Cambridge City Guide - Tours of the City

Cambridge city centre is very compact, so it's great to explore on foot. There are several kinds of walking tours on offer. Public 2-hour tours led by Cambridge Blue and Green Badge Guides and taking in some of the best known and impressive sights in Cambridge leave from the tourist office (see Sightseeing) every day of the year, with as many as four daily tours in July and August. On a few dates during the winter season, there are guided musical tours in the city followed by a lunchtime concert by the Britten Sinfonia (tel: (01223) 457 574). Friday night ghost tours (tel: (01223) 457 574) and Saturday afternoon punting and walking ghost tours (tel: (01223) 359 750) are also available. The Cambridge Uncovered (tel: (01223) 363 360) experience combines a self-guided tour with a treasure hunt and a quiz show, turning the tour of the city into a competition between participants. Visitors who prefer to explore the city all on their own can download 2 60-minute Cambridge MP3 walking tours from the Tourist Track's website (www.tourist-tracks.com) or hire pre-loaded MP3 players at the visitor information centre.

City Sightseeing (tel: (0151) 933 2324; website: http://city-sightseeing.com) offers open-top bus tours with multilingual commentary all year round. The trip lasts for 1 hour 20 minutes. Tickets for the tour are valid for 24 hours and can be purchased through the tourist office.

Cambridge Chauffeur Punts (tel: (01223) 354 164; website: www.punting-in-cambridge.co.uk) offers punting river tours, while Camboats (tel: 0770 673 4763; website: www.camboats.co.uk) offers river trips in an open-sided narrow boat. Guided trishaw tours in the city centre is available from Cambridge Trishaw Tours (tel: 0871 226 8006).