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Cambridgeshire is a historic county in the East Anglia region of England, part of the United Kingdom.

Cities and towns

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Map
Map of Cambridgeshire

Cities

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  • 1 Cambridge the county seat is a university city with must-see historic colleges.
  • 2 Ely is a small cathedral city perched on what was once an island in the Fens.
  • 3 Peterborough is industrial yet has a well-preserved centre and cathedral.

Towns

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Villages

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  • 11 Duxford – location of the aircraft collection of the Imperial War Museum and air shows
  • 12 Fordham Fordham, Cambridgeshire on Wikipedia
  • 13 Fowlmere

Understand

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For centuries much of the north east of the region was inaccessible marshland, until a programme of drainage assisted by Dutch engineers transformed the Fens into the country's most fertile farmland, leaving the landscape criss-crossed by canals and dotted with windmills.

The major population centres today remain concentrated in the south and west of Cambridgeshire, with the north and east of the region remains a bleak, empty landscape.

Talk

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Cambridgeshire residents speak in the standard form of English common across South East England, and there should be little difficulty for English speakers in understanding them. Contrary to popular belief, most locals do not speak in the distinctive upper-class accents common amongst Cambridge University students.

Get in

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By car

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The M11 on the outskirts of Cambridge, with a blue sign for Ely and Huntingdon as an HGV speeds towards the photographer on a two-lane dual-carriageway
The M11 on the outskirts of Cambridge, with a sign for Ely and Huntingdon

Cambridge, Peterborough, Huntingdon and Wisbech are located on some of the UK's major routes. There are direct road connections between Cambridgeshire and major destinations across the country, such as London, Doncaster, Hull, Ipswich, Northampton, Norwich, Stansted Airport and Stevenage.

Major routes into the county include:

By train

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A light brick railway station with grand arches in Cambridge
Cambridge railway station

Cambridge is located on several train routes, with direct connections from destinations throughout the UK.

London King's Cross station with huge grand arches and a clock on top
London King's Cross station - with direct trains from the capital to Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon and Peterborough

From London King's Cross and London St Pancras

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From London Liverpool Street and London Stansted Airport

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From Birmingham and Leicester

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  • CrossCountry stopping services from Birmingham New Street, Leicester, Melton Mowbray and Stamford - into Peterborough, March, Ely and Cambridge, then London Stansted Airport.

From Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds

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From destinations in Norfolk

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From the North East and Scotland

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Peterborough station in Cambridgeshire, with a sleek white frontage
Peterborough railway station

From Nottingham and Lincoln

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By plane

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There are no international airports in Cambridgeshire, but several with direct road and rail connections into the county:

By bus

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Major bus routes into Cambridgeshire include:

Get around

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The region is well linked by rural bus services.

By dial-a-ride

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Ting is a demand-responsive bus service. Ting covers the West Huntingdonshire area including St Neots, Cambourne, Sawtry and surrounding villages. To book a journey, Vectare DRT app is used. The ride can also be called from the booking line on +44 115 777-3187.

See

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The region's chief attraction is the splendid architecture and attractive riverfront of the historic city of Cambridge. Further afield, attractions include:

  • Imperial War Museum Duxford
  • Wicken Fen south of Ely
  • Wimpole Hall and Home Farm near Royston.

Do

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  • Punting on the River Cam in Cambridge
  • Cricket: Cambridgeshire CCC play in the National Counties Cricket Championship, the tier formerly known as "Minor Counties" below the first class competitions. They usually play in the town of March.

Eat

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Cambridgeshire isn't known for its food specialities. Traditional English roasts are served in attractive country pubs throughout the region. Cambridge offers the widest range of restaurants to choose from, whilst Peterborough is the place to head for Italian. Ely (England) has several tearooms serving a traditional afternoon tea.

Drink

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The regions small towns and villages offer a particularly fine range of country pubs, many of which serve a good range of real ales. Most of the "local" beer served in the region comes from the Charles Wells brewery in Bedfordshire and Greene King brewery in Suffolk - you will see these names on pub signs everywhere in the region.

Stay safe

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Cambridgeshire is a quiet and fairly prosperous region presenting relatively few hazards to the traveller. See the England section for more general safety tips.

Go next

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This region travel guide to Cambridgeshire is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!