The first time I ever went to Cambridge was sans kids and it was a very different experience from all my subsequent visits.

 

We went on an open top bus tour, visited random little bolt holes, shopped a bit and lunched a lot! Very leisurely and grown-up. As most of you know, that evolves into a very different experience once you factor the mini-me’s into the equation!

Over time, we have frequented The Junction, Cambridge’s other lesser-known theatre to the Corn Exchange, which as well as being a leading venue for music, is also rich in interactive drama for children and is a fab way for them to spend a Sunday afternoon – with their Dad – while I pop to the shops! Add to that a whizz around the amusements and a trip to the cinema followed by a yummy lunch, this ticks all their boxes.

Recently, we decided to go for a mixture of both, as our children are getting that little bit older, we thought we would introduce a touch of culture to the proceedings.

A quick coffee and treat in this lovely cafe, Jamaica Blue, inside the Grand Arcade made a great pit stop. My hubby heaped compliments on the coffee, and he is quite the connoisseur so high praise indeed! The boys loved helping themselves to the skinny tap for fresh water in fat juicy tumblers and devoured the indulgent cookies.

Afterwards, it was on through the cobbles, enjoying the street entertainers en route, winding a path through the retail hustle and bustle and endless bicycles toward the water for the real purpose of the day.

 

 

And what a day we chose…basking in the gorgeous spring sunshine, we took a chauffeured punt on the River Cam and had a thoroughly marvellous time. We hired a private boat for 4, negotiated a great deal, £40 for 40 minutes…pence per minute, that works out pretty well we thought! I did feel a crisp glass of ice-cold Prosecco thrown in would have topped off my experience though!

Our guide was the lovely Peter whose knowledge of the river and it’s surroundings was based on his 25 years experience of working it. His team are part of a consortium of guides along The Cam, alongside a plethora of private companies and at points, you could see the rivalry among those jostling for position – all very gentlemanly of course.

We glided along soundlessly and met some of the local wildlife, a new mum and her babies, to the delight of my two boys. Cue cries of ‘can we have some baby chicks as pets?’, we get this every time we encounter animals of any kind….don’t think our bath would suffice as a home for these when they grow up, boys!

Peter told us colourful tales of Darwin, Wordsworth and Pepys as we cruised along, gasping at the natural beauty of this gorgeous historical dwelling which has had City status only since 1951. It’s heartening that this bustling Mecca for outstanding students has retained all of its architectural and cultural beauty, and is still tangibly steeped in history.

Latterly, Germaine Greer and Stephen Hawking among others studied here and went on to famously mark their place in literary archives.

At the mouth of the river, it got quite busy, all punts jostling for position. You could tell which groups had hired their own punt as they were the ones either crashing into one another or drifting aimlessly trying to regain control, whilst we were guided through the furrow by our expert handler.

As our trip came to an end, my eldest, Harry was keen to go around again, much to Peter’s amusement as he had a long line of keen tourists waiting for us to depart our vessel, and was on a tight schedule.

We left the riverside, rested, re-educated and rejuvenated and moved on to our next destination which was indeed the Junction, where Harry had a big-kids-only theatre experience to attend,which he adored.This gave Dominic some crucial photo-opportunity time!

Polished off by a photo-free visit to Nandos, a fabulous time was had by all!

Recently, the Beckhams and their entourage descended on the city and where did they go? Punting of course! Maybe they read this post…….!

So, in essence, my 5 top attractions to visit would be cafes, culture, restaurants, the river & theatres.

Have you ever been to Cambridge? Which is your favourite part? I’d love to know…