited.
Grantchester has pubs with gardens and a village church. It has also become well known as the setting of a television detective series. The village feels deeply peaceful, a world away from the crowds of the city.
The walk takes about an hour each way at a gentle pace. You can also punt there, but it is a long journey upstream and best done with a chauffeur or experienced friends. In summer, many people swim in the river at Grantchester Meadows, though it is not supervised.
8. Anglesey Abbey and Ely
Two excellent day trips lie just outside Cambridge. Anglesey Abbey, about six miles north east, is a country house run by the National Trust. It was built on the site of an old priory and filled with art and treasures by Lord Fairhaven in the twentieth century.
The house is lovely, but the gardens are the real star. They cover more than a hundred acres, with avenues of trees, statues and a winter garden famous for its white birch trees and coloured stems. A working watermill still grinds flour.
Ely, about fifteen miles north, is a tiny city with one of the greatest cathedrals in England. Known as the Ship of the Fens, it rises from the flat landscape and can be seen for miles. It has a unique octagon tower and a museum of stained glass.
Trains run from Cambridge to Ely in about fifteen minutes, but Anglesey Abbey is easier to reach by car. A driver by the hour lets you combine both in a single day. Both are also lovely in winter, when the crowds are smaller.
Where to eat and drink
Cambridge has a great mix of places to eat. The Market Square is good for street food at lunchtime, and there are cafés and tea rooms all over the centre, many in historic buildings. For something different, Mill Road, to the east of the centre, has restaurants and food shops from all over the world.
Old pubs are part of the Cambridge experience, from the Eagle, with its DNA story, to riverside pubs with gardens and pubs on Grantchester Meadows. The city also has several highly regarded restaurants, some with national reputations, so it is worth booking ahead at weekends.
Tips for visiting the colleges
Each college sets its own opening times and prices, and most close to visitors during exams from around late April to June, and on some other days for events. Check the college websites before you go. Some offer guided tours with students.
Many colleges ask visitors to keep off the grass and to be quiet in courtyards, as people live and work there. The best way to see several colleges in a short time is from a punt on the Backs.
Getting there and getting around
Cambridge station is about a mile south east of the centre, a twenty minute walk or short bus ride away. Fast trains from London King’s Cross take around fifty minutes, and trains from London Liverpool Street take a little longer. Cambridge North station serves the northern side of the city.
Stansted Airport is about thirty miles south, around forty minutes by road, and there are direct trains. Heathrow and Gatwick are around an hour and a half to two hours away. Parking in the centre is limited and expensive, and many streets are closed to cars, so park and ride sites on the edges of the city are the easiest way to arrive by car.
Cambridge is a cycling city, and bikes are everywhere, so watch out when crossing the road. A car booked ahead is the easiest way to get to and from Stansted or Heathrow with luggage, and to reach Anglesey Abbey, Ely and the villages around the city.
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