Introducing Cambridge
Few cities can take the breath away quite like Cambridge. It’s not just its tightly packed core of exquisite architecture, or even the mind-boggling mass of brain power that has passed through its world-famous university, but also it’s the sensation of drowning in history, tradition and quirky ritual that only seems to deepen the more you discover. But so too there is plentiful opportunity to come up for air, relaxing in the manicured college gardens, punting along the beautiful river ‘backs’ and roaming the lush water meadows that run out of the city.
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And of course Cambridge is no mere repository of history and charm, it is very much a living city; its narrow streets are alive with the click and whirr of cyclists. The river is clogged with red-faced rowers, drifting punts and on occasion floundering freshmen. College porters still potter around in bowler hats, while gowned students wine and dine in cavernous medieval halls. Historic pubs echo with the same equal mix of intellectual banter and rowdy merrymaking that they have for centuries past. And a new generation of designer boutiques, coffee houses and slick nightlife venues is finding its niche in among the intriguing passageways and medieval doorways of the old town.
While you’ll find all these qualities and more in ‘the other place’ (as rival Oxford is referred to here), Cambridge is the more concentrated of England’s two great university cities and in our humble opinion, far the prettier.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
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Recent posts
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RE: Morning walks and Indian food in Cambridge
by Copepod 31 May 2012
Best areas for walking are alongside the river - Ditton Meadows, Stourbridge Common, Midsummer Common, Jesus Green, The Backs, Coe Fen,…
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Trying to chose between Swansea and Cambridge for next year
by smoresun 25 May 2012
Hello, I'm trying decide whether to accept admission to a masters program at Swansea University or Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge…
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RE: Day trips from Cambridge
by Copepod 19 May 2012
One place with cool archaeology and just a short cheap bus ride (Stagecoach number 13 or 13A) from Cambridge is Wandlebury Country Park…








