Going punting in Cambridge has long, long, long been on my UK bucket list. And after living near Cambridge for nearly three years, I have no excuse. (Except that it’s slightly expensive and always very busy, especially on nice days which are, of course, the days that you would like to go!)
Armed with coffee, buns from Fitzbillies (a Cambridge institution!) and mimosa ingredients – we headed down to our morning punting timeslot. I recommend booking well in advance, especially during the summer high season. I booked through Scudamore’s but there are many options in Cambridge. I opted for College Backs (which is inside Cambridge versus Grantchester which is actually outside the city itself). I was picturing a romantic breakfast boating occasion, so I opted for self-punt. For slightly more money, you can just join one of their punting boats – the pro is that you don’t need to navigate the river itself – the con is that you will be with other people in a tour situation.
When you book, you get your punt for about an hour which is plenty of time, especially if you are new to punting. It’s genuinely much more difficult than it looks! The punt is propelled and steered with a punt pole. One person is responsible for driving the punt; they stand at the rear of the punt on a small platform – the till. The punt is slowly and firmly plunged into the water until it touches the river bed and then allowed to trail behind the boat before the next stroke.
I would definitely go again – but one of the most difficult aspects of punting was navigating around all the other punts – maybe a quiet autumnal weekend would be easier!
Have you ever gone punting?
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