Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, 2017

Photo by H. Bailey

Wow, we've made it to the last blog post about our trip to Cambridge (a full two years after I was there!). By day five I was pretty worn out (unsurprisingly) and also a little stir-crazy from the city. So, we decided to end our trip with just a short visit to the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. Admittedly it was a little late in the year and most of the flowers had already withdrawn for the winter, but it was nice to feel like we were back in the countryside for a couple of hours.

Photo by H. Bailey

Photo by H. Bailey

Photo by H. Bailey

What didn't feel so nice, however, was the wheelchair trying to get over gravel and grass; I probably should have switched to one of the mobility scooters available for hire at the entrance. Alas, judgement failed me. Needless to say, the terrain was rather uncomfortable and so I alternated between sitting in the wheelchair and walking for some of the more bumpy areas. This left me feeling pretty exhausted, however there were some benches around a very pretty water feature that made a nice recovery spot before heading to the cafe to try and revive myself with some sugar.

Photos by H. Bailey

Photos by H. Bailey

Photo by H. Bailey

There's not much else to say about the Botanic Gardens other than that they were pretty and that I'd recommend going between May and August for better flowers.

Photo by H. Bailey

Accessibility (1 = not very good; 5 = brilliant!):

Wheelchair 2/5: 

The terrain is definitely not the most comfortable for a standard wheelchair (you'll know what I mean if you've been in a wheelchair going over gravel or long grass). It would probably be better if you were in an powered wheelchair or mobility scooter which had thicker wheels.

Sensory Input 4/5: 

There wasn't a lot of sensory input - it was quiet and not very busy. If more of the flowers were in season there could have been quite a bit of colour and smells and may have been busier, hence the score of three.

Food & Facilities  4/5: 

There was a cafe and toilets. They were, however, quite a distance from the entrance.

Travel 3/5: 

There is no parking available onsite, but quite a bit of roadside parking  in the vicinity. There is a train station a five minute walk from one of the entrances. More info is on their website.

Overall 3.25/5:

Our visit length was two hours with a travel time of ten minutes.

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY ONE: ST ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY TWO: KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY THREE PART 1:  THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY THREE PART 2: GRANTCHESTER 

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY FOUR PART 1: OLIVER CROMWELL'S HOUSE

CAMBRIDGE TRIP DAY FOUR PART 2: ELY CATHEDRAL

 *I currently have moderate ME, meaning I use a wheelchair pushed by someone else, and a walking stick. Please take into account your own physical capabilities when planning a trip, if you need to start small then start small. Look into what you can see nearby for when you're ready. Although, when at my best, I may be able to post every 1-2 weeks, that does not mean I am well enough to travel that frequently! Many of my posts come from a backlog of trips taken over the past few years.