Punting In Cambridge: Everything You Need to Know

Are you thinking of going punting in Cambridge? I’ve been on both a self-guided punt and a guided tour and here’s everything you need to know about each. 

Cambridge is vibrant, it’s beautiful, and it has some of the most impressive buildings in the country. But one thing that everyone wants to do when they come to Cambridge is to go punting. 

And rightly so! It’s a fantastic chance to get out onto the water, can be enjoyed in both winter and summer, and, let’s face it, it’s going to be on your Cambridge bucket list. It’s one of those things, a little bit like going on a gondola ride in Venice, that you need to do at least once. 

So, if you’re considering punting in Cambridge, there are several ways you can do it. Since I used to work in Cambridge, I’ve been on my fair few punts. It was a popular after-work activity!

Here’s everything you need to know about punting in Cambridge and the best tours.

✅ For one of the best experiences in Cambridge, I recommend this punting tour.

Should you go punting in Cambridge?

Yes! If you visit the city, I highly recommend going punting. There are so many great things to do in Cambridge, but that needs to be on your bucket list. Besides being so much fun, there are some things that you can only see via the water unless you go to the colleges. 

What to expect when punting in Cambridge

What you should expect depends on what punting tour you book. The two most common are the self-guided punting tour and the guided tour. Both can be really fun but they’re definitely a different experience. Here’s everything you need to know.

A self-guided tour

A self-guided punting tour is where you hire out just the punt and take it out on the water yourself. This is a great way to explore at your own pace and, if you’re in a group, it makes it much cheaper than a guided tour. 

You’re usually given a pole and a time limit to return the punt. Then you allocate someone from your group to steer the punt and, then the rest of you sit in the boat and watch the world go by.

In theory…

However, I should warn you that punting is nowhere near as easy as the guides make it look. When we hired out a punt, we were a group of 5 and, even though we took turns taking the pole, sometimes we ended up spinning in circles instead of actually moving down the river!

It’s so difficult to steer and I have no idea how the guides do it. There must be a trick that they’re not telling us because we spent half of our time crashing into walls and not actually going anywhere. 

It was hilarious and so much fun, but we didn’t get to see as much as we would’ve liked.

A guided tour

With a guided tour on the other hand, you’re almost guaranteed to see everything you might want to see along the River Cam. Plus, you get the added bonus of commentary along the way, so you can also learn loads about the city. 

We loved our guided punting tour and the guides, as well as being really informative, were also super funny, so we had a laugh along the river too. 

The guided tours usually last between 40 minutes to an hour. You’ll typically be given a meeting point when you book – this might be at quayside, or slightly further down the river depending on the company you book with. 

From there, you’ll board the punt and travel down the river. There will typically be two people from the company with you, a guide who will be telling all the facts about Cambridge and the person punting, whose job is purely to steer the boat.

You’ll pass all kinds of popular sights in Cambridge including King’s College, Trinity College, the Bridge of Sighs, and the Mathematical Bridge. However, during our punt, we weren’t able to go as far as the Mathematical Bridge due to the current in the river being too strong. 

Even with the slight restriction, we had the best time and I really recommend a guided punting tour.

✅ For one of the best experiences in Cambridge, I recommend this punting tour.

Which is better?

I honestly think it’s worth doing both. We had a great time on each experience. It’s really good fun steering the punt on your own or with friends and family. But, you really can’t beat the guided punt or the commentary and the information you get. 

How long is a punting tour?

For a guided tour, it’ll usually be between 40 minutes to an hour. You can get longer tours if you’d like such as private tours or for special occasions. But really, you don’t need much longer than an hour and a half.