This is a well established winter ales festival, organised by the Cambridge and District Branch of…read morethe Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). As a winter ales festival, the emphasis is on the heavier, and generally darker (and stronger!) seasonal ales and winter warmers, although with around 120 beers on offer, the festival has plenty of other beer styles too, as well as ciders and foreign beers. I attended for the first time this year, and had a very enjoyable evening - once I got in. The qualification is important, as one of the main features of the venue is that, for a beer festival, it's relatively small. There are two downstairs bars, the very small 'Back Bar' and the slightly larger 'Front Bar', where food is also served, and the main bar area upstairs. Entry is free for CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) members. We arrived on the Friday at 7pm and had to queue for nearly an hour (that's dedication for you) in a biting cold wind as the venue was already full, and they could only let people in on a one-out, one-in basis. Unless they try for a larger venue next year, it's worth therefore getting there early: a friend of ours who arrived an hour earlier had no trouble queueing. Once we'd warmed up, though, and purchased our £4 commemorative glasses (this is refundable if you don't want to keep it at the end of the evening), the beer choice was very good. The emphasis - and I suppose about half the ales - are of the heavier winter seasonal variety, including stouts and porters. Some of these are pretty strong stuff: Bartram's 'Soviet Stout' comes in at 6.9% ABV, Cambridge Moonshine's 'Chocolate Orange Stout' comes in at 7.2%, Harwich Town's 'Sint Niklaas' at 7.8%, and Elveden's 'Harwich Charter Ale' at a whopping 10% ABV. Those trying the foreign beers have plenty of choice in the 8-10% range, with the Belgian Bush de Noël from Brasserie Dubuisson Frères brewery taking the ribbon with its staggering 12% ABV. (And you would be staggering, too, after one too many of those). Unsurprisingly, they only provide you with half-pint glasses. That all said, as with most beer festivals, people drink steadily and sensibly and the atmosphere is warm and friendly and very well behaved. There are plenty of beers in the 3.5-5% ABV range if you want something less alcoholic. Some of the beers have wonderful names: Bartram's 'Mother In Law's Tongue Tied', a rich tawny ale (9% ABV) must rate as one of the best, Elgood's 'Wenceslas Winter Warmer' (7.5% ABV) wins the prize for alliteration, Potbelly's 'Jingle Bellies' (5% ABV) for the most humorous, Son of Sid's 'Strapped Jock' (4% ABV) for the most ribald and Woodforde's 'Headcracker' (7% ABV) for honesty! Food is served until 9pm, although they carried on after this on our visit. The menu is pretty basic but filling festival fare: most popular, and best value, were the hearty and very fresh chips at £1.50, but there were also veggie chilli, game stew, fish and chips, various filled rolls and soup on offer. Apart from the queue, the other main downers are that it is very crowded, there's no cloakroom to leave coats etc, there's no level access and relatively little seating for the numbers present. These are all limitations of the venue, but worth knowing about before you go if they're important for you.

Not a patch on the spring festival…read more Most of the breweries are local with all that implies. Very few from outside Cambridgeshire are represented and those that are are good. Entrance is £3 but by 5pm on the last day with 4 hours to go, the list showed 1/3 of the beers had run out. Actually it looked like much more than that. By 6 pm it was less than 1 in 5 and one of the three bars closed. It seems the aim is to sell all the beer by closing time - in which case how can you justify charging an entrance fee? The best beers run out the quickest. Food is poor compared to the Spring festival. Essentially pork, sausages or burgers with rolls, mashed potatoes or chips and pricy. There are no salads, snacks - pork pies, pork scratchings crisps or anything else. Much better to go over to Fitzbillies for lunch Worth visiting when entrance is free but otherwise you'll find better beer at local pubs. With the entrance price I paid £6.20 per pint. Waste of money. Don't visit on the last day unless you're prepared to pay for entrance and a poor choice of beer.

This is an interesting place to go to, but I'd recommend that you find out about a day when it's…read morefree to get in. There are a few rebuilt Saxon houses which are especially good to look at when they have one of their days with people dressed up in period costume, but it didn't keep my kids interested for more than an hour at most. There is a great Adventure playground which is outside the Anglo Saxon village (which means you don't have to pay to go to the playground) and also a country park (which I havn't explored since I was a kid but remember being really nice)

Located just beside the restaurants and cinema at the leisure centre, it is the most visited place…read morein the leisure centre because of the various events that take place. The junction consists of clubs, theatre, rooms for dance, gigs, comedy and live music amongst other activities. Different nights of the club offer different music theme such as indie, rock, electro, drum, disco, funk and many more. The ticket prices vary depending on the events; some events are for 16+ and some strictly 18 and over. Talking about tickets, they can be quite expensive, starting from £7 and some events cost as much as £20 per ticket. The comedy nights are remarkable, tickets start from £10 and you can save some money by buying your ticket in advance. The variety of events that is hosted in this place means there is never a boring moment and you can have a time of your life.

Since the early 90's The Junction has been growing as one of the most popular venues in the area…read more Now recognised as a centre of excellence the space offers music, theatre, comedy, dance and club nights at a great price. The Junction hosts easily a thousand events each year so it's obvious to note there is something for everyone. In recent years other leisure areas have developed in the same location on Clifton Road, meaninga day out in Cambridge can be had in this cosy space alone, no need to head into the busy City Centre. The club nights definitely have to be the best aspect of The Junction, from classic disco's to Dot Cotton - the monthly gay night, they normally run well into the early hours and offer a wide range of entertainment and drinks. A definitive place to start, spend and end your evening.

Let's be honest here, this is not the world's largest museum - not by a long way. And set just off…read morethe A10 in the middle of some fenland opposite a tip, the location is not great, either. But, on a sunny day with two kids in tow and a picnic, a visit here was a pleasant way to spend a morning. The young visitors were not overly bothered about the abbey itself - what got them excited was the play area (basically an old tractor and a wooden horse beside some picnic tables) and, bizarrely, the 1940s house (This is so much nicer than our house !). You could come here as an adult on your own, wander round for half an hour and think Is that it ?, but there are enough things here to keep little minds (say, from age five to 10) interested and excited for quite a while; old farm machinery, recreated Village Store, blacksmith's and cooperage with audio commentary, allotment.

The English Heritage Day during the summer was great! My kids loved the 1940's house, bizarrely…read morethey were most interested in the laundry room. My favourite was the Bowyer from Kentwell Hall who showed us how to make an arrow, using all the traditional methods, I found this fascinating. They also have a skip full of compost from the nearby recycling centre, it's free but you need to take your own bags.

Probably the best place in Cambridge for a traditional pantomine with audience participation gags…read moreand more than a few laughs. Great entertainment in a lovely surrounding. The arts Theatre is a great venue in a easy to access place (parking in grand arcade). Good box office service. Has some very big name productions throughout the year

The theatre is comfortable with an excellent programme and big names, but I object to the booking…read morefee being added to every ticket price regardless of how payment is made. If you can get to the theatre by public transport it is easier (and much cheaper) than parking, but there are carparks in the vicinity.

This is an amazing 2 story museum with all kinds of artifacts from old wedgewood to Egypt's tomb…read moreand artifacts Teapots and tea cups old coins to everything in between. 2 nd floor loads of paintings to look at. Entry is free which is always a plus.

The Fitzwilliam Museum offers a well rounded and varied collection. It is sure to please most…read moremuseum visitors regardless of interests. If you're a fan of the work of Georges-Pierre Seurat, you're sure to enjoy the 1884 Neo-Impressionism painting, "The Couple" (original title: Un dimanche après-midi sur l'île de la Grande Jatte). Does it somehow look familiar? This was a study for A Sunday on the Island of la Grande Jatte! "This work is one of many that Georges-Pierre Seurat made in preparation for a much larger painting. The woman's stiff posture is accentuated by her tightly buttoned jacket and the exaggerated bustle of her skirt, which echoes the curve of her parasol. Given that the area of Paris depicted here was known for prostitution, it has been suggested that the woman is a sex worker on the arm of a male client." Give yourself several hours if you plan to take in the entire collection. If you are fortunate enough to live nearby and can visit often, take your time and you're sure to fall in love with one of the many wonderfully curated items found within the museum walls.

What a great experiential aircraft visit in a historically significant place. The displays span the…read morecentury including spitfires, P-51's, B-52's, A-10's, SR-71, U2, and commercial aircraft like the SST. Two major display building with several hangars of planes WW2 operational planes or in process of being restored. For you yanks, this on the quality of the Smithsonian Aircraft exhibit in DC, with out all the outer space stuff.

It had been years since my last visit to Duxford. A Christmas present of tickets and an In the…read moreCockpit Spitfire Experience made a return visit a 'must do'. On arrival, and wandering around, I immediately noticed so many changes. More outlets throughout the grounds for refreshments. Prices are more than reasonable and the food very fresh having been made on site. My last visit there was only one restaurant. Also, it may sound silly, but many more toilet facilities. All a very big plus to this wonderful museum. We decided to start our visit in the Land Based War area at the very furthest point on the runway. Although there is a bus service we decided to slowly stroll the 15 minutes. This idea worked out perfectly as we finished our visit in the main hangar near the exit, tired, but having visited every area on our way back. The whole experience was an education and extremely enjoyable. The aircraft are an impressive display and the planning in setting out these huge vehicles in such small spaces incredible. This, especially, in the American hangar. Seeing the old passenger planes on the runway brought back memories of DanAir, BEA, BOAC, Monarch......all planes and companies I have flown with. Finally, my Spitfire experience was outstanding. An informative talk for 20 minutes before climbing into the cockpit of N3200. Still wonder how those pilots in flight jackets, boots and parachute managed to even move. Shown all the controls in a hands on way. It was so interesting, A fabulous day out and a would definitely advise a visit of a few hours.

This is great day out, especially if you have small children who like traction engines. If you look…read moreat their website you'll see when they are going to be operational and I'd go on one of those days, although there's plenty to see if they arent' chugging around too. We recently went to one of their event days, which was fabulous fun. There are lots of things to look at including animals and a good adventure playground. The inside bits of the museum are very interesting and include a great dressing up section where my daughter spends a lot of time!

Great day out for all the family. Really interesting and unusual exhibits from agricultural life in…read moreSuffolk. With livestock and animals. Check out the www for opening and events. Are currently refurbishing but still lots to see and do. Educational trips too. Disabled assistance available -can book buggies if necessary