The Cambridge colleges are not museums. They are places where people live, work and sit exams, and each one sets its own rules for visitors. Some charge, some are free, some open only on certain afternoons, and at least one big name is shut to tourists for most of the year. The rules also change from term to term, which is why so much of what you read online about visiting the colleges is out of date.
We went through each college’s own visitor page in November 2026 and checked it against a second source. This guide covers fifteen colleges in three groups: the riverside colleges along the Backs, the colleges around the shopping streets of the city centre, and three a little further out that are often quieter and free. Prices appear only where the college publishes them, and every one of them can change.
Details were accurate at the time of research in November 2026. Colleges close at short notice for exams, events and staffing, and prices change, so please check each college’s own website on the day you plan to visit.
Along the Backs
The Backs is the stretch of the Cam where college lawns and gardens run down to the water between Queens’ Road and the old town. Seven colleges sit along it, and the most famous views in Cambridge are here. They are also the colleges with the most visitors, so expect charges, timed tickets and the tightest exam season rules.
King’s College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded by Henry VI in 1441, King’s is the one college most visitors come for, because of its chapel and the lawn running down to the river
- A self-guided visit to the chapel and grounds is sold in timed arrival slots, and you can stay as long as you like once you are in
- On the college’s ticket page in November 2026, adults paid £15.75 to £16.75 with the early bird price and £17 to £18 after it; students and children aged 5 to 17 paid £13.25 to £15.50
- The early bird price for the coming week ends every Sunday night, so booking a few days ahead saves money
- Tickets are non-refundable, family passes are offered on the order page, and King’s runs a Local Resident Pass for people living in and around Cambridge
- There are no public toilets on site, so plan for that before you go in
- Evensong is free and in term is held at 5:30pm from Monday to Saturday and at 3:30pm on Sundays, with a Eucharist in its place on Thursdays; on Mondays it is sung by King’s Voices, the college’s mixed voice choir
- Nobody is let in once a service has started, and bags bigger than airline hand luggage are not allowed
- The chapel closes to visitors for services, recordings and college events, so look at the live slots on the ticket page before travelling
Address: King’s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1ST
Website: kings.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 331100
How to book: Timed tickets online through the college’s TicketTailor page
Our churches guide covers the chapel’s fan vault and glass in detail, so this is the practical version. Book a slot early in the day and early in the week, when the price is lowest and the chapel is quietest. Once inside, give the chapel most of your time, then walk out onto the Back Lawn for the view of Gibbs’ Building and Clare next door. If you want to hear the choir rather than look at the building, skip the ticket and come for Evensong in term, but arrive early because the queue on King’s Parade can be long. Photography is not allowed during services.
Clare College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1326, Clare is the second oldest college in Cambridge and sits between King’s and Trinity Hall on the river
- Clare Bridge, built in the late 1630s, is the oldest of the college bridges still standing on the Cam
- The college’s own visitor page currently says it welcomes visits from prospective applicants and alumni and gives no tourist opening hours or prices
- Almost all chapel services are open to the public and free, with a chapel warden to greet you and a voluntary donation box in the ante-chapel
- In Michaelmas Term 2026 Choral Evensong is sung on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:15pm and on Sundays at 6pm
- The Advent Carol Services on 26 and 29 November 2026 are ticket only
- You can see Clare Bridge and the front of Old Court without going in, from the Backs, from King’s lawn if you have a King’s ticket, or from a punt
Address: Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TL
Website: clare.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 333200
How to book: No public booking; chapel services need no booking except special services marked on the termcard
Clare is the college most people see without realising, because its bridge and riverside front appear in half the photographs of the Backs. Getting inside as a tourist is not straightforward at the moment, but Evensong is the honest way in: the chapel is small, the choir is one of the best known in Cambridge, and nobody asks you to pay. Old Court, rebuilt in classical style over the 17th and 18th centuries, is worth a slow look from the gate. If you are punting, look up as you pass under Clare Bridge for the stone balls along its parapets.
Trinity Hall
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1350 by Bishop William Bateman, Trinity Hall is a small college squeezed between Clare and Trinity, with a terrace garden right on the river
- Public opening is limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to midday and 2pm to 5pm, and Sundays from 2pm to 5pm
- The college is closed to the public from 21 December to 2 January, and there is no public access at all in Easter Term, from April to June inclusive, because of exams
- The porters can limit numbers when it is busy, and the college says the arrangements can change without notice
- The Elizabethan Old Library has no regular opening hours; tours have to be booked at least 14 days ahead with the library
- Blue Badge guides can bring groups at any time except Easter Term if they arrange it in advance
Address: Trinity Lane, Cambridge
Website: trinhall.cam.ac.uk
How to book: No booking for the public opening hours; Old Library tours through the Head of Library Services at least 14 days ahead
Trinity Hall is the one to try if King’s and Trinity feel like too much. It is compact enough to see in half an hour, and the riverside garden, with its view across to the Wren Library and along the Backs, is among the best places in the city to stand and watch punts go by. The short public hours are the catch: Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday afternoon is your window. Garret Hostel Lane runs along one side, and its humped bridge gives a free view up and down the river if you find the gate closed.
Trinity College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded by Henry VIII in 1546, Trinity is the largest college in Cambridge, and Great Court is its centrepiece
- Great Court and the other courts are no longer open to casual visitors and can only be seen on a guided tour
- Guided tours run daily at 10am and 2pm, start at the Great Gate on Trinity Street and cost £10 a person, with children under 12 free; payment is by card on the day
- The Dining Hall is not part of the tour, and building work means some areas may be closed or noisy
- The Backs side of the college is normally open from 9am to 5pm but can close for events
- The Wren Library is free and opens from noon to 2pm on weekdays, plus Saturday mornings from 10:30am to 12:30pm in term, with access from Garret Hostel Lane; it is up a flight of stairs with no lift
- Choral Evensong in Michaelmas Term 2026 is on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:15pm, and the chapel says members of the public are welcome
- Bicycles, dogs, picnics and walking on the grass are not allowed, and there are no public toilets at the Wren Library entrance
Address: Great Gate, Trinity Street, Cambridge
Website: trin.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 338400 (Porters’ Lodge)
How to book: Guided tours through the tour booking page on the college website; larger parties contact the college
The change here is that you cannot just wander into Great Court any more, which catches out a lot of people who visited years ago. The guided tour is the way in, and at £10 it is fair value for a guide who knows the stories of Newton’s rooms and the fountain at the centre of the court. Look up at the Great Gate before you start: the statue of Henry VIII holds a chair leg where his sceptre should be, the result of an old student prank. Pair the 10am tour with the Wren Library at noon and you have seen the best of Trinity in a morning. Our literary guide covers the library itself.
St John’s College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1511 under the will of Lady Margaret Beaufort, St John’s has the Bridge of Sighs, built in 1831, and a Victorian chapel by George Gilbert Scott
- The college’s visitor page currently says its grounds are closed to tourism, with tourist visit days on 5 December 2026 and 18 January 2027 from 9:30am to 3:30pm
- In past years the college has opened to tourists through the summer vacation, from early July to early October in 2024, so check again in spring for 2027
- Its published 2026 prices are £17 for adults and £10 for children aged 12 to 16, over 66s, students and National Disability Card holders, with children’s tickets cut to £8 from 25 June to 1 September
- Cambridge residents with proof of a CB postcode, CamCard holders with two guests and people attending chapel services or college events get in free
- Payment is by card only, not American Express, and you cannot leave and come back in on the same ticket
- Dogs other than assistance dogs and bicycles are not allowed, and groups of five or more must be led by a guide from Cantab Tours
- The college is closed from midday on 24 December 2026 until 1 January 2027, and it can close at short notice
Address: St John’s Street, Cambridge CB2 1TP
Website: joh.cam.ac.uk
How to book: Pay at the gate on tourist days; groups book through Cantab Tours
St John’s is the most expensive college to visit when it is open and the hardest to get into when it is not, so plan around the published tourist days. The best free view of the Bridge of Sighs is from the river, which is one reason punt tours slow down here. If you do get in, walk through the courts in order from the gate on St John’s Street, across the Kitchen Bridge, which gives you the classic view of the Bridge of Sighs, and on to New Court with its pinnacles. Attending a chapel service is free and is the one way to see the inside of the chapel when the college is shut to tourists.
Magdalene College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1428 and refounded in 1542, Magdalene stands on Magdalene Street beside the bridge at the foot of Castle Hill
- The college does not currently publish tourist opening hours on its website, so ask at the Porters’ Lodge on Magdalene Street whether visitors are being let in
- The Pepys Library, which holds Samuel Pepys’s books in his own bookcases, is closed to all visitors until 2027 for refurbishment, with no drop-ins, tours or group visits
- The riverside here is lined by punt stations and the Quayside, so it is a busy corner on summer weekends
Address: Magdalene Street, Cambridge
Website: magd.cam.ac.uk
How to book: Ask at the Porters’ Lodge; Pepys Library enquiries through the Pepys Librarian
With the Pepys Library shut, Magdalene is a quieter stop than usual, and that is no bad thing. The first court is red brick and small in scale, and the college has buildings on both sides of Magdalene Street. Look across from the courts to the library building, its name carved across the front, and come back when it reopens. Combine it with Kettle’s Yard and the Round Church, both a few minutes’ walk away.
Queens’ College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville, Queens’ is the college with the wooden Mathematical Bridge over the Cam
- Visitors are let in from 10am to 4pm through the Visitors’ Gate on Queens’ Lane, or through the Porters’ Lodge on Silver Street if the Old Gate is closed
- Self-guided entry costs £5 a person, and children under 12 with an adult get in free
- CamCard holders and Cambridge residents with proof of address get free or reduced entry; the King’s College resident’s card is not accepted here
- Cloisters and walkways are open, and Old Hall and the chapel are normally open unless there is a college event
- Published closures include 23 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 and the exam period from 19 April to 1 July 2027, plus open days, a degree congregation and private functions on dates such as 17 April, 8 to 10 July and 22 July 2027
- Groups of six or more must come with a Cambridge Blue or Green Badge guide, and wheelchair users can enter through the Porters’ Lodge at all times
Address: Queens’ Lane, Cambridge
Website: queens.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 335511 (Porters’ Lodge)
How to book: Pay on arrival; groups through a Blue or Green Badge guide
Queens’ gives you more for £5 than almost anywhere in Cambridge. Cloister Court, with the timber-framed gallery of the President’s Lodge along one side, is the most complete medieval scene among the colleges. The Mathematical Bridge is best seen from the Silver Street bridge or from the river, because standing on it you cannot see its geometry. The present bridge is a 1905 rebuild of the 1749 original, whatever the story about it once being held together without bolts. Queens’ has published its closure dates well into 2027, which makes it the easiest college here to plan around.
The City Centre Colleges
Away from the river, five colleges sit along Trumpington Street, Trinity Street and St Andrew’s Street, within a ten minute walk of the Market Square. Most are free or cheap and less crowded, and they hold some of the oldest courts and the two Wren chapels.
Corpus Christi College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1352 by two of the town’s guilds, Corpus has Old Court, the oldest surviving enclosed court in Cambridge
- In the summer months the college is open to visitors from 10:30am to 4:30pm, with a possible short closure at lunchtime
- Admission for anyone aged 18 and over is £5, and CamCard holders can bring two guests free
- All visitors report first to the Porters’ Lodge, and in summer a custodian sits in a kiosk outside it
- There is no parking at the college apart from loading
- The Parker Library, one of the great medieval manuscript collections, is open by prior arrangement only and runs tours booked through Eventbrite
- The Corpus Clock, with its gold face and mechanical insect, sits on the outside wall at the corner of Bene’t Street and Trumpington Street and costs nothing to see
Address: Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Website: corpus.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 338000 (Porters’ Lodge)
How to book: Pay on arrival in summer; Parker Library tours online through Eventbrite
Old Court is the reason to pay, because it still looks like a 14th century college: low ranges of rough stone around a square of grass, with a gallery linking it to St Bene’t’s church, which served as the college chapel for two centuries. It is a small space and you need only a few minutes, but they are a different few minutes from anywhere else on the list. Outside, a crowd usually gathers at the Corpus Clock, which runs deliberately erratic and was unveiled by Stephen Hawking in 2008. Outside the summer months, ask at the lodge if visitors are being let in.
Gonville and Caius College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded as Gonville Hall in 1348 and refounded by John Caius in 1557, the college is known as Caius, said Keys
- John Caius designed a route through three gates, the Gates of Humility, Virtue and Honour, standing for a student’s progress from arrival to graduation
- The college is closed to general visitors on weekdays during term, so weekends and the vacations are the times to try
- The chapel says all are welcome to its services, with Choral Evensong in term on Sundays at 6pm and Tuesdays at 6:30pm, and a choral Eucharist on Thursdays at 6:30pm
- Even when the college is closed, the Gate of Honour can be seen from Senate House Passage
Address: Trinity Street, Cambridge
Website: cai.cam.ac.uk
How to book: No booking for chapel services; contact the college ahead for anything else
Caius is right in the middle of town, between the Senate House and Trinity Street, but most visitors walk past it. The Gate of Honour is the thing to see: a small, richly carved stone gateway from the 1570s that students pass through on their way to graduate at the Senate House next door. If the college is closed, stand in Senate House Passage and you can see it over the wall. Tuesday Evensong is a good choice if you want a choral service without the King’s queue.
Pembroke College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1347 by Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke, it is one of the oldest colleges in Cambridge
- The chapel was the first building Christopher Wren completed, consecrated in 1665, and visitors can go in when no service is taking place
- The college is generally open every day, and its grounds page gives hours of 9am to 5pm
- It closes to visitors in the exam season, which the college’s visiting page gives as late April to late June
- It also closes on occasional days for events, and the college suggests emailing the senior porters if you are travelling a long way
- Groups have to book through the Porters’ Lodge, with visits between 9am and 4:30pm
- An audio tour led by the head gardener is offered online
Address: Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Website: pem.cam.ac.uk
How to book: No booking for individuals; groups through the Porters’ Lodge
Pembroke is the college to visit for gardens. Beyond the first courts the grounds open out into lawns, an avenue and planting that changes through the year, which is why the head gardener’s audio tour is worth downloading before you go. The Wren chapel is small and plain outside, an early classical building by an architect who had not yet built St Paul’s. Peterhouse, the oldest college, is just across Trumpington Street, but it publishes no tourist hours, so treat it as a look through the gate.
Christ’s College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded as God’s House and refounded by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1505, Christ’s is where John Milton and Charles Darwin studied
- Visitors can walk the grounds from 9am to 4pm every day, but should not go into any buildings
- On weekdays the Fellows’ Garden, with Milton’s mulberry tree, is normally open if you arrive before midday; at weekends it is closed to visitors
- No booking is needed: introduce yourself at the porters’ lodge, just inside First Court on the right, and walk round alone or in a group of no more than three
- The college is closed to the public from 1 May until mid June for exams and graduation, and for just over a week at Christmas, normally around 23 December to 2 January
- A self-guided tour leaflet can be downloaded or collected at the lodge, and the college does not mention an admission charge
- A sign saying College Closed at the gate means it is shut to the public that day, even outside the exam season
Address: St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge
Website: christs.cam.ac.uk
How to book: No booking; report to the porters’ lodge on arrival
Our literary guide covered Milton’s mulberry, and the main change since then is the timing: get there on a weekday morning or you will not see the Fellows’ Garden at all. First Court is the formal side of the college, with its gatehouse carved with Lady Margaret’s arms. Further in, look for the bronze of the young Darwin sitting on a bench, and for Hobson’s Conduit, the old water channel that runs through the grounds. The college cats are on the website too, though there is no promising you will meet them.
Emmanuel College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary, Emmanuel is known locally as Emma
- The college says its grounds and chapel are usually open to the public every day from 9am to 6pm, and entry is free
- The chapel is by Christopher Wren, his second Cambridge chapel after Pembroke
- Groups of more than 15 cannot be taken, and all the college buildings apart from the chapel are private
- The grounds have wide lawns, old trees and ponds known for their ducks, plus beehives and insect hotels
- Visitors go in through the Porters’ Lodge entrance on St Andrew’s Street, where the porters can help with access
Address: St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge
Website: emma.cam.ac.uk
How to book: No booking needed
Emmanuel is a short walk from the Grand Arcade and one of the most relaxed colleges to wander round. Front Court is framed by the Wren chapel and its colonnade, which reads like a small Italian piazza dropped onto St Andrew’s Street. Behind it, the paddock and pond are where the ducks gather, and families with small children tend to enjoy this more than any chapel. With free entry and opening until 6pm, Emma is a good place to try when its neighbours have closed for the day.
Beyond the Centre
Three colleges a little away from King’s Parade are worth the extra walk. Jesus is ten minutes north east of the market, Downing sits behind Regent Street, and Murray Edwards is up Huntingdon Road beyond Castle Hill. All three offer free art or sculpture, and none is ever as busy as the Backs.
Jesus College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1496 by Bishop John Alcock on the site of the medieval nunnery of St Radegund, whose church became the college chapel
- You reach the college along the Chimney, a walled path from Jesus Lane to the gate tower and Porters’ Lodge
- Entry to see the outdoor sculpture collection is free on days when the college is open to the public
- A sculpture map can be downloaded or picked up at the Porters’ Lodge, and a 12 page booklet that doubles as a self-guided tour is sold there
- The college asks visitors to check with the Porters’ Lodge off Jesus Lane, or ring 01223 339339, to find out whether it is open to the public that day
- The chapel has stained glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones and decoration by William Morris’s firm, and the college says everyone is welcome
- The college’s events listing for November 2026 shows Choral Evensong on Thursdays at 6:30pm and Saturdays at 6pm
Address: Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BL
Website: jesus.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 339339
How to book: No booking for visiting or services
Jesus feels more like a country estate than a town college, with wide lawns and playing fields around the old buildings. The chapel is the oldest part, older than the college itself, and the Morris and Burne-Jones work inside makes it a natural follow-on from All Saints on Jesus Lane, covered in our churches guide. The sculptures are spread through the courts and grounds, so take the map and allow an hour. Jesus Green and Midsummer Common are next door if you want to stretch it into a riverside walk.
Downing College
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1800, Downing was laid out as a campus of classical buildings around a huge open lawn, unlike the closed courts of the older colleges
- The Heong Gallery, in the converted stables, is free and opens Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 5pm
- No Provenance, an artist project by Issam Kourbaj, runs from 4 November 2026 to 24 January 2027, followed by Changing Cities from 12 February to 4 April 2027
- The college does not publish tourist hours for the grounds; the Porters’ Lodge can tell you whether visitors are being admitted
- The college is a few minutes from the Grand Arcade and the Fitzwilliam Museum, so it fits easily into a city centre day
Address: Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1DQ
Website: dow.cam.ac.uk
Phone: 01223 334800 (Porters’ Lodge)
How to book: No booking for the Heong Gallery
Downing is the odd one out among the colleges: built when Greek Revival was the fashion, with long porticoed ranges facing each other across grass, and plenty of space between them. It is a calm place to sit after the crowds on King’s Parade. The Heong Gallery is the draw when a show is on, a small, well-lit space for modern and contemporary art. Check the gallery page first, because it has gaps between exhibitions.
Murray Edwards College and the Women’s Art Collection
Indoor and outdoor
- Founded in 1954 as New Hall for women students, the college took the name Murray Edwards in 2008 and still admits women only
- Its 1960s buildings on Huntingdon Road are topped by a white dome over the dining hall, one of the most recognisable modern buildings in the city
- The Women’s Art Collection is displayed through the college’s buildings and gardens and is free to visit
- It is listed as open every day from 10am to 6pm
- The current exhibition, What Remains, runs from 23 September 2026 to 28 February 2027, with an artists in conversation event on 28 January 2027
- The college has closed over Christmas in previous years, so check the collection’s website before a December visit
- It is about 20 minutes’ walk from the Market Square, uphill past Castle Mound, or a short bus ride along Huntingdon Road
Address: Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DF
Website: murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/womens-art-collection
How to book: No booking needed; some talks are ticketed through the collection’s event pages
This is the most surprising college visit in Cambridge, and one of very few that publishes daily opening with no charge. The collection is large and goes far beyond what you would expect of a college, with paintings, prints and sculpture by women artists hung along corridors, in the hall and outside in the gardens. The architecture is part of the experience, a 1960s design of white concrete and vaulted spaces that could not be more different from the medieval courts in town. Pair it with Kettle’s Yard on Castle Street on the way back down the hill.
Seasonal Highlights
Spring: Easter Term brings the exam closures. Trinity Hall shuts to the public from April to June, Pembroke from late April, Queens’ from 19 April to 1 July 2027 and Christ’s from 1 May. The Wren Library adds Saturday mornings again from 24 April to 19 June 2027.
Summer: July to September is when most colleges are open and quiet, with no students and no exams. St John’s has opened to tourists through the summer vacation in recent years, so watch its visitor page from June. Queens’ closes on 8 to 10, 22 and 24 July 2027 for open days and college events.
Autumn: Michaelmas Term runs from October, and Evensong returns across the city, at King’s, Trinity, Clare, Caius and Jesus. Clare’s Advent Carol Services on 26 and 29 November 2026 are ticket only. The Wren Library’s Saturday openings run to 5 December 2026.
Winter: Most colleges close for about ten days at Christmas, typically from 21 or 23 December to 2 or 3 January. St John’s has tourist days on 5 December 2026 and 18 January 2027, the Wren Library Saturdays return from 16 January to 20 March 2027, and What Remains at the Women’s Art Collection runs until 28 February 2027.
A Note From Inside Cambridge
The colleges were the hardest guide we have checked so far, because almost every one runs its own rules and several publish them in more than one place, not always consistently. Where a college’s pages disagree with each other, we have said so and gone with the more cautious version. St John’s being shut to tourists for most of the year, and Trinity’s courts now being tour only, were the two biggest changes from what many visitors expect.
If you work at a college, or you visit regularly and spot something that has changed, please tell us. Gate rules change every term, and we would much rather update this guide than send anyone to a locked door.
Before You Go
- Check each college’s own website on the morning of your visit, because colleges close at short notice for events, exams and staffing
- Avoid late April to early July if colleges are the main reason for your trip, as several close to visitors for exams in that period
- Cambridge residents and CamCard holders get free or cheaper entry at several colleges, but cards are not interchangeable: Queens’ does not accept the King’s resident’s card
- Carry a bank card, as St John’s and Trinity take cards only, and do not rely on cash anywhere
- Many colleges have no public toilets, including King’s and the Wren Library entrance at Trinity, so plan stops in the city centre
- Bicycles, dogs other than assistance dogs, picnics and walking on the grass are banned at most colleges
- Old courts mean cobbles, steps and narrow doors; read the college’s accessibility guide or contact the porters before you go
- Choral Evensong is free and open to the public in term at most college chapels, but arrive early, stay for the whole service and do not take photographs
- Groups usually need a qualified guide, and St John’s requires one from Cantab Tours for parties of five or more
- Leave the car at a park and ride site and walk, as there is no visitor parking at the colleges
