48 Hours In Cambridge

48 Hours In Cambridge

When Erin was maybe just over a year old we went on a last minute trip to Cambridge. We didn’t have the largest amount of time but we had a great visit and we’d said we would love to go back when Erin was a bit older. Now that Erin is nearly 4 we thought we would be in a better position to explore the city a bit more. She’s that little bit older so we could look at the best things to do in Cambridge, rather than all things suitable for small children.

Monday

We have a Two Together railcard and unfortunately we can’t use this before 9:30am. We ended up getting the train to Cambridge at around 10am which got us there shortly after midday. It’s a bit annoying that restrictions meant we had to cut our day short but the train fare would have been around £90 instead of £37. It didn’t matter too much though I guess because the check in time at YHA Cambridge where we stayed was 2pm.

YHA Cambridge

As we arrived a bit early we made the most of it and sat in the cafe for a drink and a cake for Erin. John and Erin also went off for an adventure to find the nearest park while we waited. I love that this is the most important thing for Erin no matter where we go or where we stay.

YHA Cambridge

Once we could check in though Erin made herself at home in our room and claimed the top bunk for herself. This was something really new for her and she was so excited about sleeping on the ‘upstairs’ bed. This was the first time I’d stayed in a YHA and I was really impressed with what we got and where we were staying.

YHA Cambridge private room with en-suite

After we got settled in and got ourselves sorted we headed out into Cambridge to explore a little bit before dinner. As it was John’s birthday we’d booked a meal at Bella Italia. We never really know what Erin is going to be like with meal times or nap times while we’re away so I’d booked our table for 4pm just to be safe. I’m glad we did too because we were all starving by this point!

Bella Italia Cambridge

Bella Italia Cambridge

Bella Italia Cambridge

Bella Italia Cambridge

Our meal wasn’t an easy one but it was delicious. Erin had some kind of infection that was messing with her bladder so she ended up going to the toilet about every 3 minutes so eating was definitely a challenge. Instead of ordering Erin her own food she shared my huge pizza and then had a lot of John’s pudding.

Park in Cambridge

Instead of going straight back to the hostel we found another park on the way back and let Erin blow off some steam for a while. There’s nothing worse than having a 3 year old cooped up in a room with not a lot to do so we tried to make sure she was tired for when we went back. All of us were ready for our beds by 9pm and we needed the rest ready for another busy day.

Tuesday

Erin ended up waking up quite early on Tuesday morning but John was able to make her some food in the YHA kitchen and then took her for an early trip to the park. It was nice for me to be able to get ready and have a shower in peace before having breakfast at the hostel. I always like to try at least 1 meal wherever we’re staying and we had loads of fun trying the range of options on offer here.

YHA Cambridge breakfast

YHA Cambridge breakfast

Today was the day we had planned to visit a few museums as well as have lunch with friends who were also staying in the city! The first museum didn’t open until 10am so we had a bit of time to explore and to go for a quick walk down the river. It was a beautiful morning so it was nice to be outside for a while as well as discover some cows somewhere we really wasn’t expecting to.

River Cam, Cambridge

River Cam, Cambridge

River Cam, Cambridge

Our first museum of the day was the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. This is only a small museum but it’s free to enter and Erin loved the huge dinosaur looking bones! Unfortunately, once she discovered a table with some colouring sheets she lost interest in anything else and I think we spent the most amount of time colouring here instead of looking at what there was.

Sedgewick Museum, Cambridge

Sedgewick Museum, Cambridge

After lunch our friends came with us to the Museum of Zoology, another free to enter museum. Erin was in a strange mood at this point and wouldn’t stay still long enough to look at any one thing really so we whizzed around this museum. I don’t even think that we were there for more than half an hour. This was my favourite museum of the day though and I wish I’d had more time to look around. As you can see, there are so many interesting things to look at.

Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Lastly, we headed to the Whipple Museum, one I hadn’t heard of before. This one was full of scientific things and it was a really varied collection. There was everything from telescopes to models of the human anatomy and this was definitely what Erin liked the most. It was funny really because she thought it was the wiggle museum and wondered whether she could do a wiggle dance outside.

Whipple Museum, Cambridge

Whipple Museum, Cambridge

Whipple Museum, Cambridge

After we parted ways with our friends Erin very quickly fell asleep in the pushchair so John and I treated ourselves to a drink in Waterstones cafe. It’s very rare we get to do something like this so we made the most of having some quiet time together before Erin woke up. Soon after she did wake up we were all really hungry so we headed to our next meal which was at Cafe Rouge. We actually turned up an hour early and asked if that was okay, which it was, so again we ate at 4pm.

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Cafe Rouge, Cambridge

Yet again, Erin decided that my food was better than her own so she stole a fair bit of mine. I went for a really safe option here of a burger but John got to have a few dishes that he probably wouldn’t have ordered elsewhere so that was a real treat for him. Even though I ordered a really basic burger it was really nice and this was actually my favourite meal of the trip.

Wednesday

Instead of eating at the hostel on Wednesday morning we decided to eat at McDonald’s. We wanted something cheap, easy and quick so this was a great choice. Beforehand though, we’d gone to M&S to get some sandwiches for the train and Erin decided she just wanted a ham sandwich for breakfast so that’s what she kept herself busy with in McDonald’s.

McDonald's Breakfast

We only had a few hours before our train home so we went to the last museum of the trip which was the Fitzwilliam Museum. This museum is much larger than the others but it’s still free to enter. I think by this point Erin had had enough of being away and she didn’t want to look at anything after the knights and armour at the beginning. John took her off for a snack while I got to look around in peace for a little while. I really loved this museum and there was so much to see. It’s definitely somewhere I want to go back to when Erin is a bit older.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

We’d left our luggage at the hostel but as it was on the way back to the train station anyway we picked it up on our way. Erin was fast asleep at this point and she went on to sleep for nearly the whole train journey home too. I was really surprised but glad at the same time too as it made the whole journey stress free and actually quite relaxing.

YHA Cambridge

Our couple of days in Cambridge was so much fun and we packed in quite a lot. Although we went to a fair few museums we also went to the park a lot with Erin so that she wasn’t bored or stuck in the pushchair. I actually think that Erin was the most sad about not being able to go back to the park one last time. This definitely won’t be our last trip to Cambridge though so next time we’ll have to find something different to do.

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48 Hours In Cambridge

11 thoughts on “48 Hours In Cambridge”

  1. I’ve been to Cambridge a couple of times, but mainly to visit friends. What a treasure trove of museums it seems to have! The Whipple sounds right up my street – I love medical history.

  2. That food looks glorious. The Zoology museum and the ‘Wiggle’ museum would be right up our street! And how nice does the bedroom look at the YHA?! Was it a comfortable nights sleep?

  3. It seems you had a really great visit there. Cambridge is a great place to visit I think mine would love the Museum of Earth Sciences.

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