10 facts about Cambridge that aren't in the guidebooks

# 10 facts about Cambridge that aren't in the guidebooks

Cambridge won't fit in a campus tour. You discover it on foot, between colleges, punts and pubs with history. These ten facts are the kind a local guide tells you along the way, between one stop and the next.

  1. Eight million visitors a year. Around 8 million people visit the city every year, according to Cambridge City Council. In 2022, the visitor economy accounted for 12.2% of local employment. Cambridge doesn't live on books alone.
  1. No licence needed to guide here. In England there is no state licence to work as a tourist guide on the street. The Blue Badge is voluntary, not a legal requirement. Anyone can advertise and work as a guide in public spaces.
  1. The university began more than 800 years ago. The University of Cambridge goes back more than eight centuries. And that's no figure of speech: the city itself is more than 800 years old too. It all started before printed books existed.
  1. The largest fan vault in the world. King's College Chapel has the biggest fan-vault ceiling in the world. The visit isn't free: entry cost between £16 and £17.50 in 2025, with limited visiting windows. And it closes to the public during exams and services.
  1. Newton's college, with 34 Nobel Prizes. Trinity College is Isaac Newton's college. Thirty-four Nobel laureates have come out of it. Science is studied here with pedigree.
  1. The secret of life was announced in a pub. In 1953, Crick and Watson announced the structure of DNA at The Eagle. Yes, in a pub. 😊 Today it's one of the stops on the science tour.
  1. A clock that eats time. In the centre of Cambridge stands a clock nicknamed the Chronophage: the time-eater. It's called the Corpus Clock. No winding needed: it eats the seconds all by itself.
  1. A round church from the year 1130. In the old centre stands a round church, built around 1130. It's older than the university itself. Almost nine hundred years of stone, right in the middle of town.
  1. The oldest bridge is still in use. Clare Bridge is the oldest bridge in Cambridge. And it's no ruin: it's still in use today. The riverside walk passes right by it.
  1. The boats only run from March to October. Punting — the flat-bottomed boats pushed along with a pole — runs from March to October. And it depends on the weather. The River Cam calls the shots.

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