Exploring Cambridge: bridges, parks and many pretty buildings

On a sunny day in August I found myself in Cambridge, on the way back from a wedding in Essex. As my sister, Lou, and I were passing, we figured a trip to the city was in order.

Cambridge is such an interesting city which I was excited to explore further. So I figured I’d share my visit with you!

Where is Cambridge?

Cambridge is an old city in South-East England, and is the county town of Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge is known for several different reasons, but the biggest one has got to be its university. Founded back in 1209, the University of Cambridge has been around so long that it’s uniquely woven with the fabric of the city, enriching it with gorgeous architecture and a scholarly air. (I felt smarter just visiting!)

Nowadays, Cambridge remains an insanely popular city for tourists to visit. It has that quintessential old British city kind of feel, and the charm is unreal.

Visiting Cambridge

The day that Lou and I visited, it was insanely hot, and we were roasting as we searched for a parking space in the centre. By the time we found a place to park just off Castle Street (which I absolutely do not recommend – it was a very chaotic car park), we were already knackered.

Still, we were here, and had 4 hours of parking on the clock in which we could explore!

We headed south, taking only a small detour to visit Castle Mound, which was the site of the former Cambridge Castle during the mediaeval period. Before then, I didn’t know Cambridge had even had a castle. Now there’s just a mound left behind from those times, which wasn’t much to look at – although it was a good place to admire what we could see of the city from afar.

Punting

After walking for five minutes down Magdalene Street, the city suddenly got quite busy. The reason for this is simple: we’d reached the River Cam.

One of the top activities that tourists do in Cambridge is punting – pushing flat wooden boats down the river with a metal stick. It’s all the rage in the city and I’m not entirely sure why this boat has ended Still, I’ll admit that going down the river as a passenger, moving slowly over the slow water, has a sort of delight to it.

I was surprised to see that the punts were super sized. I’ve only ever seen the smaller punts in Oxford, which fit four or so people (and even then it’s a squeeze). However, in Cambridge the punts could fit twelve!

There were a lot of people going on guided tours through the water – at £20 per person for a forty minute boat ride, I’m not sure I would be so generous. The odd boat was trying it out themselves, and I only saw one go into the bushes (we’ve all been there).

Jesus Green

Wandering down by the river, we came out into a largish park, known as Jesus Green. Here seemed to be the end of the punting guided tours, so it was quieter and more peaceful. We saw a boat selling Pimm’s, which seemed perfect for the weather.

After sitting here for a while to catch our breaths, we continued our explore through the park. Possibly the most exciting moment was when we saw furry black and yellow caterpillars on the path. We both began to scoop them up to put them on the side as the path was so busy. 

Imagine my surprise when one landed on my back! Lou kindly took the cutie off me and put it in the grass to be with its fuzzy friends.

From a bit of looking into it later, I believe they were buff tip caterpillars. The moth they turn into looks the sweetest and I’m glad we got to see a few.

Out of the centre

We continued walking through Jesus Green and emerged on the other side. At this point I have to say, we did get a bit befuddled and wandered around, passing through the Grafton Centre (which was so quiet, it was super odd) and seeing a few cafes that looked great for the average Cambridge student.

Eventually with the help of good old Google Maps, we made it back into the centre and had a moosh around the Grand Arcade, another shopping centre with good air-con.

A short while later, we wandered out onto the other side and were so happy to see we were back in the oldy-worldy part of Cambridge again.

Market time

At this point in our explores, Lou and I were a bit hungry and regretted not stopping at one of the quiet cafes we’d seen earlier. So we were excited when we came across Cambridge Market.

This market is right in the centre, opposite Great St Mary’s, the University Church. There are maybe a hundred or so stalls to browse, some of which sell tourist tat and more interesting souvenirs, and some of which sell food. I looked at all of them of course, but our bellies talked, and the food drew us most of all.

There were a lot of international food options – Chinese, Thai, Venezuelan, and Indian were just some of the few I saw. After much deliberation we settled on a tofu butter chicken at one of the stalls, and settled down to eat at one of the tables.

More exploring

After the market, we went up the street to Heffers Bookshop, which a friend recommended to us. Like a lot of other things in Cambridge, it really reminded me of its Oxford parallel, Blackwell’s. There were so many books and I could imagine losing a lot of time here.

We then headed back to go down Trinity Lane, which gave me similar vibes to Queen’s Lane in Oxford. After following the lane through older and newer buildings, we ended up crossing the River Cam again.

This area along the river – the Backs – appears to be the most busy section for poor punters, as there’s a lot to see. Several of the most famous colleges, like King’s, are visible from here, so you can take a cheeky look inside.

At this point in the day, Lou and I were very conscious that our time on the clock was running out, so what was supposed to be a leisurely walk went… well, quite a bit faster.

Heading back

Although we were walking pretty quickly at this point, we could still admire the pretty buildings on the way. The colleges which make up the University of Cambridge have it down when it comes to stone walls and pointy towers, particularly in this part of town.

As we exited the backs, we saw the Mathematical Bridge, which connects two parts of Queen’s College. This wooden bridge is made out of lots of timber pieces which are held together by some clever engineering (hence its nickname). It’s another bridge that elsewhere wouldn’t get any attention, were it not for its interesting history and location.

We then rushed through Cambridge to make it back in time for the car.

My thoughts on Cambridge

I have to say, I really like Cambridge as a city. I like the pretty buildings; the numerous parks; the winding river; and its many quirks and eccentricities.

It really reminded me of my university years in Oxford, where scenery like this was a norm. Cambridge and Oxford are remarkably similar and walking around the city made me feel nostalgic. I must go back to Oxford soon!

Within Cambridge, there’s still a few places I would’ve liked to visit. For example, the Sedgwick Museum, which houses fossils and rock samples, was closed whilst we were in the city, but I’d love to visit again.

Conclusion

I enjoyed my visit to Cambridge, despite the hot weather and the many tourists. It was fun to look around a pretty city which I hadn’t been to in a few years. It certainly makes me want to keep exploring new British cities and seeing that side of our country!

Have you been to Cambridge? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments.