I thought this would be a good spot for my questions. My girlfriend and I will be flying to London on May 22nd and staying in a hostel of sorts in Picadilly Circus or thereabouts. We will tour the city for a few days, then take side trips to a few places in England. One of them is Cambridge. My parents have visited before and thought it was a nice place, and I guess I just want to pick up on the empeg zen of it all. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if some folks here could recommend some nice sites in Cambridge, and possibly a nice, inexpensive place to stay. We are in a situation now where I don't have to ask for anyone for a place to stay, like I was in an earlier post.

My other question is about travel. My girlfriend is a meticulous planner. I've tried explaining the differences in European train travel, but it doesn't seem to help. Basically I'm asking Cambridge residents whether or not you think we'd need to make reservations on trains to and from London, and how often they run.

I then have one more question, also about train travel, and this does require planning. See, we plan on ending our stay in the UK in Cambridge, so we need to know if it's possible to travel from Cambridge to London then to Paris by Eurostar. I know we need reservations for the Eurostar, but guess I need to know it's possible to get to Paris at a reasonable hour for checking into a hotel/hostel.

Thanks for your help.

I'm not a UK resident, but it was VERY obvious when I was there last summer that one just "shows up" for the trains -- they run very frequently, and reservations should not be needed, especially not on short hauls like London->Cambridge.

The trains I took to Cambridge (twice) were both nearly empty, and I just showed up at the station without checking timetables or anything.. 20minute wait, and along came a train.

Cheers

Anyway, I'd appreciate it if some folks here could recommend some nice sites in Cambridge, and possibly a nice, inexpensive place to stay. We are in a situation now where I don't have to ask for anyone for a place to stay, like I was in an earlier post.

Cambridge is small enough that all the "nice sites" are within walking distance. The one place you need to stand is at the corner of Bene't Street and Kings Parade: the view up Kings Parade past Kings College and the Senate House to Caius College is justly called one of the finest architectural vistas of Europe. Also there's quite a nice restaurant on that corner. Go and have a look inside Kings College Chapel: there's an admission charge but it's worth it. Trinity College is good too. Many of the old colleges are at their best viewed from the river: if you're feeling flush, get a chauffeured punt, or, if you're feeling brave, attempt to operate one yourself.

The only exception to the walking thing is the American Cemetery, three miles out of town, where lots of US servicemen killed in Europe in World War 2 were buried. If that includes any of your ancestors, you might want to get the open-top bus tour which does all the city-centre sights plus the American Cemetery.

Drop us a line when you're coming and we'll be happy to demonstrate to you at great length the city's many fine pubs and restaurants...

My other question is about travel. My girlfriend is a meticulous planner. I've tried explaining the differences in European train travel, but it doesn't seem to help. Basically I'm asking Cambridge residents whether or not you think we'd need to make reservations on trains to and from London, and how often they run.

Non-stop trains run from Kings Cross every half-hour during the day, stopping trains ("local" in US parlance, I think) from Kings Cross and Liverpool Street even more often. You don't need to book; the only time I've seen one full was one time during rush-hour when the previous two or three trains had been cancelled.

See, we plan on ending our stay in the UK in Cambridge, so we need to know if it's possible to travel from Cambridge to London then to Paris by Eurostar. I know we need reservations for the Eurostar, but guess I need to know it's possible to get to Paris at a reasonable hour for checking into a hotel/hostel.

A non-stop Cambridge-to-London train takes under an hour; an hour is a generous allocation for crossing London (Kings Cross to Waterloo); Eurostars leave about every hour and the journey takes about 3h plus an hour's timezone difference. So basically, if you get a 9am UK time train from Cambridge it seems you'll be at Paris Gare-du-Nord by about 4pm Paris time. Cambridge-to-London trains run from about 5.45am.

Having said that, I've never been on Eurostar myself, so I don't know if they introduce extra delays. (Is it like an airport? do you have to "check in" in advance?)

Peter

Thank you for an very useful post, Peter. That was extremely helpful!

Those sites sound very interesting. As far as I know I didn't have any ancestors at that particular location. I don't think they got out of the country much except one in Vietnam. The only other military ancestor I know if was in the Civil War...

Anyway, the town sounds lovely, and the girlfriend and I would be happy to join anyone available for dining and refreshments.

As for the trains, I'm happy to hear that I had the right idea. That's what I loved about travelling in Europe. When a friend and I did it about 5 years ago, we'd get tired of a city, hop on a train, get to a new town, call up a hostel, and lay down our bedrolls. Unfortunately, my travelling companion this time around is a tad more compulsive when it comes to planning Oh well, both methods have their advantages.

As has been said, no problems getting between London and Cambridge with trains every 30 minutes or so at peak times and you can't make reservations on them (but you must buy your ticket before getting on otherwise you'll end up with a £10 each). Getting to Waterloo for the Eurostar is no biggie either - short tube journey or a cab.

Cambridge to London should be a little over an hour to 1:30. Transfer to Waterloo for the Eurostar depends on whether you arrive at Kings Cross or Liverpool Street. Have a look on the journey planner on http://www.tfl.gov.uk and you can plan your journey pretty well (although the journey planner seems to be down at the moment). I'm guessing you'll need about 30 minutes to get to Waterloo.

You need to check in for Eurostar trains at least an hour before departure. You will have an airline-type ticket. The security checks are tougher now too so take the time to get through security into consideration (it's nowhere near as long a wait as airport security)

As for sites in Cambridge, the universities are interesting to walk around, and a punt on the river is good if the weather is nice

Not having had to stay anywhere in cambridge except my place, I don't have many suggestions, but...

- My gf's boss who lives in London but works in Cambridge tends to stay at sleeperz (www.sleeperz.com) two nights a week - this is at the train station and cheap for a hotel (£55 for a double)

- The company aforementioned gf works for is activehotels.com - they list some guest house/bed & breakfast type places from about £33

- hostelling, eg the YHA http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/hostelpages/86.html - but the £18 is per person. You might be able to book a 2-bedded room though (as opposed to sharing an 8).

Hope this helps...

Hugo

Thanks, Hugo, I hadn't checked out that activehotels site yet, and I've found one I like. I'd appreciate it if someone over there could tell me how far away it is from the main stuff.

45 pounds for a double isn't too bad. That's about what we're looking at.

Also, I'd like to ask about cell phones. I have an SE P800, which I assume would work on most networks in Europe. How feasible is it to use a cell phone while travelling to various countries? Would it be better to just buy phone cards? My card is unlocked (or so said the company I bought it from).

Thanks for all the help I've received. It is appreciated, especially by my girlfriend who is getting a little stressed over finishing her senior year AND planning a month in Europe. I suppose I can help a little

I'd appreciate it if someone over there could tell me how far away it is from the main stuff.

That's not very central -- it's a couple of miles from the city centre. You have to zoom out twice on that map before you can even see things like Kings College Chapel (it's marked).

I have an SE P800, which I assume would work on most networks in Europe. How feasible is it to use a cell phone while travelling to various countries?

It should be fine hardware-wise; you'll need to check with your home provider whether you have "roaming" enabled. (Or even "limited roaming", which just lets you phone home when abroad.)

If you haven't roamed before, or have only recently had the phone, there may be a deposit or other charge to pay to enable roaming. It's still likely to be less than forking out for a native SIM though. (This is the opposite advice from over yonder in the Africa thread, because third-world countries are often much arsier about roaming than European ones are, and much more in favour of you buying a native SIM.)

Peter

Yikes. That's not good (about the distance). All the places on that site were over 1km away from the city center. Granted, this one was listed as 4.1km away, but I can't even get 2km in without going up about 60 pounds in price. Yeesh. I'll check the other options Hugo listed.

My phone is not new, but I have not roamed before, unless I've done that in the US and not realized it. Should I basically talk to to TMobile (my US carrier) and see what they have to say?

Yeesh. I'll check the other options Hugo listed.

Well, it's only a 30-40 minute walk, or a 5 or 6 minute taxi ride.

My phone is not new, but I have not roamed before, unless I've done that in the US and not realized it. Should I basically talk to to TMobile (my US carrier) and see what they have to say?

You have to specifically request international roaming/dialing be added to your account. It doesn't cost anything extra to add, but they do run a credit check on you again. If all is well, it only takes the CSR about 1 minute to put that on your account. Dial 611 and tell them that's what you want.

flying to London on May 22nd [...] take side trips to [...] Cambridge

Hmm, something's just occurred to me...

Peter

Lol! Well, my girlfriend may take part, but I'm not a drinker (sorry!). I'd gladly join anyone for this or a trip to the pubs or anything, I just never developed a taste for alchohol.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with other people drinking, and like I said, I think it would be great if we could meet up with folks over there for diner or drinks or that festival.

But thanks for letting me know about it I'll let my travel companion know about it

*edit*
And for anyone interested, I ran www.sleeperz.com past Peter, and since he said it was a good choice, that's where I'll be staying. I just wanted to post it so in case anyone else makes a visit to the town, they'll have an option.