Cambridge Day Trip

London Walks is a good resource for day trips as well as in town walks.

You don't need a tour. Train is easy, then get a taxi to University area.

Think Robin has his C’s mixed up

London Kings Cross to Cambridge

Or slower (and often cheaper) trains from London Liverpool St. to Cambridge

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

You don't need a tour for a day trip to Cambridge. Just take the train and walk with a travel book as a guide if you need one. I do recommend you visit the Fitzwilliam Museum, arguably one of the finest regional museums in the world due to its collection. What a gem!

I took the train from London Liverpool Street because the savings fit my budget. It was very comfortable.

You definitely don’t need a tour, it’s so simple to go on your own.
Leave from London Victoria Ststion go to Canterbury East (its an hour
twenty minute ride)you don’t have to change trains.

Robin, the OP is going to Cambridge!! :-)

I was lucky to be in London a few years ago when London Walks had a day trip to Cambridge on the calendar. I went, and loved it. I can see that you could have a great day out in Cambridge on your own, but our guide was so well-informed that I'm glad I saw Cambridge that way.

The Cambridge railway station is located away from the center of town. I read that it was because, when the railroads were being established, the University's Powers That Be were afraid that the students would be corrupted by easy access to trains that they could ride to the evils of London and elsewhere, so the station was plopped down a good mile away.

We took the train to Cambridge and there London Walks had a bus waiting for us. Before we went into the heart of Cambridge, however, they took us to visit the Cambridge American Cemetery - which was just beautiful and very meaningful to me.

If you go to Cambridge and you're at all interested in that kind of thing, try to get to that cemetery. (Their website warns of some road construction detours which affect access from some routes in the area, but apparently not direct entry into the cemetery itself. And are supposed to be finished this summer anyway.)

I have not been for many years but Cambridge is fabulous. I do not take tours as a rule, the flat walk from the station to the centre is about half an hour. There's bound to be a bus.

Be sure to visit Kings College Chapel, one of the gems of English architecture - Incredible fan vaulted roof. Also walk along the backs (footpath along the River Cam) for the view of Clare College and Kings College and the Chapel.

And if the weather is good, take a punting tour along the river after you've walked your fill. '

We did that; our punter (I hope that's the correct word!) was a young man studying architectural history who had well-informed and often hilarious things to say about the buildings and scenery we were passing by.

Here's a link to some info (I'm not endorsing any specific company, can't remember which one we used): https://www.visitcambridge.org/things-to-do/punting-bus-and-bike-tours/punting-tours

We were looking at the London Walks tour to Cambridge and it is being offered on a day that we are in London. I know we can do it on our own, but taking a tour puts us in a situation where we leave the logistics to a knowledgeable guide that will optimize our time there as a truly learning experience. . Thanks for all of the great input!