Private | Cambridge Tour by Alumni™ & Punt + optional King's
Description
Looking to visit King’s College Chapel? Please ensure you book the specific tour option that includes entry, as it is not part of this standard walking tour. This tour gives you a unique chance to see Cambridge both on foot and from the water, all in one visit. Enjoy a complete Cambridge experience by combining our 90-minute student-or graduate-led college walking tour with a 45-minute chauffeured punting trip. The tour takes place outdoors. If you choose when booking, after the walking tour finishes, you can add a self-guided visit to King's College Chapel. Then, without needing to arrange anything extra, you’ll board a traditional punt and glide along the peaceful River Cam. Passing the famous college college riverfronts and bridges, and you’ll see parts of Cambridge that most visitors dream of, when coming here. It’s a perfect way to enjoy both Cambridge’s rich academic heritage and its tranquil riverside scenery—all in one experience. Available in English, 中文, and Español.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your Alumni Guide outside King's College, on King's Parade. Your guide will be wearing an item of royal blue clothing—such as a jacket, scarf, cap, beanie, or polo shirt—with the heraldic symbol of Alumni Tours on it.
Learn about the fascinating story behind the design of this famous clock, noticing the details than an uninformed observer could easily miss!
Visit The Eagle pub—where history lives in every corner, from WWII airmen to the scientists of the nearby Cavendish Laboratory. With over 400 years of history, this pub holds countless remarkable stories.
Discover the place that put Cambridge on the map of the scientific world—a place that changed the history of science and the history of humanity as well.
Listen to your student-guide describe the (somewhat dark!) history of Corpus Christi College, and feel free to ask any questions about the College or student life
Hear about the reason why this is Queens' College rather than Queen's, and discover the myths that abound about the nearby Mathematical Bridge
Walk along by the famous College Backs while you learn about the history of King's College and how it is related to three different King Henrys.
Home of some of the most famous Alumni, hear a student's take on the rivalry between Trinity and St John's!
Admire the magnificent profile of St John's College, known for its grand architecture and notable alumni. A perfect blend of history and beauty along the River Cam.
Get a student's perspective on the practice of the public announcement of grades, and get a glimpse into the particular traditions of the University of Cambridge while you hear about the graduation ceremony.
##IMPORTANT: this option must be selected as an upgrade of the walking tour ticket. Please, make sure that you select it. The visit of the chapel is self-guided at the end of the 90 minutes walking tour, and it is not supervised by our official guide. The duration of the visit is a basic approximation, but you can leave the chapel when you prefer.
After experiencing the above (and more!) on the walking tour, take a short break before heading to Scudamore's Mill Lane punting station. Your punting tour will begin 2 hours after the start of the walking tour if you have not purchased access to King's College Chapel, or 3 hours after the start if you have purchased access to the Chapel.
Following the walking tour, you will be punted along the River Cam past 8 colleges and 9 bridges while your local student-guide explains famous Cambridge history and anecdotes about each landmark. Start your tour by gazing upon the Georgian and Victorian architecture of the college with strong connections to the family of Charles Darwin, one of the most famous alumni of the University of Cambridge, while hearing your guide relay some of the fascinating history of the college, university and city.
Sit back and appreciate your excellent view of the bridge that somehow manages to get a graceful arch from a series of straight timbers!
Admire the stunning Gothic architecture of King's College and its Neoclassical neighbour, the Gibbs Building — one of the most famous colleges in the University of Cambridge — from a new perspective.
Listen to your guide describe the second-oldest surviving college of the University, which was one of the first to accept women as undergraduate students.
Learn about the history of Cambridge’s most prestigious college, situated on one of the most beautiful bends of the River Cam, surrounded by some of the finest gardens in town—all while relaxing as your chauffeur expertly punts you along the river.
Relate to Queen Victoria as you look upon the bridge that was said to be one of her favourite spots in the city!
Complete your tour of the College Backs with Magdalene, known as one of the most traditional of the colleges. Make the most of these last few minutes to ask your knowledgeable guide any final questions to satisfy your curiosity! After this stop, the punt will return to the punt station you left from.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- ##IMPORTANT: Please ensure you have booked the King’s College option in advance, as it cannot be purchased during the tour—only before or after the walk
- The punting station can cater for wheelchair users providing they can communicate how best to assist them, or have a carer with them who can do so
- Not recommended for travellers who cannot complete a 90-minute walk
Reviews(45)
We took a tour around Cambridge and its colleges, guiaded by a wonderful student named Lise, who introduced us to the history of the different colleges, their alumni and curiosities. Lise shared all her enthisiasm with us, we would definitely repeat the experience!
Private - Combined Cambridge University Walking & Punting Tour Led By University Alumni – 20 September 2025 We arranged this tour for important family guests who spoke Hindi/Punjabi and it was an outstanding experience throughout. Sam G, our main contact, was extremely professional, responsive and organised, promptly securing a suitable guide and ensuring everything ran seamlessly from start to finish. Sarim, our Hindi/Punjabi guide, was highly knowledgeable, courteous and engaging. He made the tour accessible and enjoyable for those less fluent in English and the tour landed exactly as intended thanks to his excellent interpersonal skills. Both Sam and Sarim were also very accommodating to our unexpected needs on the day, which made a real difference. Having tried other companies before for visiting family, Alumni Tours was by far the best. We’ll certainly return when more relatives or friends come to Cambridge. Thank you both!
It’s an excellent tour with professional guide and punter. What a journey full of history stories, beautiful buildings and culture beauty!
Guide Stephen was great!! Former student knew all kinds of insider info and experiences. Also 11a start was not as busy as later in day. Came up from London by train in morning.
Very informative and fun. Tour guide, Evelyn, was great and very entertaining. She went above and beyond with lots of local tips and a deep knowledge of the area. Punting was fun and Guy, the punter did a great job of touring us and sharing the landmarks along the Cam.
We had a fantastic experience on this tour. Stephen Beale a wonderful your man shared his knowledge and experience as a Cambridge Alumni. He knew so much about each college and was shown great affection wherever we went The tour took about 2 hours but passed n a flash. Then on we went to join out Punting tour Conor was an absolute delight and again knew everything we needed to fill the gaps left by the walking tour. The river showed the colleges off to different perspective and was so relaxing after walking in the heat for 2 hours Conor had a relaxed style and navigated the river superbly bypassing the novice boaters with great skill
Alumni tours definitely picked the right guide for this tour because our guide Rupert happens to have studied history at St John's College. He was very patient, even towards the end when his work was supposed to end after taking us into King's College chapel. As he walked us through the streets, he pointed out interesting stories behind each college and tried to lift our spirits under moderately heavy rain on the day. Punting company were quite accommodating to the times of the punt as well but their communication with the touring company could be better managed.
Meghan was outstanding and informative. Our punter was great too! So thankful for their knowledge! We would definitely recommend.
What a great way to tour Cambridge than with a PHD students who supports his education giving tour. Tons of very interesting information about Cambridge and the different schools while walking around town. We tour our tour on graduation day, so we got to see tons of students all dressed up and their proud families. The pinting tour was also excellent and a great way to complement our visit before lunch at a special restaurant to celebrate one of our kids’ birthday 🥳🥳
Our Cambridge alumni guide, Lindsay, was exceptionally knowledgeable and gave us a friendly and informative private tour across Cambridge. Her detailed explanation on all the facets of student life also helped my daughter receive a an excellent introduction to her Summer Camp.
