Punting in Cambridge 

As a Londoner, I am guilty of not exploring other parts of the country and venturing abroad instead – this is not deliberate, I promise you! I have however decided to be a bit more spontaneous and venture past the M25.

Last weekend, I visited the beautiful town of Cambridge. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for ages, particularly because of the beautiful architecture as well as the prospect of punting down the River Cam. We picked a hot and sunny day which made the trip even better!

Trains from London to Cambridge run frequently and can cost as little as £6 one way if you book in advance. Some fast trains take less than an hour to get there and trust me, it is SO worth it.

The winding, cobbled streets are untouched and make you appreciate the historical significance of the buildings around you. We went for an afternoon which I bitterly regretted later on as I think you need at least a day to get a full sense of everything. Oh well, gives me an excuse to go back at some point!

One of the activities that I’ve always wanted to do is go punting down the river. For those of you wondering what a punt is, it’s a long, narrow flat-bottomed boat, square at both ends and propelled with a long pole. I initially thought I’d be brave enough and hire a private boat but soon got brought back down to earth when I saw the skill that was needed. Instead we went on a shared ‘punt’ (£10 per person). One thing i’d say is that you should definitely do your research on the different companies that offer punting rides – there are so many! Some are definitely better than others and have a lot more knowledge and history to offer. If you don’t really care about that and just want a nice boat ride, then I don’t think it makes that much of a difference.

Our ‘chauffeur’ was an interesting guy and seemed like the most chilled out man on the river. I watched numerous boats pass and overtake us but he kept at his rather slow pace which had its positives (longer boat ride) but also negatives (we had a train to catch!).

I loved Cambridge and will definitely be back to explore more – it’s a beautiful place and somewhere I would highly recommend visiting!

Have you ever been to Cambridge? What were your favourites places to see?