Cambridge Alumni Tours

EXPLORE THE WORLDS MOST HAUNTED UNIVERSITY 

In just an hour, go in search of ghosts and the supernatural stories of Cambridge. See where Wordsworth made ghost spotting scientific, find the origin of the phrase ‘the skeleton in the cupboard’, and hear about the modern ghost story that made the national press.

Find out why you might see horses floating around King’s Chapel, see if you can espy Oliver Cromwell’s ghost, and end up in the most haunted place in Cambridge. The age of the university, the even older age of the city, and the dank fens surrounding the city are the perfect ingredients for spooky events. 

THE STUDENTS STORY 

All our guides are either current or former students at the university. They have lived in drafty old college buildings, they have shivered in dark corners of the colleges, and some have even experienced ghosts.

This is all about hearing it from the horse’s mouth, and from those who will really give you a thrill. Hear about the digging up of dead bodies, learn about how witches were dealt with in a supposedly educated city, and find out what sort of meat was burning in the marketplace.

Find out about the nice ghost in the haunted bookshop and the unhappy ghosts of Corpus Christi. And finally, learn what to do if you hear a panting hound behind you! 

PRIVATE WOMEN’S HISTORY IN CAMBRIDGE WALKING TOUR

This tour covers the key role Cambridge played in education for women and women’s suffrage, as well as considering some of the tremendous women who have been associated with the city.

Key highlights:

• Millie Fawcett’s house
• Newnham College
• Senate House
• Market Square
• and other locations where significant events have played out.

Inclusions:

• Entry into Newnham College (when open)

Exclusions:

• Entry to other colleges not on the itinerary

DISCOVER HISTORY OF THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY IN CAMBRIDGE

Learn about the history of Cambridge’s LGBTQIA+ community, from the lives of famous queer alumni who accomplished major political milestones, to the stories of residents who experienced the vibrant nightlife of the ’70s. Learn about the Lesbian line, the creation of Stonewall, Cambridge’s major gay pub the Turk’s Head, and see a plethora of other sites in the city’s beautiful historic centre.

The tour will take you from King’s College (home of many highly influential Gay alumni such as Alan Turing), past St Catharine’s College (where Ian McKellen started his acting career and LGBTQIA+ activism), Queens’ college (where renowned Gay comedian Stephen Fry studied), onto the Backs of the medieval colleges, and into the city centre where you’ll search for the secret entrances to some of the city’s old Queer pubs and hostels, and visit other crucial landmarks for the advancement of LGBTQIA+ rights.

All the while, a resident student who has experienced Cambridge themselves will not only provide a deep insight into the history of Queer life and activism at the University, but they will also bring the streets’ past to life with readings from books set in Cambridge written by Queer alumni, supplementing this with their own experiences of Queer life in the city nowadays.

This is the first tour in Cambridge dedicated to Queer history, and it has been curated with the aim of paying tribute to those who have come before us – suffering the effects of homophobia but also making major contributions to science, art, and the humanities.

We wish to continue to assert Queer voices at the University, and paint the city in a new light that focuses on the history and experiences of those society tends to forget.

WALKING & PUNTING TOUR WITH KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL

You get to combine our graduate-led 90-minute walking tour and our student-led 50-minute punting tour. Include entry to King’s College Chapel in your tour package for the ultimate Cambridge experience!

BECOME A TIME TRAVELLER

In just an hour and a half, walk through a thousand years of human history: from an Anglo-Saxon church tower to a contemporary (and controversial) clock that doesn’t even tell the time properly. See the rooms where Newton wrote his theory of gravity and hear the truth behind the apple tree myth.

Visit the pub where Watson and Crick announced one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century. Marvel at some of the greatest examples of Gothic and Neoclassical architecture in the world. Inspiring, baffling, and downright outrageous: Cambridge is a city full of stories waiting to be told.

THE STUDENT’S STORY

Cambridge is nothing without its students, and it’s the students who make our walking tours so special. Combining a deep passion for the city’s history and architecture with the knowledge and experience of an insider, all our tour guides are either graduates or current students of the University of Cambridge.

You hear all about what the students really get up to – from “college parents” to lavish May Balls and the dreaded all-nighters in-between. Which college is the poshest one, and which is the richest? Which one has a communist flag in its bar?

As well as hearing it all from the horse’s mouth, you get to see inside two colleges, with highlights including the beautiful Pembroke College Chapel and gardens. This is the real Cambridge as experienced from within the college walls.

A LIVE-ACTION EXPERIENCE

If traveling to Cambridge isn’t an option right now, then our live virtual tours are just the solution you need. Let our locally-based guides bring you inside the famous colleges and university buildings via video-link technology.

As you view the best that Cambridge has to offer, from its Anglo-Saxon towers and neoclassical marvels to contemporary street art, you’ll be experiencing the most exclusive parts of the university without paying any standard entrance fees.

Our virtual tours bring this city and its outrageous history to life in a way you never thought possible.

THE STUDENT’S SIDE OF CAMBRIDGE

Our tours offer a unique perspective on Cambridge’s rich and riotous history that you won’t find anywhere else. This is because all of our tour guides are either graduates or current students of the University of Cambridge which means their passion for the city’s history is matched only by their knowledge and experience as an insider. Cambridge students also enjoy privileged access to the University’s accommodation halls, common rooms, dining spaces, libraries,   and chapels.

They’ll share all of this with you on our exclusive virtual tours. Meanwhile, you’ll hear what they really get up to outside of class, from partaking in mysterious ancient college traditions to enjoying decadent May Balls and visiting the libraries that stay open 24/7. On this exclusive virtual tour, your guide will use online technology to bring you behind the college walls and into their daily life as a student.

Our classic 90-minute Cambridge tour covers some of the following highlights: Trinity Hall College, Trinity College, The Wren Library, Corpus Christi College, Pembroke College, Queens’ College, King’s College backs, Clare College, The Senate House, Gonville, and Caius College, St Catherine’s College, Great St Mary’s Church, The Eagle Pub, The Corpus Clock, The Round Church, famous town stories, and more…

BECOME A TIME TRAVELLER

In just an hour and a half, walk through a thousand years of human history: from an Anglo-Saxon church tower to a contemporary (and controversial) clock that doesn’t even tell the time properly. See the rooms where Newton wrote his theory of gravity and hear the truth behind the apple tree myth.

Visit the pub where Watson and Crick announced one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century. Marvel at some of the greatest examples of Gothic and Neoclassical architecture in the world. Inspiring, baffling, and downright outrageous: Cambridge is a city full of stories waiting to be told.

THE STUDENT’S STORY

Cambridge is nothing without its students, and it’s the students who make our walking tours so special. Combining a deep passion for the city’s history and architecture with the knowledge and experience of an insider, all our tour guides are either graduates or current students of the University of Cambridge.

You hear all about what the students really get up to – from “college parents” to lavish May Balls and the dreaded all-nighters in-between. Which college is the poshest one, and which is the richest? Which one has a communist flag in its bar? As well as hearing it all from the horse’s mouth, you get to see inside up to two colleges, with highlights including the beautiful Pembroke College Chapel and gardens.

This is the real Cambridge as experienced from within the college walls.