What is the Cambridge self-guided walking tour?
The Cambridge self-guided walking tour is a self-guided audio walk in the World City Trail app: your phone shows you the way and, at each stop, tells the story of the place you are standing in front of. Allow about 3 hours, of which 35 minutes are on foot, for a 2.5 km route with 10 stops. The distances are short, so most of the time goes on the colleges, the river and the scientists who worked here.
On Parker's Piece the narration explains how rules drawn up here in 1848 fed into those of the Football Association, founded in 1863, and why one lamp post is called Reality Checkpoint. At the Fitzwilliam Museum you hear the student legend of the stone lions that come down to drink at midnight, and at the Mathematical Bridge why the tale of Newton and the missing bolts cannot be true. The Corpus Clock, unveiled by Stephen Hawking in 2008, is exactly right only once every five minutes, and at Trinity you find out why Henry VIII holds a chair leg.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 35 min · 2.5 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
How the audio walk works
A story at every stop
Each stop has its own narrated chapter with history, local legends and curious facts, and the full text is there if you would rather read.
Directions on your phone
Between stops, Google Maps shows the way; the walking adds up to about 35 minutes over 2.5 km.
Your own timetable
Nobody waits for you and nothing starts without you. Drop into a café or a museum and resume later or the next day.
Food and shops nearby
The app recommends cafés, restaurants and shops close to the route, and lets you pick a different first stop or reorder the walk.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who will get the most out of it
New to Cambridge
In a few hours you see the main landmarks of the centre and learn why each one matters.
Not keen on group tours
Nobody holds up a flag and nobody checks the time: linger where something catches your eye and move on when you have seen enough.
Short on time
About 3 hours covers the centre, and the afternoon or evening stays yours.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
Stop by stop: Parker's Piece, the Fitzwilliam, King's Parade, St John's
10 stops · about 35 min walking · start: Parker's Piece · finish: St John's College
From the open green of Parker's Piece the walk makes for the Scott Polar Research Institute on Lensfield Road and then the Fitzwilliam Museum. Next come the Mathematical Bridge at Queens' College and the University Museum of Zoology, where a fin whale skeleton hangs behind glass. From the Corpus Clock you continue to King's College and Great St Mary's, the University Church, before Trinity College and finally St John's College. Any stop can open the walk in the app, and none of them asks for a ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Parker's PieceStart
This large open green takes its name from Edward Parker, a college cook who leased the land in the early 17th century. Games played here under the Cambridge Rules, first drawn up in 1848, influenced the rules of the Football Association founded in 1863. The lamp post where the paths cross is known locally as Reality Checkpoint.
2Scott Polar Research Institute (Polar Museum)
The institute was founded in 1920 as a memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the men who died with him on their return from the South Pole in 1912. Its building on Lensfield Road houses the Polar Museum, and a Latin inscription above the entrance honours Scott's search for the secrets of the Pole.
3The Fitzwilliam Museum
The University's museum of art and antiquities was founded in 1816 with the bequest of Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam. Its grand classical building with a columned portico was designed by George Basevi and begun in 1837. A student legend says the stone lions at the entrance come down to drink when the clock strikes midnight.
4Mathematical Bridge
This wooden footbridge across the Cam belongs to Queens' College and was designed by William Etheridge and built by James Essex in 1749. Its straight timbers form an arch, which inspired the popular myth that Isaac Newton built it without nuts or bolts. Newton had died in 1727, and the bridge has since been rebuilt twice.
Read the full story →
5University Museum of Zoology
The Museum of Zoology on the University's Downing Site holds animal specimens from all over the world, including some collected by Charles Darwin. The skeleton of a fin whale more than 20 metres long hangs in its glass entrance hall and can be seen from outside.
6Corpus Clock
Unveiled by Stephen Hawking in 2008, this clock on the corner of Corpus Christi College's Taylor Library was conceived by the inventor John Taylor. A creature called the Chronophage, or time-eater, crawls over its gold-coloured disc and seems to devour each passing minute. The clock is deliberately erratic and is exactly right only once every five minutes.
Read the full story →
7King's College
King Henry VI founded King's College in 1441, and its chapel, built in stages between 1446 and 1515, has the largest fan vault in the world. The choir's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is broadcast around the world every Christmas Eve. From King's Parade you see the chapel rising behind the 19th-century gatehouse.
Read the full story →
8Great St Mary's
Great St Mary's is the University Church and traditionally the centre of Cambridge: university distances are measured from it, and students once had to live within three miles of it. The chime of its bells, written for the church in 1793, was later copied for Big Ben in London and became known as the Westminster Quarters.
9Trinity College
Henry VIII founded Trinity College in 1546, and his statue above the Great Gate holds a chair leg instead of a sceptre, the result of a student prank. Isaac Newton studied and worked here, and an apple tree outside the gate is said to descend from the tree in his garden. Behind the gate lies the vast Great Court.
10St John's CollegeFinish
St John's College was founded in 1511 under the will of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII. Her coat of arms, held by mythical beasts called yales, decorates the gatehouse. Further inside, the covered Bridge of Sighs, built in 1831, crosses the Cam.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.