Things to doin Cambridge.

Late Gothic fan vaulting at its most extreme; buy a timed ticket, and note the chapel closes to visitors during services, exams and recording sessions.

The largest enclosed court of any Oxford or Cambridge college, and a library holding Newton's own Principia and the Winnie-the-Pooh manuscripts — the Wren opens free of charge for a short window most weekdays.

The £12 admission buys the Tudor gatehouse, three riverside courts and the walk across the Bridge of Sighs itself.

The gilded, grasshopper-topped Chronophage on Bene't Street, unveiled by Stephen Hawking in 2008 — viewable from the pavement at any hour for nothing.

One of only four medieval round churches still in use in England, begun around 1130; it operates as a visitor centre with a small admission charge.

World-class paintings, antiquities and manuscripts behind a vast portico; free, closed Mondays.

Jim Ede's house of Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and carefully placed pebbles, left exactly as he lived in it — free, but house entry is by timed ticket and it closes Mondays.

You enter beneath a 21-metre fin whale skeleton; inside are dodo bones and specimens collected by Darwin, all free.

Scott and Shackleton relics at the Scott Polar Research Institute, including letters written on the final Terra Nova expedition; free, closed Sundays and Mondays.

Astrolabes, globes and laboratory instruments; free, but only open weekday afternoons.

Dinosaurs, an ichthyosaur wall and rocks Darwin collected on the Beagle, in the University's oldest museum collection; free.

The chapel ticket includes the grounds, so allow time for the front court and the view from the Backs as well.

Henry VIII's foundation and the university's grandest court; an admission charge applies in season, and legend insists the fountain once ran with anything but water.

Straddles the river with the Mathematical Bridge at its heart and a genuinely medieval Old Court; a modest admission charge when open.

Worth the fee for the run of courts from the painted gatehouse down to the neo-Gothic New Court, nicknamed the wedding cake.

Its 1640 bridge is the oldest surviving on the Cam, and the Fellows' Garden is among the best on the Backs; check opening times before crossing town for it.

Quietly free to wander when open, with Christopher Wren's first completed building — the 1665 chapel — just inside the gate.

Around 45 minutes past seven colleges and under the Bridge of Sighs, with commentary of variable accuracy; book ahead on summer weekends.

Half the price and twice the chaos — the quieter upper river from the Mill Pond towards Grantchester is far more forgiving for first-timers than the Backs.

About three miles upstream through Grantchester Meadows, the walk Rupert Brooke and half of literary Cambridge made before you.

Tea and cake in deckchairs under apple trees, served on this spot since 1897.

College eights train along the stretch past Midsummer Common most mornings in term, and the Bumps races in June are chaotic and free to watch from the towpath.

Forty acres of plantings and glasshouses founded by Darwin's mentor John Henslow; adults pay admission, under-17s go free.

A broad riverside green under an avenue of plane trees, with a seasonal outdoor lido that is one of the longest pools in the country.

The flat 25-acre common where students played football to the 1848 Cambridge Rules, a direct ancestor of the modern game.

Grazing cattle, the towpath boathouses opposite, and the Midsummer Fair, held here for around eight centuries.

The remains of the Norman motte off Castle Street — the highest point in a flat city and its best free viewpoint.

Stalls on Market Hill seven days a week — produce, street food and books in the shadow of Great St Mary's.

The Trumpington Street bakery has been sticky with Chelsea buns since 1920; expect a queue for weekend brunch.

The pub where Crick and Watson announced they had found the structure of DNA in 1953; look up at the RAF graffiti burned into the back-bar ceiling.

A mile of independent cafés, international grocers and restaurants that shows the city beyond the colleges.

Small-batch gelato on Bene't Street with a daily-changing board; the evening queue moves faster than it looks.

The fin whale skeleton over the entrance is the single most reliable child-pleaser in the city, and it costs nothing.

Easier with young children than self-hire, and the guides pitch the stories well; life jackets are available on request.

Riverside playground, plenty of running room, and the outdoor lido in summer.

Under-17s enter free, and the glasshouses and lake give a wet-day fallback.

Hands-on exhibits aimed squarely at primary-age children; admission is charged and it sits out on Cambridge Science Park rather than in the centre.

Free-entry lakes, trails and play areas a few miles north when the city crowds get too much.