The town of Cambridge lies, as its name suggests, on the river Cam, which winds its way through many of the colleges along the 'Backs'. The train station is over a mile from the centre, so catch a bus - there's nothing worth seeing on the way. The town is conveniently arranged in the form of a circuit - most of the colleges are off it on either side, though you should walk along Queen's Road as well - the classic view towards King's College Chapel is from here.

To do the circuit you need to alight from the bus at Emmanuel College - ask the bus driver for the nearest stop. From there, (John Harvard's Old College) stopping to explore the colleges on route, walk down St Andrew's Street. Christ's College is on your right - make sure you walk through to the gardens. CP Snow's novel 'The Masters' is set here. Further up Sidney Street (Sidney Sussex College - only the front quad is worth the trip). 

According to legend the University of Cambridge in England was founded in 1209 by scholars escaping Oxford after a fight with Oxford locals. King Henry III of England granted them a teaching monopoly in 1231.

The Mathematician's Bridge over the River Cam.

Along with the University of Oxford, Cambridge University produces a large proportion of Britain's prominent scientists, writers, and politicians; the pair are known as Oxbridge. Both are members of the Russell Group of Universities.

The thirty-one Colleges of the University are independent institutions, separate from the University itself, and they enjoy considerable autonomy. For example, colleges decide which students they are to admit (though this is under review in 2003), are responsible for the welfare and domestic arrangements of students and for small group teaching ('supervisions'). They appoint their own 'fellows' (senior members). Many of the colleges are also quite wealthy (in some cases very wealthy), while the university is not.

The first College was Peterhouse founded in 1284 by Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely. The second-oldest College is King's Hall which was founded in 1317, though it no longer exists as a separate entity. Many other colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A full list of Colleges is given below, though some, such as Michaelhouse (which was combined with King's Hall to make Trinity, by King Henry VII) and Gonville Hall no longer exist.