When we arrived in London, we realized right away that we had a busy two weeks ahead of us. Not only did we have a full day and a half overbooked, but we had several stretches of long drives, especially as we got further North in Great Britain. But we were ready for it, and it all started with one of our more relaxing activities of the entire trip.

Our first stop as we left London was in the beautiful university town of Cambridge.

The drive was quick and easy and we got into the city with plenty of time to spare before our scheduled punting tour with Scudamore’s. If you’re not familiar, punting is similar to a gondola ride in Venice, although long poles are used to push against the riverbed to propel the flat-bottom boat through the water (as opposed to oars in the Italian city).

The River Cam is calm and runs through the heart of the city and college backs. We learned the history of the university, infamous pranks, famous students, and even film locations for famous movies like The Theory of Everything and Chariots of Fire.

Our tour was guided by a charismatic student, and he handled every random question we could throw at him. We were blown away by the beauty and extensive history of both the city and the university.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start to our journey than this pleasant little stop in Cambridge (as short as it was). If you ever find yourself in the area, be sure to swing by one of Scudamore’s two central punting stations.

A special thank you to Scudamore’s Punting for their hospitality and the wonderful tour they provided. It was genuinely a highlight and a chance to fully appreciate the beauty of the city and country we were so lucky to be able to visit.