Saturday Walk - Four lunch pubs to choose from, a lovely tea room, the River Cam and the Cambridge Colleges: Shelford to Cambridge

Length: 23.4 km (14.6 mi) 

Ascent/Descent: 60m 

Net Walking Time: 5 hours 

Toughness: 3/10

 

Take the 09.28 Cambridge North train from Liverpool Street, calls Tottenham Hale (Victoria Line) at 09.40, arrives Shelford 10.43. 

Return trains are up to 5 per hour, journey time from 69 mins to KGX, and from 72 mins to LST.

Buy a Cambridge Return (any route permitted if you want to keep the option to return to KGX).

 

This walk is long and flat and gets better as the day progresses after a somewhat dull morning: the route into Cambridge is lovely, particularly after Grantchester.

Near the start, to lessen the amount of road walking, you may take what is now a “Permissive Path” along a farm track besides the River Cam, from Little Shelford to Hauxton Church: you no longer need the farmer’s written permission in advance to walk along this path, as in bygone times. The route then passes through the village of Hauxton, with its interesting church, then on to Haslingfield for lunch. From there you head to Grantchester and tea in the Orchard tearooms before walking besides the River Cam into Cambridge. The walk finishes with a tour through Cambridge colleges. Your tarmac count will be high, you may prefer to wear well cushioned trainers instead of walking boots.

 

Walk Options: 

Several Shortcuts (see the webpage for details); 

SWC Walk 105 Cambridge Circular via Grantchester is a 15km version of this walk which cuts out the morning leg of the main walk and allows you more time for the City Centre tour of the University Colleges.

 

Lunch: The Little Rose in Haslingfield (7.9 km) or Three Pubs and a Tea Garden in Grantchester (14.3 km): The Rupert Brooke, The Red Lion, The Green Man or The Orchard Tea Garden. 

Tea: Lots of choice in Cambridge City Centre, plus some kiosks on Cambridge Station selling coffee and tea.

 

For summary, map, height profile, photos, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here.T=1.26