Cambridge, the River and an Afternoon in Grantchester

Cambridge is compact in a way that flatters a day trip. Almost everything you have come to see sits within twenty minutes on foot, and the part that makes the city famous — the Backs, where seven colleges run down to the Cam — is a single continuous walk. Arriving by car with a chauffeur means you can be set down at one end in the morning and collected at the other, with the middle spent entirely on your feet.

King's College Chapel is the fixed point. Even people who have seen a great deal of ecclesiastical architecture tend to stop in the doorway. Trinity's Great Court and St John's Bridge of Sighs follow naturally along the same walk, and the Fitzwilliam Museum, ten minutes south, is free to enter and consistently underrated. Punting on the Cam is booked at the river and is worth the hour if the weather is on your side.

The afternoon belongs to Grantchester. It is two miles upriver, walkable across the meadows if you are inclined, and the tea garden under the apple trees has been serving visitors for well over a century. Your chauffeur can take you there directly and bring you back, or drop you at the meadow gate and meet you at the far end. Ely, with its extraordinary cathedral, sits half an hour north if you want more.

As on all our touring days, we provide the vehicle and the chauffeur rather than commentary or tickets. Your chauffeur is not a licensed guide. College and chapel admission is arranged by you, opening hours vary with term and events, and we will happily advise on what is realistic. If you would like a qualified guide with you for the walking sections, we can arrange one.