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Choosing a Cambridge walking tour

We will be visiting Cambridge on a daytrip from London in mid-April. This will be our first time there, but I am certain it will not be the last. We will have only a few hours (arriving 11 am and departing 15:50), so I am thinking we will have lunch at the Eagle pub of Watson and Crick fame, and then a 1:00 walking tour. I see 3 possible choices, all taking 90 minutes and visiting similar sites, so it comes down to, in my view, the best, most interesting guides. So I would like to hear opinions about these:

Small-group tour by 2 “Green Badge slides” who refer to them selves as “Town and Gown” :

https://www.cambridgetourguide.co.uk/about-us/

Tours offered by Cambridge students and alumni:

https://cambridgealumnitours.co.uk/tours/shared-walking/

And now I cannot find the link for the third option I saw. They offered a choice of several interest-based tours, including a “Science” tour which would be of great interest, although it is not currently on the schedule. The guides are Blue Badge guides; I do remember that, and I thought they met at the Tourist Information Center.

Question: what is the difference between Blue Badge and Green Badge guides?

So, if you have advice for us about which walking tour to choose, I would love to hear it. Thanks!

Posted by
33994 posts

I wish I had advice for you, Cambridge being both local and a strong favourite of ours. We just know the place so I don't think we have ever had a guided walk - like the one that Oxford city TI used to organise.

The TI in Cambridge has gone through its ups and downs and I don't really know where they are at the moment. They used to do a tour from near the Cornmarket but I'm not sure that that continues.

I have no knowledge of green badges,

I know you love to walk, Lola, but if I could convince you to stick your noses in the Fitz - the Fitzwilliam Museum (free) at the top of Trumpington Street, I think you would find it worthwhile.

Posted by
1227 posts

You might want to choose a punting tour instead. Great views of the various colleges, and most of the guides seem to be students.

Also, I had lunch and a pint at The Eagle. Don't really recommend it. Lots of better food and drink are available in the town, discoverable just by walking around. The Eagle charges higher prices for pretty awful food because of its notoriety. I doubt any future Nobel Prize projects are being discussed there today.

Posted by
565 posts

Lola, another Cambridge suggestion--the American cemetery outside Cambridge for those lost in World War II. It is a serious omission in the Cambridge section in the RS England book.

Posted by
17562 posts

Also, I had lunch and a pint at The Eagle. Don't really recommend it. Lots of better food and drink are available in the town, discoverable just by walking around. The Eagle charges higher prices for pretty awful food because of its notoriety.

Thank you for the comment. I do see lots of bad reviews of the Eagle from recent visits. Can anyone recommend an alternative for a light lunch?

Posted by
33994 posts

For a light bite, if you get to the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens the cafe there has fabulous Sausage Rolls - and equally fabulous Vegan ones - as well as good salad and grain bowls - and falafel and sandwiches.

For more calories, the three locations of Fitzbillies - the original at the top of Trumpington Street diagonally across from the Fitzwilliam Museum (with 3 side-by-side sections in adjacent buildings), the newest across from Kings College Chapel in Kings Parade, and the one in Bridge Street on the north side of town - never let anybody down.

Posted by
33994 posts

Regarding the American cemetery and memorial, I have written here previously about how moving and also tranquil it is. They even ring the bells. Surprisingly easy to get to by either the open top bus or a regular bus.