the backs

到剑桥不坐船游览会感觉少一些什么，撑船的是高大英俊的小伙子，听说是学生在勤工俭学，导游按排的单程船，因为是自费项目，每人是15个英磅，我个人认为有点贵，因为行程并不十分长，这个价钱我可以包船在西湖里游一个小时的。不过坐上船很舒服，虽然整条船坐了八个人，唯一遗憾的是我坐在中间，拍出的照片全都有人的。五月的玫瑰开满了河边院墙，有一座小小的房子被刷得雪白，而白墙上爬满了开着硕大黄色的玫瑰，真是好美，河两岸大多是学校，偶而有这样那样小小的房子，我猜测是学校教授的住所，，很温馨。不管是学校还是民宅都有着久远的历史，记载着多少文人墨客的故事，最负盛名的就是徐志摩了，想起那句在康河的柔波里我甘愿做一条水草。

Today my wife & I had an excellent & knowledgeable young lady take us down the Cam for 45 informative minutes on a beautiful, blue-skied & cloudless day. This is a must-do for visitors to Cambridge whether your 1st time or your 5th.

The Backs are a nice place for a walk, but only with good/dry weather. You get to see the back of some of the older colleges, see people punting, and can sit on the grass and relax. It is a major site for tourists to congregate which is not that great.

Walk down the Backs (of the colleges along Queens Road) on a sunny spring day and the wild flowers will cheer you.

Great guy guiding us on a punt down the River Cam and along the backs of the colleges. Really interesting to hear about the history and the quirky little stories that went with each college. Glad we did it.

We took a punt on a cold winters day in January … blankets were provided. We loved it and am so glad that we did - I would say this is imperative to anyone visiting Cambridge.

Walking up and down the bridges that lead to the colleges is beautiful. Especially in the fall when the leaves are changing.

Take a punting tour on the river Cam and learn tons of trivia and quirky facts about the Backs, which refers to the back of the university of Cambridge colleges. A most enjoyable and relaxing hour.

Worth wandering down this area behind the main colleges (including behind King's) - lovely green sweeps of lawn, good views across to the impressive buildings, including the back of King's Chapel, and strange sights of heads floating along the lawns (which are actually people punting along the river which is in a dip). Three nice bridges go across the river into the colleges and are good for photos. Looks like a nice place for a picnic, but watch out for the 'No Picnics' signs in some spots.

A sunny day at the Backs is a perfect opportunity to take a picnic and soak up the atmosphere of one of the most tranquil of university scenes - well worth the effort!

The Backs is a generic name for the area of land that lies between the backs of the colleges and the river Cam. Despite being promoted as a parkland and opportunity to view the colleges in all their glory, it is quite disjointed with most of the parkland being segregated and fenced off by the various colleges. Thus, if you are expecting an interrupted walk along the river cam, with the view of the colleges to the side, you will be vastly disappointed. Instead you are only allowed to walk on the side of the river cam opposite the colleges. In this track you will find yourself getting confused and having to weave around various fences, which lead you away from, then back towards the river cam - that’s if the college doesn’t charge you a fee for entering their property. I understand that this is probably to preserve the privacy of the students but if this is the case this shouldn’t be falsely promoted as a tourist attraction. For many people the only way to appreciate this area is to take one of the various overpriced and Cambridge student run ‘punts’, which are small canoes/gondola like affairs that trickle down the river. Punting appears to be a big business in Cambridge with many student hawkers applying their trade although the starting price of 20 pounds per person is ridiculous (although it can be bartered down to half this). I don’t think the backs are the best way to viewing the Cambridge University and believe people will have much more joy view ‘the fronts’.

A walk on the Back's is just brilliant - fantastic views of the colleges across the River Cam.Go in spring when the daffodils are out to see it at its best - But great at any time of the year !

We enjoyed a lovely walk which provided the classic view of Kings Colleg Chapel. Well worth the effort, but no effort if you are walkers!

And to get over to your punt hire after visiting one of the colleges! Great photo ops of King's, Clare and Trinity colleges

A great walk with super college views, sadly access to the colleges is either not possible from here or a significant charge.