Scenic and Historic Cambridge
As one of the oldest universities in the world, Cambridge is full of historic colleges and beautiful gardens! Located an hour outside London or an hour from Milton Keynes, Cambridge is a perfect day trip!
How?
Because we lived in Milton Keynes and had our little go-kart, we simply drove and all it cost was a tank of gas and the high cost of parking on Cambridge’s high street.
Click here for all of our hard food and drink research for our day in Cambridge!
Coming out of London, it will be just as easy! Using Trainline, enter in London and destination as Cambridge. At the time of the post, roundtrip tickets are $22 and total travel from King’s Cross is 50 minutes! Not bad at all…
Train Tip: If you buy ahead of time, there are saver tickets!
For any tours, while we booked ahead of time, there definitely plenty of street sign ups especially for punting and walking tours!
Wandering Scenic Cambridge
When we decided to go to Cambridge, we wandered through the streets with no real agenda other than exploring one of the most historic cities in England!
First Things First - Brunch at the The Old Bicycle Shop
Like all good starts to your day, we had to get brunch! I found a lovely little cafe in an old bicycle shop. In Cambridge, because it is a college town, I don’t think there will ever be an issue with finding a breakfast or brunch. I had a great eggs benedict while MF had a croque monsieur.
Scenic Cambridge
Because we booked an afternoon tour, we had time to wander and explore scenic Cambridge. The streets are incredibly pretty as it doesn’t feel like a big city, rather a quaint English village trapped in a big city myth. In the village square, they had a nice weekend farmer’s market. As we walked through the streets, we would stumble on the the entrance to the colleges. Similar to their rival Oxford, every entrance is really decorated.
We almost went punting, the famous boating in the river in Cambridge, but the rain clouds deterred us so we promised we would go back.
Rather than risk the rain, we went into a wine bar, the Senate, for an afternoon snack. Nothing solves a rain break like wine and a warm camembert.
Cambridge Walking Tour
Rather than ruin future walking tours, I’ve listed out a few fun facts and places that we went on our walking tour. Surprisingly, the colleges were terrific and more beautiful than I anticipated. Compared to the rival Oxford, I enjoyed these college a lot more!
St. Mary’s Church
In my mind, out of all the historic churches, this is the main church in Cambridge. Not only is it a perfect postcard picture, but the church is involved in the biggest rule in Cambridge. All students have to stay within 3 miles and the teachers must live within 20 miles. How incredible!
Old by England Standards
In my first trip to Cambridge, I visited the famous RAF and USAF pub where WW2 pilots signed their names on the bar of the ceiling and continued to hold reunions after the war. However, when we stopped on the tour, I did not know that it was the oldest pub in Cambridge! For an American, this pub represents everything I could ever expect or want out of an English pub. With the tiny walls and ceilings, smell of draft beer, and a lively atmosphere, the pub is great! Even if it is a little tourist-y now.
As we stepped out of the pub, we were facing Cambridge’s oldest church, St Bene't's Church, dating back to the 1000s. Because there are many old churches in England, a big identifier is the church’s foundations are lower than the street!
Pembroke College
Founded by a French lady, Pembroke College has to be one of the prettiest colleges in England. The facade is entirely made of red brick while also incorporates more French architecture styles than the stuffy English colleges. As we stepped into the college, the grounds are really well manicured and we felt like we were stepping back in time. So far, Mary Frances prefers Cambridge because red brick is more prevalent here.
Kings College
In Cambridge, there is one college that ultimately ends up on most postcards and history books. Because King’s College was founded by all three King Henry (No. 6 - 8 ), the college receives a lot of attention and also blends over 100 years of history and architecture into one college, even though it was founded in 1441. Plus, it is founded by kings so what is not to like!
Trinity College
Known as the wealthiest college in the UK, Trinity College sits in Cambridge and also is gorgeous campus. Because Trinity was set up back in 1546, it is a prime position to receive land by kings. As one of the largest landowners in the UK, Trinity owns enough land to make it all the way to Oxford. However, most of the land is in London and are “only” places like the giant O2 Arena...
St Johns College
As a famous second or third fiddle, you could do worse at St John’s College. As the second wealthiest college in the UK, the college was rather upset that younger Trinity College got to own most of London. They “only” received most of the north - a tiny city called Manchester. At the time, it was a poor land holding but I think they are managing just fine with the second largest city in the UK!
The UnChartered Summary
Because there is a huge Cambridge versus Oxford rivalry, we had to go to each campus and see these historic universities for ourselves! In our opinion, we preferred Cambridge!
- If you want a typical American college experience, Cambridge feels more like a smaller town with more things to do in a tinier area
- Compared to Oxford, Cambridge has more noteworthy scientific colleges and achievements.
- The city is really easy to see all in one day and any visitor should go punting as well!