Where to stay in Cambridge: the best areas and hotels

The heart of Cambridge is a knot of medieval streets between the market square and the river. King's Parade runs past King's College Chapel and the Senate House, Trinity Street leads to Trinity and St John's, and the Backs, where college lawns meet the Cam, are a few steps behind. The Fitzwilliam Museum is a short walk south and the Grand Arcade has the shops.

Hilton Cambridge City Centre is the largest central hotel and connects directly to the Grand Arcade. Wilde has apartment-style rooms with an eco-friendly design. The Hobson by Adina turns a listed Victorian police station into 56 studios with kitchenettes, and Premier Inn City Centre is a dependable budget pick two minutes from the Grand Arcade and Lion Yard.

The Cam is the reason Cambridge looks the way it does. At Quayside, by Magdalene Bridge, punts queue for passengers and restaurant terraces hang over the water. Downstream lie the open lawns of Jesus Green and Midsummer Common; upstream, past the Backs, the Mill Pond is where students gather with pints on sunny evenings.

The Varsity Hotel & Spa is a boutique hotel on the edge of the river, yards from St John's, Trinity and Magdalene, with 48 rooms each named after a college. Graduate by Hilton sits on the banks of the Cam with rooms in Cambridge blue. The Fellows House is a short walk from the river and Jesus Green, and Arundel House is a traditional hotel in a Victorian terrace across the water.

Parker's Piece is a 25-acre square of grass on the south-east side of the centre, famous as the place where the rules of football were first worked out. Regent Street, along one edge, is lined with restaurants, and Trumpington Street, a few minutes west, leads past the Fitzwilliam Museum to the colleges.

University Arms is the city's grandest hotel, with 192 rooms and suites looking over Parker's Piece and Regent Street, and Parker's Tavern, its brasserie and bar. The Gonville Hotel, across the green, has a spa and an Italian restaurant with garden views. Hotel du Vin brings its bistro, terrace and 24-hour room service to a row of old townhouses.

Cambridge station is about a mile south-east of the colleges, and the area around it has been rebuilt with offices, cafés and hotels. The 40-acre Botanic Garden is next door, a glorious place to lose an hour, and the walk into the centre takes you past Parker's Piece. Trains reach London in around 50 minutes and Stansted Airport in 30.

Clayton Hotel Cambridge is a minute from the station, with a lively bar and restaurant. ibis Cambridge Central Station is the modern budget choice within walking distance of the platforms. The Lensfield Hotel, between the station and the centre, has a small spa with a sauna and fitness room.

Eddington is a new, carefully planned district on the north-west edge of the city, about two miles from the centre and surrounded by open green space. It is around a 12-minute cycle into town, which in Cambridge is how everyone travels anyway. To the north-east, Cambridge North station serves the Science Park and is five minutes by train from the main station.

Hyatt Centric Cambridge, in Eddington, welcomes families and dogs alike. Turing Locke, nearby, has a rooftop terrace and apartment-style rooms, and Charles Hope has serviced apartments in the heart of the neighbourhood. Novotel Cambridge North is right by the station.

The flat, wide-skied countryside around Cambridge hides some very comfortable retreats. Quy Mill Hotel & Spa is a former watermill with 51 rooms. The Cambridge Belfry has a lakeside setting seven miles from the centre, with a 12-metre pool, sauna and steam room.

Cambridge Bar Hill Hotel has an 18-hole golf course and an indoor pool, and Madingley Hall is a historic house with 62 rooms, terrace views over its gardens and breakfast included. All suit drivers who want to dip into the city by day and escape it by night.

North of Cambridge, Ely's vast cathedral rises out of the Fens like a ship, visible for miles. The little city below it has a pretty riverside and a slower rhythm. The Old Hall is within a ten-minute drive of the cathedral, and the Riverside Inn is a 15-minute walk from it.

To the west, St Ives is a market town on the Great Ouse with a rare 15th-century bridge; the Dolphin Hotel sits on the riverbank beside it. South of the city, the Red Lion at Whittlesford is a 13th-century coaching inn next to Whittlesford Parkway station, ten minutes by train from Cambridge.