cambridgeshire

The university city of Cambridge dominates its county so much it’s easy to forget the other attractions and, indeed, cities and towns of the area. Ely has one of the world’s great cathedrals, its spire can be seen for miles around, while historic market towns include March on the Old River Nene, once a Tudor port and then a railway town in the 19th century.

The landscape is defined by water and you can travel the Cambridgeshire canals in a hired cruiser, spend a week’s holiday on a narrowboat or enjoy a day trip. Along the banks lie quiet villages with picturesque thatched cottages and ancient stone churches — step ashore to go fishing, walking or biking. Get even closer to nature in one of the county’s reserves, such as Wicken Fen, alive with wild ponies, otters and rare plants and insects.

Quiet towns such as Ramsey, Chatteris, Littleport and Whittlesey grew from small island communities amid these wetlands. Chatteris is a typical market town, a centre for anglers and bird watchers visiting the surrounding Fens, while Whittlesey is a maze of streets filled with a scrapbook of architectural styles.

In the cathedral city of Peterborough, visitors can travel through time at the Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre, while Cambridgeshire’s flat land was also a major site for airfields in World War II . Britain’s only American Military Cemetery from the era is in Madingley, three miles from Cambridge, where some 12,000 dead or missing are remembered.