Things to See & Do

By the 7th century, the town was less significant and described by Bede as a “little ruined city” containing the burial site of Æthelthryth (Etheldreda). The principal Roman site is a small fort (castrum) Duroliponte on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre around the location of the earlier British village. The Strawberry Fair music and art festival and Midsummer Fair are held on Midsummer Common, and the annual Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on Jesus Green. The city’s skyline is dominated by several college buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, and the chimney of Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although modern city status was not officially conferred until 1951. There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age, and Cambridge became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking eras.

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The brave and the skilled do the stick-bit themselves, but if you’re a first-timer, book a gondolier-like guide to navigate the River Cam for you. Finish the day with a fancy meal at the city’s finest, Midsummer House or Restaurant Twenty-Two, then watch the sun go down over Mill Road with an after-dinner cocktail at Bar 196. So, if you’re looking for a quiet weekend break? When you think of Cambridge, you probably think of the university (where a bunch of very famous and very clever people started out). From punting to theatre, here’s how to smash a weekend break in this picture-perfect city

• The city centre of Cambridge is mostly commercial, historic buildings, and large green areas such as Jesus Green, Parker’s Piece and Midsummer Common.
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• If there’s a city in the UK where a person shouldn’t have to apologise for being a bit of a geek, it’s Cambridge.
• The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival is an eight-week season of open-air performances of the works of William Shakespeare, held in the gardens of various colleges of the university.
• Cambridge and its surrounds are sometimes referred to as Silicon Fen, an allusion to Silicon Valley, because of the density of high-tech businesses and technology incubators that have developed on science parks around the city.

Just an hour by train from London and you’re in the city of dreaming spires. The Broads is a breath of fresh air, beautifully webbed with lakes, fens and rivers. From tales of famous students, including Isaac Newton, to stories of student pranks, join a guided tour and discover Cambridge’s scholarly excellence alongside city secrets. This eclectic gathering features everything from film premieres and cultural debates, to live music and science lectures. For the best views over Cambridge, head to the tower of this 800-year-old church…

Extend your experience

Water was brought from Nine Wells, at the foot of the Gog Magog Hills to the southeast of Cambridge, into the centre of the town. This charter transferred supervision of baking and brewing, weights and measures, and forestalling and regrating, from the town to the university. After the Viking period, the Saxons enjoyed a return to power, building churches, such as St Bene’t’s Church, as well as wharves, merchant houses, and a mint which produced coins with the town’s name abbreviated to “Grant”. Cambridge industry is extensive but, from the city centre, is unobtrusive. Other noteworthy churches in the city include St. Benet’s with its Saxon tower, the restored Norman Holy Sepulchre Church (one of only four round churches in England), and St. Edward’s Church. Most of the city is built on the east bank of the River Cam, a tributary of the Ouse.

• Cambridge Science Park, which is the largest commercial R&D centre in Europe, is owned by Trinity College; St John’s is the landlord of St John’s Innovation Centre.
• Within the university, 84% of undergraduates and 80% of post-graduates identified as white (including overseas students).
• For an alternative way to see the iconic university and its striking architecture, hop aboard a hire punt along the River Cam, choose a chauffeured tour or try your hand at punting.
• The city, like most of the UK, has a maritime climate highly influenced by the Gulf Stream.
• The university and its colleges are well known for rowing and the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association, formed in 1868, organises competitive rowing on the river outside of the university.

There are plenty of cycle lanes – sometimes so well-hidden, that a pack of bikes seem to come out of nowhere, so keep an eye out. Because of this, the city is well set up for riders, and locals on foot are used to dodging wayward wheels. A niche museum that’s all about Cambridge University’s world-class polar research. The Orchard Tea Garden was once a favoured haunt of the city’s literati. It’s also one of a handful of freehouses in the city, meaning it has a seemingly endless selection of real ales on tap and local brews. The Cambridge Junction must be one of the UK’s best music venues.

If you don’t want Google’s repository, do ‘sudo touch/etc/default/google-chrome’ before installing the package. Flour milling, asphalt manufacture, and cement making have also been important. Cambridge has good rail and road access to London, about 60 miles (95 km) south. Great buttresses, lofty spires and turrets, a high vaulted roof, heraldic devices, and magnificent stained-glass windows are among the notable features of the chapel.

On the first Saturday in June Midsummer Common is the site for Strawberry Fair, a free music and children’s fair, with various market stalls. Several fairs and festivals take place in Cambridge, mostly during the British summer. Artist-run organisations including Aid & Abet, Cambridge Art Salon, Changing Spaces and Motion Sickness also run exhibitions, events and artists’ studios in the city, often in short-term or temporary spaces. Singers Matthew Bellamy, of the rock band Muse, Tom Robinson, Olivia Newton-John and Charli XCX were born in the city. The band’s former songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett was born and lived in the city, and he and another founding member, Roger Waters, went to school together at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.

A third railway station, Cambridge South, near Addenbrooke’s Hospital is now under construction; it is expected to open in 2025. A second railway station, Cambridge North, opened on 21 May 2017; it was originally planned to open in March 2015. The station’s original line to London was to Bishopsgate, via Bishops Stortford.

Garden House

Cambridge had a significant Jewish community in the middle ages, centred on what is now known as All Saints Passage, then known as the Jewry. It granted the town monopoly of waterborne traffic and hithe tolls and recognised the borough court. Like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports chikan road that Vikings arrived in 875; they imposed Viking rule, the Danelaw, by 878. Cambridge sat on the border between the East and Middle Anglian kingdoms, and the settlement slowly expanded on both sides of the river. The eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettle’s Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill.

Administrative history

Barnwell East local nature reserve provides excellent walking throughout the year We bring our world-class musicians right to you for babies, tots and grown-ups. Arts Club Cambridge is where you can discover world-class music, state of the art sound and a central location bringing you closer to the music that matters. Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is an orchestra based in Cambridge with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Come summer, Cambridge is buzzing with al fresco performances of music in the parks and green spaces as part of the annual Summer in the City programme of events. King’s College Chapel is celebrated for its choral services including the famous A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcast live by the BBC to the nation and across the globe on Christmas Eve.

Cambridge & Coleridge Athletic Club is the city’s track and field club, based at the University of Cambridge’s Wilberforce Road track. Rowing clubs based in the city include City of Cambridge RC, Cambridge ’99 RC, Cantabrigian RC and Rob Roy BC. The university and its colleges are well known for rowing and the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association, formed in 1868, organises competitive rowing on the river outside of the university. Rugby union club Cambridge R.U.F.C. were founded in 1923 and play in the RFU Championship at their home ground, Grantchester Road, in the south-west corner of the city. The Cambridgeshire Cricket Association operates an amateur club cricket league with six adult divisions, including numerous clubs in the city, plus junior divisions.

Mathematical Bridge

A museum full of vintage electronics, including everything from a mammoth microprocessor to Pac-Man. A panoramic view of the city, 123 steps up. The marvellously creepy insect straddling it appears to ‘eat’ time – a reminder that we don’t have as much of it left as we think. Just don’t head here if you actually need to know the time. A very large and bizarre clock designed to make you fear the incessant ticking away of each moment on earth. If there’s a city in the UK where a person shouldn’t have to apologise for being a bit of a geek, it’s Cambridge.

See art and antiquities at The Fitzwilliam Museum

Many other pupils from the Cambridge area attend village colleges, an educational institution unique to Cambridgeshire, which serve as secondary schools during the day and adult education centres outside of school hours. Since 2011, the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has carried bus services into the centre of Cambridge from St Ives, Huntingdon and other towns and villages along the routes, operated by Stagecoach in the Fens and Whippet. Another major business is Marshall Aerospace located on the eastern edge of the city. Many of these parks and buildings are owned or leased by university colleges, and the companies often have been spun out of the university. Cambridge and its surrounds are sometimes referred to as Silicon Fen, an allusion to Silicon Valley, because of the density of high-tech businesses and technology incubators that have developed on science parks around the city. The town’s river link to the surrounding agricultural land, and good road connections to London in the south meant Cambridge has historically served as an important regional trading post.

From making your own gin with one of the world’s most innovative distilleries, to trying the best of the Cambridge food scene – here are some uniquely Cambridge experiences to seek out during your stay A Sikh community has met in the city since 1982, and a Gurdwara was opened in Arbury in 2013. There are also several local Buddhist meditation groups from various Buddhist including Samatha Trust and Buddha Mettā Society.A Hindu shrine was opened in 2010 at the Bharat Bhavan Indian cultural centre off Mill Road. Opened in 2019, it is described as Europe’s first eco-friendly mosque and is the first purpose-built mosque within the city.

A long, street art-splashed road to the west of the city that encompasses quaint terraces and cool independent shops. Grab lunch with the locals at the tightly packed street-food stalls in the centre of town. Located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Addenbrooke’s is one of the largest hospitals in the United Kingdom and is a designated regional trauma centre.The East of England Ambulance Service covers the city and has an ambulance station on Hills Road. Most of the university colleges also operate their own teams, and there are several casual village cricket teams that play in the city suburbs. The city has one university technical college, Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, which opened in September 2014.

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Scudamore’s Punting Company

Create lasting memories exploring this idyllic city. Take a punt on the River Cam to see the city from a unique perspective, or test your balancing skills on a stand-up paddle board for an adventurous way to see the sights. Get in a metaphorical time machine and remind yourself of the days before iPhones and Alexas.

For an alternative way to see the iconic university and its striking architecture, hop aboard a hire punt along the River Cam, choose a chauffeured tour or try your hand at punting. Close to all the main sights, this residential area is just a short walk from the city centre. While this annual festival is renowned for its raucous parties and amazing club nights (of which there are plenty!), its roots lie in activism – so don’t miss the loud-and-proud Parade. From sailing and kayaking to rock climbing and paddleboarding – this activity centre has adventures for all ages.