Cambridge

Introduction

Kings College Cambridge

© twokiwis

Cambridge is home to one of the most famous Universities in the World. The oldest college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284. The ancient city centre is well preserved, with a wide range of historic buildings and sights for the visitor to enjoy.

Sights and Activities

University

A number of the individual colleges open parts of their buildings or grounds to visitors.

• Cambridge University Library
• Christ's College
• King's College Chapel

Museums

• Cambridge Museum of Technology
• Fitzwilliam Museum
• Sedgwick Museum
• Scott Polar Research Institute
• Whipple Museum of the History of Science

More Attractions

• Punting on the Cam

Events and Festivals

• Cambridge Beer Festival is held each May.
• Cambridge Film Festival is held in September.
• Cambridge Folk Festival is held in late July or early August.
• Strawberry Fair is held on the first Saturday in June.

Getting There

By Plane

London Stansted Airport and London Luton Airport are both around 50 kilometres from Cambridge.

From Stansted, direct rail services leave every hour from platform 2 (to Birmingham New Street) and take about 35 min with a return fare £12.80. For more frequent services take the Stansted Express to London from platform 1 and change at Bishops's Stortford or Stansted Mountfitchet, taking about 50 min. Note, however, that rail services may be unavailable if your flight arrives Stansted very late or departs very early in the day, and while the airport likes to advertise hourly services, there are some strange gaps in the timetable so check the boards before you buy a ticket, and go to the bus terminal if there is nothing sensible on offer. National Express coaches run between Cambridge and Stansted (including late at night), taking about 55 minutes and costing £11.50. Abacus Airport Cars Cambridge rides there from £40.00 one way.

Luton Airport is best reached by National Express Coach, taking about 1.5 hours and costing £14, but these run only every 2 hours or so.

By Train

There is a fast and frequent train service from London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street. Cambridge railway station is a fifteen minute walk from the city centre.

By Car

• From the South: The M11 motorway connects to London.
• From the North: The M1 motorway and the A1 connect to the A14 dual carriageway into the city.
• From the East and West: The A14 connects from both directions.

By Bus

National Express coaches travel to London and London Stansted Airport.
Stagecoach route X5 connects Cambridge with Bedford, Bicester, Buckingham, Milton Keynes and Oxford.

By Boat

The River Cam flows through Cambridge and moorings are available for small pleasure craft and canal boats.

Getting Around

By Car

Parking can be difficult in central Cambridge (the best parking, if you're prepared to pay, is in the Grand Arcade in the centre of town) and the one way street system is extremely confusing. The Council recommends the use of the "Park and Ride" scheme (£1 for parking and a £2.70 return bus fare).

By Public Transport

The bus station is in the city centre, where local busses and long distance coach services can be found.

By Foot

Walking around the city centre is the best option. Several of the roads in the shopping areas are closed to traffic.

By Bike

Cambridge is bicycle city and there are hundreds of cyclists on the roads and on the pavement. There are plenty of places to lock-up your bicycle. There is a cycle hire company at the railway station who offer daily, weekly and longer term hire.

Drink

Cambridge has a colossal number of pubs, over 110 at the last count.

Sleep

Budget

YHA Cambridge is close to the railway station and a 15-minute walk to the city centre. Limited car parking in surrounding streets is possible, but restricted.

Mid-Range

Bosworth is a bed and breakfast property which is 3km from the city centre.

Upscale

Work

Cambridge University students aren't allowed to work during term-time, so there are often possibilities for bar or waitering work for foreign nationals. Those from outside the EU require a work permit.

Learn

The University of Cambridge is one of the world's top centres of education.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés can be found in many cities and towns. All UK public libraries provide access, often branded as "People's Network", usually at no or little charge, though there is usually a time limit. Some hotels/hostels also offer internet access, including wifi, but most times at a cost. Using the internet on your personal phone can become expensive very quickly, with carriers charging 100's of times the local rate for data. To avoid these expensive roaming charges, you can hunt for wifi at a local cafe or hotel, or rent a mobile hotspot via several providers including DATAPiXY, and XCOM Global.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to the United Kingdom is: 44. To make an international call from the United Kingdom, the code is: 00

In case of emergency, call 999 or 112 from any phone. Such calls are free and will be answered by an emergency services operator who will ask you for your location, and the service(s) you need (police, fire, ambulance, coastguard or mountain rescue). You can call this number from any mobile telephone as well, even if you do not have roaming.

Although the number is declining, you can still find payphones in many public areas, especially stations, airports etc. You can usually pay with cash and sometimes by creditcard or, for international calls, special phonecards are still available.

Mobile phones are heavily used. The main networks are T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and O2. 3G data services are available, usually priced per megabyte and coverage is usually very good in the UK, however it may lack in rural areas. Roaming on your personal phone plan can be expensive. To manage costs, consider purchasing a local UK SIM card for your phone. Several companies offer local SIM cards including Telestial, and CellularAbroad.

Post

The Royal Mail provides postal services in the United Kingdom. The Royal Mail's store fronts are called Post Office and offer services ranging from sending letters and packages to foreign currency exchange. Use the branch locator to find the nearest Post Office branch. There will be at least one post office in any town/city and there are quite often post offices in larger villages. It's common for a post office to be incorporated into a grocery store, where there will be a small counter located at the back of the store for dealing with post related matters. All post offices are marked with signs that say 'post office' in red lettering. Post boxes can be found at any post office and standalone large red post boxes on the streets or red boxes in the sides of public buildings.
For sending packages overseas, it might be a good idea to check prices and services with international companies like TNT, UPS or DHL.

External Links