The Cambridge Toolkit

The reason some of you have chosen Cambridge as a destination, is because the city is world renowned for its academic achievements. Therefore it will not come as a surprise to you that many of the Cambridge sightseeing opportunities focus on this. If you visit the official website of the University you can find details of all the colleges as well as the tours that they offer. A number of other University venues may be of interest such as the Botanic Gardens where you can enjoy the knowledge of one of their expert guides on a relaxing walk through the expansive and beautiful gardens. There are also a great variety of museums and exhibitions around such as the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Folk Museum and the Museum of Zoology all of which provide a fascinating outing.

If you aren't interested in anything as structured or organised and would rather just spend a leisurely day in Cambridge there are a number of wonderful greens around Cambridge great for a picnic or just simply relaxing. Orgin8, a newly opened cafe in Cambridge offer wonderful picnics made with local, free-range produce and are able to deliver the lunches almost anywhere in the city centre.

If you fancy having a tour round the whole of Cambridge there are a number of ways to do so such as the numerous walking tours organised by Destination Cambridge, Punting tours available from a number of points along the river. We would highly recommend the Cambridge Chauffeur Punts available at Silver Street Bridge. Scudamore Punts also offer a number of outings on a punt such as the treasure hunts or combinations such as Punt & Pint or Punt & Cream Tea. If you are up for a challenge why not try punting yourself! MP3 Walking Tours are also available allowing you to walk round Cambridge at your own pace whilst hearing about the history of this beautiful city. Cambridge Tailor -Made Tours are a fabulous way of getting to see the beautiful city of Cambridge with the guide catering to your specific interest. Alternatively Live the City offer a number of fantastic outings specifically aimed at groups. Perhaps you would like to try something a little less traditional such as the Riverboat Georgina offering a variety of entertainment on the River Cam, why not try a Murder Mystery Dinner or even some live music. Another popular outing, the Cambridge Ghost Tours organised by Destination Cambridge allows you to punt or walk round the city at night with all the local spooks! You could even rent a bike or maybe take a bike tour with Cambridge Bike Tours and discover Grantchester or Madingley and the American Cemetery.

Throughout the year there are a number of festivals that come to Cambridge that offer a fun day out such as the Strawberry Fair www.strawberry-fair.org.uk , the Cambridge Folk Festival www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk, The Beer Festival www.cambridgebeerfestival.com, the Cambridge Film Festival, or the Summer Music Festival . For more information on these and the dates they take place it is best to visit their individual websites.

For the shopaholic in you the newly opened Grand Arcade offers a deluxe shopping venue with all your high street essentials or perhaps you prefer the smaller shops in the historical lanes of the city.

If you have enough time you might even wish to go slightly further a field to Ely, a 15 minute train ride from Cambridge. Ely has so much to offer with the infamous Cathedral recently featured on the BBC's "How we Built Britain" series. There is some delightful scenery as well as some wonderful tea rooms such as Peacocks voted the number one tea room in the UK 2007. Ely was also the home of Oliver Cromwell for 10 years as he was governor of the city and today both the Cromwell Museum and his own home are open to visitors. London is also easily accessed by train from Cambridge taking only 45 minutes to Kings Cross direct up to every 45 minutes, for more ideas of things to do in London please visit: www.visitlondon.com. There are a number of other interesting trips in the Cambridgeshire area such as the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Go Ape at Thetford Forest which can be a great team-building opportunity, Wild Tracks, a 60 acre outdoor activity centre based close to Newmarket offering Karting, Quad Biking, Battlefield Live an interactive combat game and Clay Pigeon Shooting or perhaps a trip to the Shepreth Wildlife Park. Needless to say this is only the tip of the iceberg - if this hasn't helped and you are still stuck for ideas please do email us at enquiries@conferencecambridge.com and we will do our best to come up some ideas for you!