Cambridge and London Summer of 2024

Check the Premier Inn chain.

National Express run the buses from Heathrow to Cambridge. A very regular service.

Note that none of the buses terminate at Cambridge- so they will show Peterborough, Great Yarmouth, Norwich or University of East Anglia as their final destination.

The stop is at Drummer Street Bus Station in central Cambridge.

Then train into London.

Right beside the Railway station there is an Ibis Hotel, also the Clayton Hotel and the Centennial Hotel.

There is also a Novotel beside Cambridge North Station- linked to Drummer Street by the guided busway, or the vast majority of trains to Cambridge extend to Cambridge North.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll look into them.

We had a great stay last summer at the Regent Aparthotel. Very convenient to campus, and extremely reasonable rates. Our room looked out over the tranquil Parker's Piece park. Rail and coach transport from London to Cambridge is easy-peasy.

in addition to the coach connection from Heathrow to Cambridge, there are a couple of other possibilities.

One is the Piccadilly Underground line from Heathrow to Kings Cross St Pancras - step free access both ends - and a nonstop train on Great Northern railway to Cambridge. Train as fast as 48 minutes, nonstop, and a bout an hour on the Tube.

Another is the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Farringdon, change onto the Thameslink for one stop to St Pancras International then across the street to Kings Cross and above; or Elizabeth Line to Farringdon and one stop on the Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan Tube to Kings Cross St Pancras, and as above.

Slowest but least expensive is Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street, then change to Anglia railways slow train to Cambridge (on its way north). Those trains from Liverpool Street run 75 to 90 minutes with station stops.

A few years back, 2019, Pre-COVID, the wife and I also took a one week summer course in Cambridge. (I took the writing course. Which one are you doing?). We took the National Express Bus from Heathrow to Cambridge. We boarded at T5, but they also have service from T2 and T3. National Express had an office counter at T5.
It's cheaper if you book ahead, but the tickets are non-refundable unless you pay an additional fee to make changes. The issue for us, was how much time to allow from when the plane arrived to the bus departure time, considering you have to go through passport control and the time needed to get your bags. Also, because the college requires the student stamp on your passport, you have to get in the line with a passport control officer. We had to show them our acceptance letter, and they stamped the student visa stamp or something. Thus, you cannot use the automated entry gates with eye scanner. Anyway, I had to show that stamp at the college when I arrived at the first evening orientation or they wouldn't let me take the class, So you will have to decide how much time to allot for that.

The bus ride was about 2 ½ hours.

The bus goes to Cambridge Parkside - Parker's Piece, which is a flat urban park. It may be different now, but back then, it was just a sidewalk stop and the driver unloaded our luggage from the hold onto the sidewalk.
From there, we walked our bags across the park to the Gonville Hotel.
https://gonvillehotel.co.uk
We stayed here one night before we had to switch to the college lodgings. We loved this hotel and if we could have afforded it we would have stayed here all week.
One of the perks of the hotel was the ride in their silver Bentley. If you stay here, book a free ride around town with them. When it was time to move to the college lodgings, we asked if they could drive us there in the Bentley, and they did!

You will be in class most of the time, but with your free time, take a walking tour and also go punting on the river on a guided group tour. The boat ride salesman will give you a price, (we were quoted 20 pounds each) but don't accept it. Just say the punting company over there is offering rides for 15 each. And they said OK. 15 then.

To get to London from Cambridge, we took the train. We took an Uber from our lodgings to the train station because it's kinda of a far walk, especially with luggage.
If your final group dinner is Friday night, you should plan on taking a train the next morning. You check out on Saturday morning anyway. I would not want to catch the train on a late Friday night.

I'm going to link my trip report of my week at the study programme, just in case you're interested in my experience.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/summer-study-programme-and-cambridge-uk-trip-report

For some reason, I'm unable to reply under your comments, but I want to thank you for all your replies. They're helpful. I'm looking into your suggestions. And thank you, Derek, for writing such a thorough review of the courses. I'm taking a course on Pirates, and my sister is taking one on Bede. In the afternoon, we're taking a course on the lives of the gentry between the 12th and 15th Centuries. We've decided to stay at one of the colleges, seems easier. It probably won't be very comfortable, but it's only 6 nights, so we'll survive. Thanks again, and if you have any other suggestions, let me know.

while you are there be sure to do as Cambridge University students so - one, go punting; 2, have a Chelsea Bun at Fitzbillies (original at the top of Trumpington Street, near Downing Street (called Pembroke Street at the corner as it is in Pembroke College); newly refurbed Bridge Street; newest one in Kings Parade just down from Great Saint Mary's church across from Kings College Chapel).

Edited original Fitzbillies location slightly

Since we'll have almost three full days before our classes start, we'll definitely do these. I've also read about some great museums we'll have to visit. Thanks.

The Fitz (the Fitzwilliam to give it its proper name) is a fabulous (and free) museum, not a million miles from the original Fitzbillies so you can see where that name came from, and the museum has a decent cafe too. Great special exhibits and a good core collection.

The Polar museum is worth a visit if you are interested in the poles or discovering things.

If you like - or have heard of - Samuel Pepys, I am a fan and read his diary daily, he left his entire library to Magdalene College where you can drop in and view it. He had an interesting filing system. https://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/pepys/visiting

Cambridge University Botanic Gardens (I'm a member, so perhaps biased) is wonderful. Redwoods to tiny bees and everything in between. And a lovely cafe with loads of outdoor seating in the middle of the gardens with most excellent sausage rolls and vegan ones too, and some pretty passable cakes. No run of the mill sausage rolls, these, they even have seeds on top. Yum. We find that one between two is pretty good. https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/

I planned on going to the Fitz (as you call it) and the Pepys papers because we're both big fans. I've not heard of the other two, but I'm adding them to the list. I'm a big fan of sausage rolls, so I will definitely try them at the Botanic Gardens. Something to look forward to for sure. Oh, and thanks for adding the links.