Cambridge is a wonderful destination to enjoy all year round. Spending summer in Cambridge, you’ll have access to some of the most beautiful attractions and activities in the country. But as the weather grows colder, the joys of the great outdoors are still to be enjoyed.
Outside the history, heritage, character and utter charm of the city centre, you’ll discover Cambridge’s wilder side.
The wildlife reserves, walks, and outdoor hotspots throughout Cambridgeshire are spectacular during winter. So without further ado, here’s the top wild places to add to your itinerary.
Fowlmere Nature Reserve
As one of the UK’s rarest natural habitats, Fowlmere Nature Reserve is an oasis of calm during the winter months.
A wonderland of reed beds, Cambridgeshire fenland, grassland and scrub, the area is home to an abundance of wildlife.
Fowlmere is also a bird lover’s paradise, with kingfisher, reed bunting, sedge warbler, and the rare turtle dove all seen and heard here. During the winter months, you’re likely to see its resident water rails taking to the ice too.
Brampton Wood
Brampton Wood is the second largest wood in Cambridgeshire and with more than 900 years of history, it’s also one of the most impressive.
Popular with families and avid hikers, Brampton Wood offers some two miles of beautiful, manageable yet muddy walking trails as well as the chance to see majestic trees that were first recorded in the Domesday Book.
Here Cambridgeshire Live explains more about the wonders of Brampton Wood:
“Brampton Wood is a beautiful area of natural beauty which offers loads of ancient woodland, dating back hundreds of years. The trees include aspen, oak, ash, field maple, and birch.
According to the Wildlife Trust website, plants to look out for include: primrose, water purslane, wood spurge, common spotted orchid and devil’s-bit scabious.”
Paxton Pits Nature Reserve
A great year-round attraction, Paxton Pits Nature Reserve is a beauty to behold thanks to its diverse landscape, which consists of lakes, meadows, and woodland.
This diversity means you’ll spot all manner of wildlife during your visit. Keep your eyes peeled for otters, weasels, overwintering wildfowl, kingfishers, nightingales, dragonflies, damselflies, and butterflies.
Paxton Pits is also one of the best places to see wildflowers so be sure to visit again during late winter to spring.
Gog Magog Downs
Gog Magog Downs is not only a stunning walk – its low chalk hills are a real spectacle – it’s a great place to sit back and appreciate the beauty of Cambridge from afar.
Despite being located several miles away from the city centre, Gog Magog Downs offers fantastic views of Cambridge.
Those with a little more time to spare will want to extend their wild walk. Start in the village of Stapleford and navigate a series of pretty footpaths across the River Granta, over Copley Hill and through Wandlebury Country Park, which is home to a nature reserve and an Iron Age hill fort.
Our serviced apartments are great bases to see all that Cambridge is known and loved for, whether you’re a lover of the outdoors or prefer to enjoy your staycation indoors this winter.
Book your Cambridge staycation today and explore one of the best loved destinations in Britain.