Last minute getaway to Cambridge

Last minute getaway to Cambridge

John and I were supposed to go to Cambridge for a weekend for my birthday/ Mother’s Day but it never happened due to illness. I managed to get a rare Saturday night off work though last minute so we decided to go away quite last minute.

Travel

Silly me didn’t think about checking trains before booking a hotel. It turned out that we happened to go on the one weekend where there was bus replacements part way, making our journey about 40 minutes longer than it should have been. Erin actually was quite good the whole way there but she did want to run around quite a lot! Train travel with a toddler is certainly interesting (post to come soon!)

Accommodation

I booked us in at the ibis Cambridge Central on the recommendation from my sister. The hotel is right next to the train station but a good 15-20 minute walk away from the city center. I’ll be writing a full review soon but we really enjoyed our stay and will be back next time we’re in Cambridge!

Day one

We arrived in Cambridge at about 9:30am so we had the full day ahead of us. As we couldn’t check in to the hotel until 2pm (found out after that we could have stored bags there) we didn’t want to do too much. We headed into the city center and just explored pretty much. We loved walking around the market and listening to music being played. We also took in a lot of the beautiful buildings and history. We were also quite lucky in that we got to see a bit of a graduation happening at King’s College.

Erin got quite grumpy about 2pm so we decided to let her have a run around in a park and then head back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. We all had a much needed catnap before heading out for some more fun.

A 10 minute walk from the hotel is a little leisure park with some restaurants, cinema and bowling alley. Although I used to be the manager of a bowling alley it has been years since we went. Erin was very unsure about bowling but she did like sitting on the motorbike games in the arcades! For dinner we went to Bella Italia (again, review coming soon). It’s always a safe bet for us because we all like the food there!

We got back to the hotel about 7pm and we were all exhausted. John and Erin were both snoring away by about 8pm and I even had an early night myself.

Day two

Day 2 started at 6:30am with us all being well rested. We’d paid for breakfast at the hotel because I knew Erin would want food straight away. I was so impressed! All you can eat breakfast is always good but this one I really enjoyed.

Sundays are a bit hard when you’re away in the UK because nothing is really open until 10am. We took this opportunity to walk around the streets of Cambridge before going to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Entrance was £5 each for me and John but Erin was free. There was a cute Easter Lindt bunny trail for us to follow too which got Erin some free chocolate at the end. The gardens were gorgeous and we were lucky to go on such a sunny day.

We didn’t have much time for anything else after the gardens so we headed to Wetherspoons for lunch where I, stupidly, ordered breakfast again forgetting about my food earlier! Getting home at a decent time meant leaving at 2pm. I didn’t actually mind this too much though as we were all exhausted! The bus replacement from Cambridge to Ely was horrible though. It was a ‘proper’ bus and not a coach and there was not enough room for people and their luggage. Erin did not want to sit down but there was no room for her to move so she clambered around on me and John. Thankfully, the people sat behind us helped to keep her entertained. I may have cried if it wasn’t for them.

Would i go again?

Absolutely! I loved our little getaway to Cambridge. John and I both loved it, Erin just liked staying in a hotel and eating loads of breakfast. I’d love to go back and see more of the university and colleges and get a few more activities in.Save

7 thoughts on “Last minute getaway to Cambridge”

  1. As someone from Cambridge I forgot what beauty our city holds. I need to go back and visit my parents. Sounds like a lovely visit you had.

  2. I’ve never been to Cambridge but it looks so pretty! Glad you enjoyed yourself, and yes, any kind of public transport is tricky with a toddler on the move! haha

  3. Looks like you had a lovely time. I’ve never been to Cambridge but always wanted to. Replacement buses are such a pain in the arse aren’t they?

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