Cambridge England

Cam River

Punting on the Cam River

Two Digital Gypsies Rating – 4 Stars

To see the YouTube video of our visit to Cambridge, please click here.

Home of Cambridge University founded in 1209 and is ranked as one of the top five universities in the world. There are also over 30 colleges in Cambridge with the largest being Trinity College. Colleges in England are different from colleges in the US in that they are simply places for students to sleep and eat (according to our tour guide).

Living in Bury St Edmunds we thought it would be fun to take a train ride to Cambridge and see the sights there. We are learning that finding parking in the cities we visit in England is challenging if not almost impossible so a train ride cures that problem.

Round trip tickets for the train were 10 pounds each and in just 1/2 hour we were in Cambridge.

The walk from the train station to Market Hill took 30 minutes and when arrived we spend some time browsing the stalls in the square and had breakfast at the square.

We had reservations for a walking tour which I highly recommend if you visit Cambridge. Even though our guide was what I would describe as average, you do learn facts and history about Cambridge that makes the visit even more enjoyable. On the walking tour we saw Queen’s College, King’s College Chapel, and the Corpus clock to name a few. The Corpus clock and King’s College Chapel are a must see if you visit Cambridge.

When the walking tour ended we decided we would go punting on the River Cam. Basically punting is a young strong person on the back of the boat with a long pole propelling you up and down the river. It was great and I highly encourage you go punting if you visit Cambridge. You get a whole different perspective of the city from the water. I also recommend you hire the guide and not rent the boat and punt yourself. If you want to see why you shouldn’t rent your own boat take a look at our YouTube video of amateurs trying to punt.

After punting we ate a snack and meandered our way back towards the train station stopping at shops and book stores along the way.

Seeing Cambridge was a treat and since it is so close we are looking forward to another trip there.