Can you believe that it took us this long to get to Cambridge? And it is so close to London! There are so many wonderful cities that are an easy day trip away from London.
Cambridge has been one of our favorites so far.
GETTING HERE FROM LONDON
Super quick train trip with little fuss. Plenty of train times from London Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and St. Pancras, and takes just over an hour. The train station is about a mile walk from the old town centre of Cambridge, but is easily accessible by bus or taxi... or BIKE!
CYCLE CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge is KNOWN for being a cycling city... so we couldn't let our time go by in Cambridge without hiring some bikes. I would recommend you do the same! This cycle hire shop, Rutland Cycles, was right outside the train station and were so accommodating for us and our big crew of adults and kids. Highly recommend!
And away we go! Four adults and four kids. The two older kids had tag long attachments, and the two younger kids were in bike seats. It worked perfectly.
We decided to not ride into downtown Cambridge, but to ride outside of the city along the river. We found this route from Cambridge to Anglesley Abbey, maintained by the National Trust. What a sweet bike ride! We rode by fields of yellow flowers, horses, pubs, the canal, boats, and finished at a beautiful National Trust site.
CAMBRIDGE CITY CENTER
Unfortunately, our weather was quite rainy the whole time we were there which made our kid-friendly activities a little less kid-friendly.
Walk up the church tower at Great St. Mary's Church. We were so surprised this was open as everything indoors was still closed due to Covid... but we didn't complain! The kids were kept busy by counting all the steps, and the views from the top were lovely.
Grab a sticky bun at Fitzbillie's. Time for a sweet break? Always! They're known for the ultra-sticky Chelsea buns which have been their most famous and most popular product since 1920.
Stop by King's College. This does require pre-booking, and we weren't allowed to go inside because of Covid rules... but we were able to walk around the grounds. King's College is one of the only colleges at Cambridge where their grounds are open to the public. This college is particularly famous for their boy choir- the King's College Singers.
Stop by to see the Corpus Clock. This was a hit for the kiddos. We stood and watched it for longer than I expected! It was officially unveiled to the public on 19 September 2008 by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking. The clock was named one of Time's Best Inventions of 2008. Watch out for the blinking eyelids!
Last but not least- don't forget to go punting, a favorite Cambridge pastime. Traditional Thames pleasure punts were not introduced to Cambridge until about 1902–1904, but they rapidly became the most popular craft on the river, and today there are probably more punts on the Cam than on any other river in England. This is partly because the river is shallow and gravelly which makes it ideal for punting, but mainly because the Cam goes through the heart of Cambridge and passes close to many attractive college buildings. **Note that this is the only way to see a lot of the college buildings as they are private!** The popularity of punting beside the old colleges in Cambridge can produce significant congestion on this relatively narrow stretch of the river during the peak tourist season, leading to frequent collisions between inexperienced punters... which we did see. AND it was kind of hilarious.
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