United Kingdom - Universities Tour

Let's start the trip in London & head up to our first stop: Cambridge

Departure from King's Cross station, located in front of St Pancras station.

You may want to allow some time at the station, Harry Potter fans will recognise the Hogwarts Express station (a replica of platform 9 3/4 flanks a gigantic shop dedicated to the young wizard).

I. The journey from London King's Cross to Cambridge takes 1 hour 10 minutes

The capital of Cambridgeshire moves with the rhythm of the 20,000 or so students who attend its universities.

Wandering in Cambridge through its thirty colleges, including King'sTrinity, St John's.  Behind the carved walls, the courtyards (quadrangles) and small landscaped parks (backs) invite traveller to pause & relax. A main attraction is Punting. Punts are flat-bottomed boats propelled by poles that were used to travel on the River Cam and the canals of the university city, like the gondolas in Venice. It is a great way to explore the city's colleges and bridges.

Before hitting to Oxford, a few stops along the way add variety to the journey.

II. Calling at... Birmingham. Cambridge to Birmingham New Street takes from 2 hours 38 minute

Known as the “workshop of the world” during the Industrial Revolution, England's second largest city has successfully reinvented itself. It is time to discover a city boasting 500 parks and avant-garde architecture.

III. Calling at... Bath. Brimingham to Bath takes about 2 hours with a connection at Bristol

The train sets off again, heading for Bath in Somerset. The atmosphere here evokes Jane Austen's characters, the Celts prancing on the surrounding hills, the Romans relaxing in the natural hot springs, and the shadows of 18th-century English dandies and aristocrats.

UNESCO has listed the Roman Aquae Sulis (1st century), its thermal baths, and the Temple of Sulis-Minerva as World Heritage Sites, as well as the elegant 18th-century spa town.

IV. Last stop: Oxford. Bath to Oxford takes just about 1 hour and 10 minutes with a stop at Didcot

Everything here exudes intellectual excitement, academic legend.  Famous colleges where Lewis Carroll (Christ Church), Stephen Hawking (University), and Adam Smith (Balliol) studied, to name just three of hundreds of illustrious figures. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis used to meet at the Eagle and Child Pub.

Enjoy the view of the old city from the 13th-century bell tower of St. Mary's Church, one of the most beautiful in England. Enjoy boating on the River Cherwell, and be sure to visit must-see spots like the 18th-century Covered Market, the Bodleian Library - one of the most venerable in Europe - and the Ashmolean Museum, which houses treasures such as Cromwell's death mask, Jeanne Holding a Fan by Pissarro (1874), and The Hunt in the Forest by Uccello (1470).

and now? back to London.. or on to more adventures with your BritRail Pass