INTRODUCTION

Cambridge is only an hour's drive north of London and known internationally as home to one of the world's oldest and greatest universities, Cambridge is also a county town and commercial city which traces its origins back to Roman times. In the Middle Ages it was the main inland port on the River Cam, which flows north through Ely with its magnificent cathedral and across the flat Fen country into the North Sea.

Today, with a population well over 100,000, Cambridge is the centre of England's fastest-growing region: the area known as 'Silicon Fen', where Europe's highest concentration of high-tech industry has developed from roots in University science research. The city also hosts some 20,000 students, not to mention thousands who visit from abroad either as language students, or as tourists come to admire the colleges and museums, participate in the lively cultural life of the town, or relax on the river and in the parks, pubs and cafés. University members are accommodated by the famous 'Colleges': 31 independent residential institutions founded at different times over the course of seven centuries and together forming one of the world's most varied and impressive architectural ensembles, its finest expression being by common consent the glorious late-gothic chapel of King's College. Despite its distinguished past, its cosmopolitan present and its enormous potential contribution to the future both national and global, Cambridge yet retains something of the relaxed charm of a provincial market town - making it a tempting destination either for a day trip or an extended stay.

Ely cathedral is a masterpiece of building skill and is known as the 'ship of the Fens' because it stands proud on the Fenland skyline. This was the area of Oliver Cromwell, who fought through the Civil War from 1653, becoming the second in command of the Parliamentary Army, and subsequently the most powerful man in the country as Lord Protector in 1653.

 SEVEN WONDERS

• King's College Chapel.
• Punting on the Cam.
• Ely Cathedral.
• Duxford Imperial War Museum
• Fitzwilliam Museum.
• Along the river Cam to Grantchester.
• Wimpole Hall.

WHAT'S YOUR HOBBY?

• Golf.
• Sailing (dinghy, yacht, motorboat, rivers).
• Fishing (rivers).
• Walking.
• Photography/Painting/drawing.

 SAMPLE ITINERARIES