Cambridge Colleges Audio Guide: From King's to Trinity and St John's
Walking Tour
Walking Tour
40 mins
1.6mi
About the Tour
About the Tour
On this walking tour, we’ll explore Cambridge's historic center, including the heart of the University of Cambridge, along with less obvious gems. I’ve mixed my experience as a local in too, as well as stories of my time as a student at the University of Cambridge, and I hope I’ve brought across the real personality of this famous city.
Cambridge is the second oldest university in England and it showcases almost a millennium of architectural highlights. There’s everything from the Round Church, which dates back to 1130, to the Wren Library, completed in 1695, and the Corpus Clock, which was installed in 2008. Its quaint cobblestone streets and winding alleyways provide plenty of photo opportunities too, especially if you can go at your own pace. This guided audio tour allows you to do exactly that, while still seeing all of the city’s highlights.
It’s a two kilometre walk and it starts and finishes on King’s Parade. Cambridge is flat, but because of the cobblestones, it worth wearing sensible shoes.
Tour Producer
Tour Producer
Anna Granta
A Cambridge local, graduate and parent.
How VoiceMap Works
How VoiceMap Works
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Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
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The Round Church
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Wren Library
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King’s College
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Trinity College
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St John's College
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Great St Mary's Church
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St Giles Church
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Kettle Yard
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Castle Mound
Directions to Starting Point
Directions to Starting Point
This tour begins outside the gates of King's College, on King's Parade.
Cambridge is well connected by train, and fast trains from London Kings Cross take under an hour. From the train station you can take buses 1 or 7 into the center of town. It is then a five minute walk to King's. Alternatively take a taxi from the station.
Anyone in Cambridge will be able to give you directions to King's College, but be sure to ask for directions to King's and not for 'The University'. The University is made up of hundreds of buildings spread over the city and you may get pointed towards an uninspiring outpost.
Tips
Tips
Places to stop along the way
Fitzwilliam Museum, Great St Mary's Church, King's College Chapel, The Round Church, Trinity College Library, River Cam
Best time of day
During summer the best time to visit is in the morning, before central Cambridge gets too busy. The rest of the year it's fine to take this tour anytime during daylight hours.
The main route goes through the grounds of Trinity College, and the gate closes at 5pm. If the gate is closed, there is an alternative route that will take you around the block, but I would recommend trying to start the tour before 4pm to include the college grounds.
The Round Church is open from 10am to 5pm on week days, 1.30 to 5pm on Saturdays and 1.30 till 4pm on Sundays.
Great St Mary's is open from 10 am to 5pm on Mondays to Saturdays.
Please note: As of August 2020, Trinity College is currently closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This means you'll be taking a detour across Garrett Hostel Bridge. I'll guide you to the detour when you need to take it.
Precautions
Beware of bicycles, which often go the wrong way down one way streets.
In winter you should come dressed for a cold wind, but the good news is that Cambridge, while often overcast, has one of the lowest average rainfalls in the country.
Many of Cambridge's old streets have uneven paving, so wear comfortable shoes.
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Hi, great tour but how come zero female Cambridge famous alumni were mentioned?
Hi, thanks for your comment. You make a good point about the lack of inclusion of famous female alumni. Shockingly, the university didn't grant degrees to women until the 1940s and even then they were excluded from the central colleges covered in this tour. For example, Dame Emma Thompson, a very famous female alumni, attended Newnham college.
Thanks for an amazing story and experience of walking around Cambridge with it. loved every minute of it!
Only church’s no Mosque or Synagogues ?
Amazing, interesting, helpful tour. 10/10.
Great tour with kids except the guido is uninspired that it is embarrassing
A short tour with unfortunately little information content, some nice bits but mostly quite superficial. The personal stories would be fine if embedded in (much) more actual historical or architectural information. Disappointed given this isn't even free -there are much better free guides for print-out online.
Quite interesting but not enough historical information. Too much about the narrator’s wedding; husband; changing names on marriage; etc
Thanks for your feedback. We understand not every tour will contain content to everyone's liking, but the tour only has a handful of personal stories, with a charming anecdote about the narrator's wedding, pertaining to where the listener is walking past, but is 95% about the colleges and their history.
Worth it! A short tour, but the character was quite enjoyable.
Cambridge is a beautiful city and this tour combines to sights with a personal angle.
We had a great day in this amazing city. The tour was the chery on the cake. Highly recomended !!!
What a wonderful and interesting tour! It is clear, engaging and informative. I loved the personal touch and the intelligent English sense of humour! A great way to learn a lot in a short span of time.
This was a really interesting tour of Cambridge. I found it informative without being overloading - it gives you a good 'feel' for the city and points you to other places to visit if you have more time. Highly recommended!
Really enjoyable tour! Good combination of must-see sights and less obvious ones that we wouldn't have found by ourselves. Looking forward to trying out more tours...