Cambridge guidebook

Overwhelmingly beautiful architecture, quaint little lanes and side streets, languid punting on the river Cam - combine these with the city's world-class academic reputation and Cambridge is a fairly hard act to beat (though the folk in Oxford might have a thing or two to say about that).

The rivalry has been there from the start: Cambridge University was founded in 1209 - it will reach the grand old age of 800 in just three years' time - by scholars who, so the story goes, wanted to escape the hostility of local townsmen in Oxford.

In recent years, commerce has flourished as town and gown have forged a powerful partnership. Cambridge Science Park, set up in 1970 by Trinity College, has a worldwide reputation and employs around 5,000 people.

Since it opened its doors, there has been an influx of companies working in software, biotechnology and electronics and Cambridge has mutated into the much-vaunted Silicon Fen (which extends into Cambridgeshire).

This, a combination of numerous small start-up companies (over 1,000) and larger multinationals such as Glaxo, ARM, and Microsoft, is centred around various business, technology and research parks.

There's no doubting the reality of the so-called Cambridge Phenomenon: it generates around $3 billion in revenue per year and is a major source of employment - the Silicon Fen is now the second largest venture capital market in the world, after Silicon Valley.

For many it's a beautiful place to visit and its thriving tourist industry is also a huge source of local employment and keeps the city buzzing even outside term-time.

This means, of course, a top selection of shops, pubs, and restaurants, museums, galleries, theatres and musical venues - Cambridge is wonderfully well served on the cultural front.

Happily, even the main shopping thoroughfares are aesthetically pleasing, and Market Hill, with its higgledy-piggedy multi-coloured stalls, is in striking contrast to the grandiose Great St Mary's church which towers above.

A good array of restaurants gives you the choice between the tried-and-tested safety of favourites like Ask, Zizzi, La Tasca and Pizza Express and independent options such as No. 1 Kings Parade, Clowns and Footlights by the Grafton Centre.

It's the same story with bars - you'll find a few ubiquitous examples such as Browns and HaHa together with a good selection of independents, some of which have been serving up ale for several centuries.

All of this makes Cambridge an enviably attractive place to live - though like its academic cousin Oxford, it's not cheap, and it can be a bit hectic, especially in summer.

And a word of warning for the unwary: the preferred mode of transport in Cambridge is the bicycle and these things whiz around town at surprising speed, usually without a courteous triiing to signal their presence.

So caution pays if you've spent a merry few hours down the local boozer putting your latest research grant to good use - it would be a terrible loss to learning if you expired on the cobbles under a bicycle wheel.

Veering off to the west leads to yet more college buildings and The Backs; a lot of accommodation around these parts is owned by the university and used for students.

But there are central residences for non-students - in Cambridge you're never too far from a terrace and there're several swanky modern developments, too.

On Thompson's Lane, in a very enviable position, are the Beaufort Place flats: swish apartments built in the mid 80s situated right on the riverbanks with breathtaking views towards Magdalene College.

Just to the east is Trafalgar Road where there's another fantastic riverside development, Boathouse Court, this one featuring a group of just seven townhouses with glass-fronted back walls to capitalise on their waterfront setting.

This glass frontage has also been used to great effect in Reflections, a brand new luxury apartment development in Riverside, just over Elizabeth Way, and in the amazing penthouses of the Senses development.

Should the lure of the glistening waterfront be too difficult to overcome, punts can be hired from nearby Quayside, an attractive shops-and-offices complex.

Parallel, King Street has some shops, cafes and pubs and a long purpose-built block of flats on one side with older terraces on the other. Behind the block and hidden from the street are Manor Place and Malcolm Place, two groups of terraces dating from the 70s.

There's also some 90s built apartments above Giulio designer clothes shop but these are for the sole use of students. Christ's Pieces is adjacent to King Street and has grassland, gardens, children's play area, bowling green and tennis courts.

Brunswick Gardens and Brunswick Terrace at the side of Butt Green have some sweet terraced cottages while there are large detached and semis on Newmarket Road which carries on from Maid's Causeway.

Just off here is a small street of charming old terraces overlooking a green - this grassy area is named Peter's Field, the street is Petersfield. Next door is a modern apartment block built in 1995. Its name? Petersfield Mansions.

Mill Road is a constant favourite with students, singletons and young professionals owing to its great location and the number of flat conversions in its Victorian terraces; keen cooks will enjoy the local Indian and Chinese supermarkets where there's a wonderful range of fresh and unusual ingredients.

For those with more than a student's budget, particularly sought-after dwellings are the grand townhouses in Cross Street and Covent Garden, just off Mill Road, which cost a cool £700,000 - £800,000.

East Road becomes Gonville Place, opposite the large green expanse of Parker's Piece and family favourite, Parkside Pools swimming complex, behind which is Mortimer Road, a little street with big houses.

On Gresham Road there's a brand new development of apartments and town houses (The Greshams) in a good central location. Hill Residential, the development company behind them, is currently constructing more apartments in nearby Huntingdon Road and Chesterton Road.

Heading back towards the historic centre Hills Road has offices at its town end but further out has some fine homes in a mixed bag of property styles mostly dating from the 1920 and 30s, some now with flat conversions.

Swish new development, The Belvedere, is located on Hills Road close to Homberton Street - this five storey apartment complex has been thoughtfully designed to include beautiful landscaped gardens, water features and trees at its centre to provide an air of tranquility for its residents.

Just beyond Hills Road is Sedley Taylor Road - very exclusive and very expensive - these substantial detached properties don't come up for sale very often and tend to go very quickly when they do.

Station Road which leads from the train station towards town has many grand old buildings which mostly belong to businesses nowadays although there are some modern developments such as The Triangle apartments, and various billboards suggest there're more on the way.

Smart Bateman Street has fairly identical, prim townhouses dating from around 1870 while adjacent Bateman Mews, as its name suggests, is a modern development of townhouses.

This latter development received an award for its creative design which incorporates split levels and large glass expanses to maximise light, and has set the houses amidst mature landscaping, inner courtyards and open lawns.

Further mature landscaping and a whole lot more can be enjoyed by non-Accordia residents in the nearby Botanic Gardens - 40 acres of natural beauty including woodland areas, a lake and glasshouses with exotic plants and flowers, and a peaceful respite from the incessant noise of traffic around this central district.

There are several schools in this area including the Eurocentre language school.

Schools, local shops, churches and pubs are all here, and while there aren't any dedicated open spaces, there are recreation grounds connected to a couple of educational establishments.

Looking ahead, planning permission has been granted for a new development of 900 homes named Arbury Park, 30 per cent of which will be provided by Housing Associations for the benefit of key workers.

Cambridge Science Park, founded in 1970, is located just beyond Kings Hedges Road and is a major Cambridge employer with around 5000 personnel and over 70 high-tech companies.

Adjacent to the Science Park is Cambridge Regional College which has a wide range of courses for both school leavers and adults, and a restaurant and beauty salon which are open to non-students.

Petty Cury - street forming the outdoors part of Lions Yard with shops such as Faith, Whittard, Disney Store, River Island, Ravel, Moss, H Samuel and Clinton Cards. Pret A Manger and Eat provide the chance to rest and refuel.

Market Hill - daily market apart from Sundays with a stunning backdrop of Great St. Mary's church. Stalls sell all sorts of goodies from fresh fruit and veg to books and - a veritable sign of a university city - a selection of ball gowns.

On Sundays, the space is taken over by a Farmers' Market, and an Arts, Crafts and Antiques market.

There's a good-sized food court and the popular Footlights café-bar-restaurant adjoining the front entrance. The Grafton also houses Vue multi-screen cinema.

More shops are situated outside in adjacent Burleigh Street (plush Robert Sayle department store; individual outlets including charity shops) and Fitzroy Street (Habitat; Natural World; Starbucks; further small shops).

Market Street and Sydney Street have a good range of stores including Waterstones, Borders, WH Smith, Boots, Next, Marks & Spencer and most of the large coffee chains.

A great choice of small independent shops can be found in amidst household names in charming streets such as Rose Crescent, Green Street and Trinity Street.

Entertainment - applying the same logic as above, there are loads of fun things to keep you amused - pit your wits against the postgrads at a plethora of pub quizzes; romantic evening punts along the river; a choice of cinemas including Cambridge Arts Picturehouse; a pick of several theatres including the Corn Exchange and Cambridge Arts Centre; and the aforementioned pubs and restaurants.

A favourite spot is The Backs, the areas behind the six riverside colleges - part-river, part-grass, part-pathway. Choose to explore them by foot, bike or punt, or just pick a spot and settle for a while.

Swathes of green are frequent throughout the city, one of the prettiest being Jesus Common which also boasts a lock (Jesus Lock) used by hardy souls as a swimming pool. It also has a children's play area, bowling green and tennis courts.

Other open grassy areas include Laundress Green, an island formed by a mill pool, from where there's a great view of the punts gliding - or not - along the river and Christ's Pieces, grassland with tennis courts, bowling green and children's play area.

Parker's Piece is named after the former landowner, Edward Parker, but the three cricket pitches and a pavilion are in honour of legendary cricketer Jack Hobbs who practised here.

Many of the college gardens provide beautiful, serene spaces in which to enjoy a breather.