Cambridge is a university town on the River Cam, and almost everything on this page lies within a short walk of King's Parade, the street that runs past King's College Chapel and Great St Mary's. The colleges are working communities: King's sells tickets, Trinity admits visitors on guided tours and to its library at lunchtime, and all of them close at times for exams and events, while the Fitzwilliam Museum is free. Punting on the Cam is on the United Kingdom page; this page covers the city on foot and two day trips on a Second World War theme.
Plan around term. Full term runs from 6 October to 4 December 2026, and only in term does King's College Choir sing evensong six days a week. Most sights close by 17:00 and King's Chapel earlier, so give mornings to a college, afternoons to a museum or the meadows, and evenings to a choir or a pub.
Stand under the fan vault of King's College Chapel
King's Parade
Book ahead
Stand beneath the largest fan vault in the world, in a chapel a succession of kings built from 1448 to 1515.
What it is
King's College Chapel was built in stages by a succession of kings from 1448 to 1515, and its stone ceiling is the largest fan vault in the world. The stained glass was finished by 1531, Henry VIII added the carved wooden screen in the 1530s to celebrate his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and Rubens's Adoration of the Magi, painted in 1634, hangs above the altar.
How to do it
The self-guided ticket covers the chapel and the grounds by the Cam. In autumn 2026 adults paid £17 on weekdays and £18 at weekends on the day, or £15.75 and £16.75 online by the Sunday before. It opens from 09:30, last entry 15:15 on weekdays and 14:45 on Saturdays.
Good to know
It closes to sightseeing on term-time Sundays.
Best time
A weekday from 09:30; closed to sightseeing on Sundays in term
Hear the choir famous for its Christmas Eve carols sing evensong for free, open to everyone of any faith or none.
What it is
Evensong at King's is free and open to everyone, of any faith or none: a sung evening service of psalms, canticles and an anthem by the choir famous for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve. Services last up to an hour.
How to do it
In Michaelmas Term 2026 it sings at 17:30 from Monday to Saturday, with a sung Eucharist at that hour on Thursdays, and at 15:30 on Sundays; on Mondays King's Voices, the mixed choir, takes over. A queue forms at the main gate on King's Parade up to an hour before. The gate opens 30 minutes before and the chapel 15 minutes before.
Good to know
The gate shuts five minutes before the start, with no late entry. No bags bigger than cabin luggage, and no photos or recording.
Time needed
Up to 1 hour, plus the queue
Best time
17:30 Monday to Saturday in term, 15:30 on Sundays
Tour Trinity with a porter and see the Wren Library
Trinity College
Book ahead
See Trinity's closed courts with a porter, then visit the free Wren Library, whose treasures include Newton's own corrected Principia.
What it is
Trinity keeps its courts, Great Court included, closed to the public, so there are two ways in. The Wren Library, designed by Christopher Wren and open to visitors since 1695, rotates its displays, but its treasures include Newton's own first edition of the Principia with his corrections, Grinling Gibbons carvings and Thorvaldsen's statue of Byron.
How to do it
Porters lead guided tours daily at 10:00 and 14:00 for £10, under-12s free: book a slot online, pay by card on the day and meet at the Great Gate on Trinity Street. The library is free from Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 14:00 (last admission 13:50), and on term-time Saturdays from 10:30 to 12:30; enter by the Brewhouse Gate at the end of Garret Hostel Lane.
Good to know
During renovation the Dining Hall is not included in the tour.
Walk from Egyptian antiquities to Rembrandt and Van Gogh for free in the university's own art museum.
What it is
The Fitzwilliam, the university's museum of art and antiquities, was founded in 1816 with the bequest of the 7th Viscount FitzWilliam and opened in 1848 behind its great portico on Trumpington Street. The permanent galleries are free, and run from Egyptian antiquities and Greek and Roman sculpture to paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh and Picasso. From 23 October 2026 to 3 May 2027 the exhibition is A Call to Art: William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, with paintings, drawings and textiles from the museum's own collection.
How to do it
It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 and on Sundays and bank holidays from 12:00 to 17:00, and closes on Mondays, Good Friday, 24 to 26 and 31 December and 1 January. Book exhibition tickets online to be sure of your time.
Good to know
Walk-up tickets are sold on full days, but you may have to wait.
Wander a garden created by Darwin's mentor, with more than 8,000 plant species and glasshouses for cold days.
What it is
Created in 1831 by Professor John Stevens Henslow, Charles Darwin's mentor, and opened to the public in 1846, the University Botanic Garden covers 40 acres (16 hectares) of level ground with more than 8,000 plant species and a range of glasshouses for cold days.
How to do it
Enter by Brookside Gate on Trumpington Road, 15 minutes' walk from the centre, or Station Road Gate on Hills Road, five minutes from the station. It opens daily from 10:00 and closes at 18:00 from April to September, 17:00 in October and 16:00 from November to January. Adults pay £9.50 with a donation or £8.60 standard, 10% less booked ahead, and under-17s go free.
Good to know
It shuts from 24 December to 1 January. From 27 November to 23 December 2026, Cambridge Botanic Lights runs an evening light trail.
Time needed
2 hours
Best time
From 10:00; it closes at 16:00 from November to January
Walk the meadows to tea at The Orchard in Grantchester
Grantchester
No booking needed
Follow the Cam across the meadows to a tea garden where students started a tradition of tea under the fruit trees in 1897.
What it is
The classic Cambridge escape is the flat riverside walk to Grantchester. The goal is The Orchard Tea Garden at 47 Mill Way, where in May 1897 a group of students asked to take tea under the blossoming fruit trees and started a tradition. The poet Rupert Brooke lodged here in 1909, drawing friends such as Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein and Keynes. It serves coffee, light lunches, cream teas and homemade scones, outdoors in fine weather and in the Rupert Brooke Room in winter.
How to do it
Grantchester is about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the centre. Head south past Newnham to the path across Grantchester Meadows, where the Cam winds between fields and trees. Walk back or take the local bus.
Good to know
The Orchard takes no bookings, so expect queues at weekends, above all on Sundays.
Climb the tower of Great St Mary's over King's Parade
King's Parade
45 minutesNo booking needed
Climb 123 steps for the best view in the centre, with King's College Chapel and the Senate House just below.
What it is
Great St Mary's, the University Church, stands between King's Parade and the Market Square, and its tower gives the best view in the centre. The refurbished outdoor platform has a 360-degree panorama: King's College Chapel and the white Senate House just below, and the striped awnings of the market on the other side.
How to do it
Climb 123 steps to the top. Tickets are sold in the gift shop, with no reservation: £8.50 for adults, £6.50 for students and £4.50 for accompanied children aged 5 to 16. On the autumn timetable it opens Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 17:30, Friday and Saturday to 18:00 and Sunday from 12:00 to 16:30, depending on services.
Good to know
Last entry is 30 to 45 minutes before closing. For coffee, Michaelhouse Café is just north on Trinity Street.
Have a drink in the pub where Francis Crick interrupted lunch in 1953 to announce the structure of DNA.
What it is
The Eagle opened as a coaching inn in 1667 on Bene't Street, a few steps from St Bene't's, the oldest building in Cambridge, and was the lunchtime pub of scientists from the Cavendish Laboratory, then nearby on Free School Lane. On 28 February 1953 Francis Crick interrupted lunch to announce that he and James Watson had 'discovered the secret of life': the structure of DNA.
How to do it
A blue plaque by the door, replaced in 2023 to name Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins too, and two plaques in the middle room by the table where Crick and Watson ate tell the story, and the bar pours a commemorative ale called Eagle's DNA.
Good to know
At the back, the ceiling of the RAF Bar is covered with the names and squadron numbers that Second World War airmen wrote with candles, lighters and lipstick.
Best time
A weekday lunchtime, like the Cavendish scientists
Eat the Chelsea buns of a 1920 bakery that a public appeal by Stephen Fry helped bring back from bankruptcy.
What it is
Fitzbillies opened in November 1920 as an independent bakery on Trumpington Street, named after the nearby Fitzwilliam Museum, and it is known above all for its Chelsea buns. It survived bankruptcies in 1980 and 2011; after the second, a public appeal by the broadcaster and Cambridge alumnus Stephen Fry encouraged the restaurateur Tim Hayward to buy and reopen it.
How to do it
The original branch at 51 to 53 Trumpington Street has three doors: a coffee shop at No. 51 for takeaway, a table-service restaurant at No. 52 for brunch, lunch and afternoon tea, and the cake shop at No. 53, which sells the buns. It opens 08:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and from 08:30 at weekends, with no need to book unless you are six or more.
Good to know
The Fitzwilliam is a short walk away, so pair the two.
Pay your respects at the Cambridge American Cemetery
Madingley Road, Coton
1 to 2 hoursFree
Walk past the sweeping curve of 3,811 American headstones and the 5,127 names on the Walls of the Missing.
What it is
Three miles west of Cambridge, on land given by the university, the Cambridge American Cemetery holds 3,811 American dead of the Second World War, most lost in the Battle of the Atlantic or the bombing of north-west Europe. The headstones sweep in a wide curve across the lawn, best seen from the mall with its reflecting pools. Along it, the Walls of the Missing carry 5,127 names, with rosettes for those later identified, and the memorial at the far end holds a chapel, two huge military maps and a mosaic ceiling honouring the air forces. The visitor centre, with new displays since May 2026, tells the story of Americans in wartime Britain.
How to do it
Entry is free, with no booking, daily from 09:00 to 17:00. Bus No. 4 stops at the gates.
See the SR-71 Blackbird and the hangars of IWM Duxford
Duxford
At least half a dayBook ahead
See the only SR-71 Blackbird on display outside the United States, still the fastest crewed jet on record, beside a B-52.
What it is
IWM Duxford, south of Cambridge at junction 10 of the M11, is a historic airfield whose hangars, some from the First World War and the Battle of Britain, hold the Imperial War Museum's aircraft. The American Air Museum, designed by Norman Foster, has the only SR-71 Blackbird on display outside the United States, still the fastest crewed jet on record; it shares the hall with a B-52, and other hangars hold an Avro Vulcan and a Short Sunderland flying boat.
How to do it
Doors open at 10:00; closing time and ticket prices change with the season, so check them and book online before you go. On Sundays the 132 bus runs direct from Cambridge; on other days, take the train to Whittlesford Parkway and walk about 40 minutes.
Good to know
Allow at least half a day: the site is about 1.8 km end to end, and a visitor bus runs during opening hours.
Time needed
At least half a day
Best time
A Sunday, when the 132 bus runs direct from Cambridge
Glide past King's College Chapel and the Bridge of Sighs on the Backs, or take the pole yourself and steer, bump and laugh.
What it is
The College Backs stretch runs behind the colleges past King's College Chapel, the Mathematical Bridge, the Wren Library and the Bridge of Sighs, and it is where everyone wants to be. The Grantchester route goes upstream through Sheep's Green and Grantchester Meadows, quieter and more rural.
How to do it
Once you have the route, choose who holds the pole. A chauffeured punt, shared or private, lets you listen to the college stories; self-hire gives you your own boat after a short handover from the staff, and suits groups who are happy to steer, bump and laugh. Operators such as Scudamore's run from 09:00 to 17:00 in autumn, with the last tour at 16:00.
Good to know
Booking a time ahead is sensible on summer weekends.
Fast trains from London King's Cross reach Cambridge in about 45 minutes and leave roughly every half hour during the day; Greater Anglia runs trains from London Liverpool Street and direct from Stansted Airport. Cambridge station is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from King's College, and buses into the centre run roughly every ten minutes. National coaches stop near the city centre. Drivers should use one of the five Park and Ride sites around the edge of the city, since there is no public parking at the colleges.
Getting around
Walk, or cycle like the students. King's Parade, Trinity Street, the Market Square and the Fitzwilliam on Trumpington Street are minutes apart, and the Backs, the lawns behind the riverside colleges, are a short stroll west. The U bus from the station stops outside the Fitzwilliam every day. For day trips, the No. 4 bus stops at the gates of the American Cemetery, and on Sundays and bank holidays the 132 runs from the station to IWM Duxford. Bikes can be hired from local shops and some hotels.
How many days
In must30's view, two full days: one for King's College Chapel, the tower of Great St Mary's, the Wren Library at lunchtime and evensong at King's, and one for the Fitzwilliam, a Chelsea bun, the Botanic Garden and the walk to Grantchester, ending at the Eagle. Add a third day for IWM Duxford or the American Cemetery. Cambridge also works as a day trip from London if you pick King's, one museum and a punt.
When to go
Term brings the city to life: full term runs from 6 October to 4 December 2026 and from 19 January to 19 March 2027, and the college choirs sing evensong only in term. Spring and early autumn suit the meadows and the gardens; summer brings the most visitors. In term King's Chapel closes to sightseeing on Sundays, and in May and June exams bring closures and quiet rules to the colleges, so check each one's website on the day. The Botanic Garden's evening light trail runs from 27 November to 23 December 2026.
Where to base yourself
The streets around King's Parade, Trinity Street and the Market Square put everything on this page within walking distance. Around the station and along Hills Road you are close to the Botanic Garden and the trains for day trips, with more chain hotels. Mill Road, east of the station, has a long run of independent restaurants and cafés. Newnham, west of the river, is quiet and sits at the start of the path across the meadows to Grantchester.
Questions travellers ask
Can you go inside King's College Chapel?
Yes, with a self-guided ticket for the chapel and grounds. In autumn 2026 an adult paid £17 on weekdays and £18 at weekends on the day, or £15.75 and £16.75 online, a discount that ends each Sunday night for the week ahead. It opens from 09:30, with last entry at 15:15 on weekdays and 14:45 on Saturdays, and closes to sightseeing on Sundays in term; evensong is free.
Which Cambridge colleges can you visit?
King's sells tickets for its chapel and grounds every day except term-time Sundays. Trinity keeps its courts closed except on porter-led tours at 10:00 and 14:00 (£10), while its Wren Library is free at lunchtime on weekdays and its riverside Backs are normally open from 09:00 to 17:00. Every college closes at times for exams and private events, so check its website on the day.
Is Cambridge a good day trip from London?
Yes. Fast trains from King's Cross take about 45 minutes and run roughly every half hour. In one day, see King's College Chapel in the morning, eat a Chelsea bun at Fitzbillies, visit the free Fitzwilliam and stay for the choral service at King's at 17:30 before the train back.
Is the Fitzwilliam Museum free?
Yes. Entry to the permanent galleries is free, from Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 and on Sundays and bank holidays 12:00 to 17:00. Some exhibitions are ticketed, such as A Call to Art: William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, from 23 October 2026 to 3 May 2027.
How do you walk from Cambridge to Grantchester?
Follow the River Cam south past Newnham and across Grantchester Meadows: from the centre it is about 3.4 miles (5.5 km), almost all of it flat. At the end, The Orchard Tea Garden on Mill Way serves tea and scones without bookings. Walk back the same way or take the local bus.
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