Day Trips from Cambridge
Day trips from Cambridge: Ely Cathedral, Anglesey Abbey, Wimpole Estate, Wicken Fen, IWM Duxford, Saffron Walden and Audley End, with sourced distances and transport notes.
This guide gathers the pages for places outside Cambridge that work as a day out. Distances and transport notes below come from each venue's own website or from Wikipedia; timetables and opening times change, so check before travelling.
Houses and gardens
Anglesey Abbey, at Lode, is a National Trust house built on a priory site, with 98 acres of landscaped grounds and a watermill. The nearest railway station is Cambridge, 7.1 miles away, and a 7-mile cycle route runs from the city centre along the River Cam.
Wimpole Estate, at Arrington, is a National Trust hall with parkland and a model farm, 8 miles south-west of Cambridge on the A603. The 75 bus from Cambridge stops at Arrington, 1 mile from Wimpole, or at Orwell, 2 miles away.
Audley End House and Gardens is a Jacobean house managed by English Heritage, near Saffron Walden. English Heritage offers 20% off entry to visitors who arrive by bus, train or bicycle.
Towns, a fen and a cathedral
Saffron Walden is an Essex market town 15 miles south of Cambridge, and Audley End railway station is 2 miles south-west of the town.
Ely Cathedral stands in the city of Ely, and its Octagon Tower was completed in 1342. Wicken Fen lies 9 miles south of Ely and 17 miles north-east of Cambridge via the A10, and the closest stations are Ely and Soham. A day could combine the two.
Aviation
IWM Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum, an aviation museum on the historic Duxford Aerodrome in Cambridgeshire. Check the museum's own site for opening times and prices before going.
Closer to home
Grantchester is a village on the River Cam about two miles south of the city, and it can be reached on foot through Grantchester Meadows, an open space beside the river. The other day trips are listed on the area page.
The day trips
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Ely Cathedral
Church
An Anglican cathedral on the site of a 672 abbey, with a central octagon built after the Norman tower fell in 1322.
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Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill
Landmark
A National Trust house in the village of Lode, built on a priory site, with 98 acres of gardens and a working watermill.
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Wimpole Estate
Landmark
A National Trust estate south-west of Cambridge, with a hall begun in 1640, landscaped parkland and an 18th-century model farm.
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Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve
Landmark
A fenland National Nature Reserve of 254.5 hectares, cared for by the National Trust since 1899, with a boardwalk and a historic windpump.
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IWM Duxford
Museum
The Imperial War Museum's aviation branch, on a Royal Flying Corps airfield chosen in 1917 that took part in the Battle of Britain.
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Saffron Walden
Landmark
An Essex market town 15 miles south of Cambridge, named for the saffron crocus once grown around it.
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Audley End House and Gardens
Landmark
A Jacobean mansion completed in 1614 beside Saffron Walden, now run by English Heritage, with Capability Brown parkland and a Victorian service wing.