A plan for Cambridge

Cambridge brings many images to mind: the breathtaking view of King's College Chapel from across the river Cam, the rich intricacy of Gothic architecture, students cycling to lectures, and lazy summer punting on the River Cam.

Cambridge manages to combine its role as an historic city with a world-renowned university and, since the 20th century, an internationally acknowledged centre of excellence for technology and science. The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. They chose the quiet town of Cambridge as a suitable location for study. In the 17th century Cambridge University educated many of the founders of an American university called Harvard, which is also in a place called Cambridge (named after the English university). Cambridge University has many famous alumni, including: mathematicians such as Sir Isaac Newton, scientists such as Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin, philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and writers such as John Milton and Lord Byron. It was the site of Rutherford's pioneering work in nuclear physics, and Francis, Crick, and Watson's DNA work (see the Eagle pub below). Cambridge academics have won more Nobel Prizes than those of any other university in the world. The rumour that just one college, Trinity, had more Nobel prize-winners than France, however, is false.

Colleges

Cambridge University consists of a number of semi-independent colleges, many central, some up to 3 mi (4.8 km) from the town centre (traditionally measured from Great St. Mary's church). The following are a good selection for sightseeing. Most of the colleges within the central area are worth a look, if you have the time.

Some colleges charge for entrance. It can be expensive, around £5 per person or more. If you're friends with a student, they're allowed to bring a visitor in for free. Colleges are typically closed to visitors during the University exam period, at the end of May and the first week of June.

Please remember to be respectful when visiting the colleges. They are students' homes for much of the year, and the workload and pressure at the University can be immense. Do not enter buildings you are not explicitly invited to, do not stare into people's windows, and be polite when taking photographs; be especially discreet in the libraries. Always remember that the colleges' role is first and foremost that of academic institutions; they are not there for tourists, and it is rude to do anything which impedes or inconveniences the people who live and work in them.

1 King's College and King's College Chapel, King's Parade, ☏ +44 1223 331212. College grounds open term-time Mon-Fri 9:30AM–3:30PM, Sat 9:30AM–3:15PM, Sun 1:15PM–2:15PM and 5PM-5:30PM (summer only). Out of term Mon-Sat 9:30AM–4:30PM, Sun 10AM-5PM. Grounds closed during exams (late April to mid June) though Chapel is open. Chapel opening times vary, ring for details. The most visited attraction in Cambridge, the architecture of King's College Chapel towers above the town and its world-famous choir have spread its reputation around the globe. £15 adults, £12.50 children/students with ID. 50p extra for weekend visits, £1 less for booking online in advance (recommended; King's gets extremely busy on weekends and ticket numbers are limited). (updated Nov 2024)

Explore the backs. It's free, and gives you a real flavour of the city. You can walk through King's College, onto King's Parade, a beautiful row of exclusive shops. You can also experience the backs by punt which is extremely popular.

Punting. 9:30AM-dusk daily. If anything is stereotypically 'Cambridge', this is it. Punting involves propelling a flat bottomed boat with a long wooden pole (quant) by pushing a pole against the shallow river bottom. For the full effect, take strawberries and Champagne to quaff as you glide effortlessly down the river. You can either travel along the famous College Backs or head out towards the village of Grantchester. Guided tours are also available from around £20 per person on the day. Save by booking online; tour companies are many and easily googled. If you're up for more of an adventure, try it out for yourself on a self-hire boat (typically about £30/hour for an entire punt, so can be a lot cheaper if you are part of a group). Punting to Grantchester (upriver) takes about an hour and a half for an experienced punter or tour, and the complete journey takes much longer for first-timers. Along the Grantchester route there are riverbanks on the way for mooring up with meadowland suitable for picnics (pranksters have been known to push unattended punts out into the river.)

Cambridge has a good range of eateries, as well as a daily market next to Great St Mary's Church where there are maybe 10-15 food stalls. Many of these offer vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, all for reasonable prices (a falafel wrap, for example, is £4-5).

Budget

1 Michaelhouse Cafe, Trinity St (inside St. Michael's Church). Mon-Sat 9:30AM-5PM. Beautiful cafe serving excellent sandwiches, salads, hot dishes, and soups. Desserts as well. Vegetarian options always available. Lunch served until 3PM. (updated Feb 2023)

2 Tatties, 11 Sussex Street. Busy cafe serving jacket potatoes and sandwiches. Very popular with students around lunch time. (updated Feb 2023)

3 Savinos, 3 Emmanuel Street. Authentic Italian coffee bar. Best espresso and cappuccino in town. (updated Feb 2023)

4 Trockel, Ulmann & Freunde, 13 Pembroke St. (updated Feb 2023)

5 The Garden Kitchen, 82 Mill Rd. (updated Feb 2023)

6 Cafe Oriental Dumpling Bar, 9 Burleigh St. (updated Feb 2023)

7 Zis Piri Piri, 36A Mill Rd. (updated Feb 2023)

Mid-range

8 The Cambridge Chop House, 1 King's Parade, CB2 1SJ, ☏ +44 1223 359506. Sun-Thu noon-10:30PM, Fri Sat noon-11PM. Good British cuisine in a great location, real ale (well kept!), attentive service, fixed lunch & (early) dinner menu (2 course). Booking recommended. £30-40. (updated Feb 2023)

9 De Luca Cucina & Bar, 83 Regent St, ☏ +44 1223 356666. Sun 10AM-9:30PM, Mon-Thu 11AM-11PM, Fri Sat 11AM-midnight. Great little Italian/British Fusion Restaurant with reasonable prices and great staff! (updated Feb 2023)

Charming pubs and peculiar drinking traditions abound. Cambridge has a colossal number of pubs, over 110 at the last count. For specialist and obscure spirits and wines check out Bacchanalia, or any of the Cambridge Wine Merchants stores.

1 The Cambridge Blue, 85 Gwydir Street. A friendly pub with a large garden and good range of real ale.

2 The Castle Inn, 38 Castle St,CB3 0AJ. One of the best and busiest, traditional pubs in Cambridge. With an eclectic mix of locals and visitors, it can get impossibly busy of Friday and Saturday nights, however, the beer is excellent (the wine less so) and the food is home cooked and good value - the "Castle Burger" is a popular choice. (updated Aug 2021)

3 Champion Of The Thames, 68 King St, CB1 1LN, ☏ +44 1223 351464. Old style pub in the centre of town with a blazing fireplace in the winter. One of the few pubs to sell a local cider rather than the mass-produced stuff. (updated Aug 2021)

4 The Devonshire Arms, 1 Devonshire Rd, CB1 2BH (Mill Road end), ☏ +44 1223 318610. Good selection of Milton Brewery beers. Good menu. Friendly, and handy for the station. (updated Aug 2021)

5 The Eagle, 8 Bene't St, CB2 3QN, ☏ +44 1223 505020. Franklin, Watson, and Crick were regulars here whilst in the process of unravelling the secrets of DNA. American airmen also burned their names into the roof of one of the bars during the Second World War. (updated Aug 2021)

6 The Fort St George, Midsummer Common, ☏ +44 1223 354327. Noon-11PM. Been there for hundreds of years, overlooks the Cam and Midsummer Common. Also one of the best places in town for a pub lunch! (Think Sunday roast.) (updated Aug 2021)

7 The Free Press, 7 Prospect Row. Small, traditional and charming pub off a quiet street. Well-kept selection of real ales. Smoking terrace outside

8 The Granta, 14 Newnham Road. A large terrace looks out on the river and surrounding nature. Popular during the summer, this pub serves excellent food, and rents out punts and canoes.

9 The Kingston Arms, 33 Kingston St, Cambridge CB1 2NU, ☏ +44 1223 319414. Underrated old-fashioned free house with friendly atmosphere, open later than other Cambridge bars (2AM weekends, drinking-up time generally half an hour).

10 The Live and Let Live, Mawson Road. A small and very friendly place with an excellent selection of real ales.

Cambridge is mostly pedestrian-friendly: most sights can be easily reached on foot and much of the central area is traffic-free. Some of the pavements are shared use between pedestrians and cyclists; this can catch you out unless you watch out for it. Cambridge walking directions can be planned online with Google maps & other websites & apps. Students and locals often use bikes to get around and hiring a bike is a viable alternative to simply walking.

You can also opt for a hop-on, hop-off open-top sightseeing bus which provides commentary in several languages. The sightseeing bus passes the railway station, American Cemetery, and many of the historic colleges, but as the city centre is pedestrianised, it can approach the more central colleges on only Sundays.

There is little need to use the local bus services unless you are staying in a far-flung area of the city, but they are clean and efficient if you need to. Citi buses cost between £1 and £2 for individual cash fares within Cambridge City (change is given but drivers may refuse large denomination notes), contactless payments are available on most buses, but just tell the driver your destination as you board and take your ticket from the machine. The dominant bus operator is Stagecoach but Whippet also operate buses within the city and offer day tickets for their buses only. There is a multi operator bus day ticket available for £8 which you can purchase on the bus services of any participating operator. If you are arriving in Cambridge by rail, Plusbus tickets offer good value.

Although Cambridge is one of the safer cities in the UK, you should use your common sense at night and be careful in badly-lit areas outside the city centre. As of 2019, pick-pockets are taking advantage of the throngs of tourists on King's Parade and the nearby shops; keep an eye on valuables. It is wise to be on your guard around Regent Street & St Andrew's Street after midnight with anti-social behaviour due to people leaving pubs and nightclubs.

Bicycle theft is an ongoing problem. If you have a bike, keep it locked up to a solid object with a strong lock (preferably a D-lock), as cycle theft is big business. There are cycle parking places with cycle stands to lock you bike to, in several places around the city centre and at the railway station. "Secure" covered cycle parking with CCTV surveillance and cycle stands is available in the lower section of the Park Street car park and at the Grand Arcade cycle park.

The city's police station is on Parkside which is next door to the city's fire station. The opening times of the enquiry office is every day 8AM-10PM and bank holidays 9AM-5PM. There are a couple of smaller stations in the nearby villages of Histon and Sawston. The opening time of the enquiry office is for Histon, Mondays; 4PM-8PM, Wednesdays to Fridays; 8AM - midday, with Tuesdays, weekends and bank holidays closed. For Sawston, it is Wednesdays to Friday; 1PM-5PM, Mondays, weekends and bank holidays closed. The non-emergency contact number is 101, calls are fixed rate of £0.15 on landlines and mobiles.

The city's Accident and Emergency department (Casualty department) is located at Addenbrooke's Hospital on Hills Road, south of the city centre.