Getting Around in Cambridge

Cambridge city centre is very dense and compact, and vehicle access is therefore quite restricted. Hardly anywhere is more than a 20 minute walk from the other side, so the best way by far to get around is by using your legs - walking or cycling.

There is a comprehensive network of cycle routes, some of which are shared bus/taxi lanes, others which are shared pavements with pedestrians, and many shortcuts around town which pedestrians and cyclists can use. There are also several bike-hire companies, the most distinctive of which are the bright red "Mike's Bikes". The centre itself is a pedestrian zone from 10am-4pm, Monday to Saturday, and has a good number of bike racks.

Taxis and buses have reasonably good access to the town centre, and taxi ranks are located in several places across town. They are (by US standards) quite expensive - the 3 mile trip from Cambridge Station to my home just north of the river typically costs more than £7.  The bus service is pretty good (unless you live here, when it seems designed to take you anywhere except where you want to go), as well as tour buses which go around town and out to the American Cemetery.

For the confirmed car driver there are several multistorey car parks in and around the city centre.  The most central of these car parks, Lions Yard, has recently been demolished as part of a city centre redevelopment.  A small amount of expensive on-road short-term parking is available - these are usually very busy and aggressively policed, so other methods of transport are recommended very strongly. The excellent Park and Ride service, with 4 large car parks, one at each of the cardinal points around the city is an ideal alternative.

The most pleasant transport in the area is, of course, punting on the river. There are 2 punt-hire companies in the centre, at each end of the Backs (the stretch of river between two locks which wends through the colleges, where it is called the Cam). These cost approximately £12 per hour, or more if you have a guided punt tour. Scudamores also hire punts for going up-river along the Granta (south) towards Grantchester. This is a much longer trip (experienced punters can do the journey in about an hour and a half, compared with half an hour each way on the Backs) but it is very quiet and lovely, following the river through the fields and woodland to the next lock along, by the Orchard Tea Rooms.

The Duxford branch of the Imperial War Museum is located about 15 miles from Cambridge. A city bus leaving from the Cambridge railway station can take you (45 minute ride - £4 one way) to the museum, which was a WWI RAF airfield and a WWII Battle of Britain fighter base/B17 base (think the movie Twelve O'Clock High). Also worth seeing on the same site is the American Airforce Museum - the building alone is worth a visit - as is the B52 bomber housed inside.