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Cambridge: Museums and Culture

Overview

Home to one of the oldest universities in the world, Cambridge is a hub of knowledge and culture.

Cambridge University boasts an extensive collection of museums, visit the Sedgwick Museum of Natural Sciences the Zoology Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum and more.  With so many to choose from, it’s easy to personalise your itinerary to your students’ interests!

You might consider combining this itinerary with our Oxford: Culture and History itinerary to have an even fuller range of visits.

Our Suggested Itinerary

  1. Day 1

    Depart school and travel to Cambridge.

    Visit the Sedgwick Museum of Natural Sciences, the oldest of the University of Cambridge museums.  A walk through the museum will take you on a 4.5 billion year journey through time, from the meteoritic building blocks of planets, to the thousands of fossils of animals and plants.

    Then explore the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens, founded by Charles Darwin's mentor, Professor John Henslow.  This beautiful Botanic Garden is home to 8000 plant species, a wonderful arboretum and a number of glasshouses.

    Afterwards, discover Cambridge with a guided walking tour!  You will be introduced to Cambridge's most famous landmarks and hear fascinating insights from more than 800 years of university history!

    Arrive and settle into your accommodation.

  2. Day 2

    Start the day with a Punting Boat Tour!  View the city from a different perspective as you sail down the Cam River in a special flat-bottomed boat called a punt!

    Take a stroll around Market Square which sells a wide range of goods including books, music, films, clothes, jewellery, and fresh food.  Cambridge is a renowned market town, and stalls have been trading at the historic market square in the city centre since the middle ages.

    In the afternoon, pay a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum, one of the first public art museums in Britain.  It houses a vast collection of antiquities from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and exhibits of English and European pottery.

    Spend the evening relaxing and enjoying a game of bowling!

  3. Day 3

    Visit Kings College Chapel, which took over a century to build and is one of Cambridge's oldest surviving and most iconic buildings!  Explore the galleries of the Cambridge University Zoology Museum, opened in 1865.  Find out about the evolution of life on earth, discover stories of extinction, survival and pioneering exploration.

    Afterwards, relax and take a stroll through the Backs, a series of gardens and parks which weave behind the many colleges along the river and offer spectacular views of the River Cam.

    Learn about the history of chocolate, its exotic past and discover the secrets of the Chocolatier with a Chocolate Tasting Course!  You will get to taste a wide range of chocolate, which will be followed by a tasting task and then test your knowledge with a quiz!

    Before heading home, spend some leisure time in the Grand Arcade shopping centre.  It’s the perfect time for some last minute shopping and souvenir hunting!

    Journey back to school.

Accommodation

Our groups normally stay at the YHA Cambridge, a safe and secure accommodation especially suited to schools. 

Our options are usually 2* or youth hostel standard and provide a perfect base for enjoying your tour. All accommodation we use is audited, and our auditing regime is verified by independent experts.