Founded in 1542 with roots to 1428, Magdalene sits picturesquely on the Cam in the city centre. It’s famed for the Pepys Library, housing diarist Samuel Pepys’s collection, and the New Library (opened 2021), winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building.

Behind New Court, student residences are carpeted with Virginia creeper that shifts colour through the seasons. Come autumn, it blazes a vivid red—one of Cambridge’s most photographed living façades.

Built in 1831, Cambridge’s only covered bridge and a Victorian Gothic gem. A cinematic favourite (think The Theory of Everything), it’s also the stuff of student legends—cars once dangled beneath its arch—yet this Grade I–listed icon endures.

Designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1690s and completed in 1713 by master mason Robert Grumbold, this elegant stone bridge links Old Court and New Court—hence the nickname “Kitchen Bridge” en route to Hall.

Founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, St John’s marries top-tier scholarship with storied architecture—Bridge of Sighs, Wren’s Kitchen Bridge, grand courts and riverside lawns. Alumni range from Paul Dirac to Douglas Adams; May Balls and Formal Halls keep tradition very much alive.

Created by Henry VIII in 1546, Trinity is Cambridge’s largest college and alma mater of Isaac Newton and Lord Byron. The Wren Library, all light, proportion and calm, holds priceless manuscripts and first editions in a space designed for awe.

A classic Georgian stone bridge by James Essex, replacing an earlier timber crossing. From here, the Cam frames Trinity’s lawns and courts in one of the river’s most serene vistas.

A sleek, modern concrete sweep over the Cam, funnelling pedestrians and bikes between the city centre and riverside colleges. Sunrise and sunset views from here are quietly spectacular.

A contemporary riverside landmark by Freeland Rees Roberts, funded by the Jerwood Foundation. Seating 100+ with ~30,000 volumes, it’s a favourite punting sight where modern design meets medieval courts.

Cambridge’s second-oldest college blends medieval courts, a famed choir, and the Forbes-Mellon Library. Clare was among the first to admit women undergraduates in 1972, balancing tradition with forward momentum.

Cambridge’s oldest surviving bridge, another Grumbold masterpiece: a three-arch, early-Renaissance design with carved balustrades and stone balls—one sporting a mysterious “missing slice” that fuels countless tales.

Founded 1441 by Henry VI, King’s pairs riverside lawns with the world-famous Gothic chapel and a tradition of academic excellence (think John Maynard Keynes, Alan Turing). It’s the postcard view of Cambridge for a reason.

The current stone bridge (1819) by William Wilkins spans the Cam beside the Xu Zhimo Memorial. A stone (2008) and garden (2018) honour the poet whose lines made “farewell to Cambridge” part of Chinese cultural memory.

Spanning both banks of the Cam, Queens’ layers Old Court (15th c.) with later additions, telling a story from medieval to modern. The Old Hall—all timber, heraldry and stained glass—anchors the college’s historic heart.

Designed by William Etheridge, built by James Essex, this ingenious timber structure uses tangent and radial trusses to turn straight timbers into a graceful arc. Rebuilt and restored over time, it remains an 18th-century engineering icon.