Cambridge crowned a top 5 perfect best urban getaway in the UK

Cambridge crowned a top 5 perfect best urban getaway in the UK

Cambridge crowned a top 5 perfect best urban getaway in the UK

The City of Cambridge has come up trumps in the latest survey by an international glossy magazine to find the top 5 urban getaways. 

The rather glamorous Conde Nast Traveller publication found a spot for the University city citing it the fourth best city in Britain for a Staycation. They praised Cambridge for its “elegant architecture” in particular.

 

Kettle’s yard picked out for particular praise

Another reason the magazine’s editors chose Cambridge as their fourth-best city for a getaway was down to the irrepressible Kettle’s Yard. This they described as a “must-see attraction.”

They praised its “exceptional collection of 20th-century British and European art”, which they then described as “one of the most intimate, idiosyncratic and moving exhibition spaces in the UK – quite as marvellous, in its one-of-a-kind way, as Cambridge itself.”

Top of the CN Traveller list for a city break destination was the city of Glasgow, which they termed “a wide-awake city.” Scotland’s largest city was followed by Belfast and then Bristol. Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham respectively were next in the urban pecking order. 

 

Readers were judges last time round

In 2020, Cambridge once again made it into the magazine’s top 10 best cities to visit list. The list was the result of a reader’s survey. 

Fifth in the list last year, the publication – which is subscribed to by the ‘wealthier holidaymaker’ – noted that Cambridge was an excellent mix of “history and contemporary.”

At the time it was quoted as saying: “History is woven into the medieval lanes and cloistered colleges of this free-wheeling university town. But now a perky batch of new arrivals are adding cocktail and coffee culture to the equation.

Boating in Cambridge
Trees in Cambridge

Other publications praising Cambridge

And it’s not just Conde Nast Traveller which has a nice word to say about Cambridge. The Sunday Times magazine often gives it a place in its Best Places to Live guide. More than once has the magazine referred to Mill Road as “Cambridge’s answer to Notting Hill,” for instance.

In 2017 The Sunday Times described Cambridge as a “boom town for the brainy.” It then went on to enthuse about the city’s academic attainment in secondary schools and the super-fast and regular commuter trains into the City of London.

 

Tourism sector employs 22% of Cambridge residents

According to Meet Cambridge, the city welcomes 8.1 million visitors a year, with the visitor economy contributing around £835 million to the city. The Cambridge Economic Impact of Tourism Report 2017 noted that this was equivalent to around 22% of local employment.

“Unlike many towns and cities across the UK, Cambridge has never had a problem in attracting visitors,” admitted Emma Thornton, CEO of Visit Cambridge and Beyond, recently.

But that was pre-pandemic. With the city marketing organisation now disbanded, Cambridge councillor Rosy Moore vowed to work with partners and hospitality businesses in the city to bring visitors back.

Although she added a cautionary note too.

@rosyrosylou: “We recognise that the future pattern of tourism will be very different for at least the next three years,” she said. “And in some ways permanently so.”