Getting to Cambridge (if you can't catch the Hogwarts Express)

Flights

If you can fly to Stansted, there are regular (roughly every half hour) trains to Cambridge and Cambridge North. Both are about the same distance from our house, but Cambridge North is further away from everything else - you probably want Cambridge.

There are now trains directly from Gatwick, but they stop at every station between Gatwick and Cambridge and sometimes just stop for a picnic. Generally, the best option for getting to Cambridge from Gatwick is start from somewhere else.

If you’re coming into Heathrow, the simplest option is to get the Victoria Line all of the way to Kings Cross, then the train from Kings Cross. The Tube takes about an hour and is quite uncomfortable, but is cheap. Alternatively, you can take the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then the Circle or Hammersmith and City Tube to Kings Cross. This saves about 20 minutes (if you’re lucky), is more expensive, but is less uncomfortable than an hour on the Tube. David normally just takes the Tube and a good book, but everyone tells him he’s weird when he does.

You can also take a National Express bus from Heathrow or Gatwick. They run roughly every hour, drop you off right in the middle of town (Cambridge Parkside), and are usually very cheap. If, on the other hand, you are feeling particularly extravagant (or want to coordinate with several other people), Executive Car Services charges about £120 for a taxi from Heathrow to anywhere in Cambridge.

Trains

If you’re coming on the Eurostar, King’s Cross (or Kings Cross if you’re National Rail) is just across the road from St. Pancras. The EuroStar exit is in the middle of St. Pancras and it takes about 5-10 minutes to navigate the winding path to King’s Cross if you’re unfamiliar with the layout.

There are direct trains to us from Kings Cross. Check the ‘fastest train to…’ board! A lot of the trains take about an hour and a half, the fast ones take 50 minutes, so it’s often faster to pop into Pret a Manger for a coffee and get the second train. If your journey’s complicated, drop one of us an email.

Get off at Cambridge and ignore the new and exciting Cambridge North station unless you’re staying in the far north-east of the city.

The least evil taxi company is Cambridge is CamCab, 01223 704704. There’s a taxi rank at the station, but some of the drivers are a bit… exciting. It’s often a good idea to have a taxi pick you up from Tenison Road outside Microsoft Research - a 2-minute walk from the station - so they avoid the massive traffic tangle right next to the station. If you’re arriving during the working day, give David a call and he’ll let you have some coffee while you wait!

Cambridge is not that big, so you may prefer to walk - particularly if the weather is nice!

For those of you who have been here before, the Hogwarts Express protocol hasn’t changed, but it now leaves from platform Pi.

Cycles

If you cycle, we now have the Ofo and Mobike cycle share schemes. If you’re staying for more than a few days, Rutland Cycles (formerly Station Cycles) do relatively cheap cycle hire. Don’t bother with an electric bike, Cambridge pre-dates the invention of hills.

Buses

You can also take a National Express bus to the middle of town from a lot of places in the UK.

For getting around Cambridge, don’t even bother trying the local buses. They are terrible. Really.