Cambridge University

Cambridge University, founded in 1209 and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university, is dispersed across the centre of Cambridge, England, in 31 colleges whose buildings line the River Cam through the historic heart of the city. The university and city are intertwined: the streets of central Cambridge pass beneath medieval gatehouses, alongside chapels with soaring pinnacles, and through gardens rolling down to the riverbank known as the Backs. King's College Chapel is universally regarded as one of the masterpieces of late Gothic architecture in Europe: begun by Henry VI in 1446 and completed in 1544, its fan-vaulted ceiling — the largest in the world — spans 88 metres in a single uninterrupted display of stone tracery above rows of dark oak choir stalls. The Rubens painting The Adoration of the Magi hangs behind the altar. Trinity College, founded by Henry VIII in 1546 and the wealthiest of all Cambridge colleges, occupies a vast precinct with the Great Court — the largest enclosed court in the UK — at its heart. Its library, designed by Christopher Wren, contains first editions of Newton's Principia Mathematica and Winnie the Pooh. The Mathematical Bridge at Queens' College — a timber footbridge falsely said to have been designed by Newton — crosses a narrow arm of the Cam in an appealing composition. Punting on the River Cam through the Backs — the green lawn and willow-draped gardens of the riverside colleges — is the quintessential Cambridge experience and is available from several boathouses near Silver Street Bridge from March to October. The Fitzwilliam Museum on Trumpington Street houses world-class collections of paintings, antiquities, and decorative arts and is free to enter. Cambridge city centre is compact and largely flat, easily explored on foot or by bicycle.