25 Italian Restaurants near Cambridge

The second-oldest university town in the UK, and Oxford’s great rival, Cambridge was recently called ‘one of the most beautiful cities in the world’ by the US magazine Forbes. St John’s College is home to the oldest university building still in active use, but the oldest surviving college is the 13th-century Peterhouse, followed by Trinity, Clare and Pembroke. Many colleges now charge tourists for admission, and along with attractions like The Fitzwilliam Museum, King’s College Chapel, and the Round Church (the city’s second-oldest building) it means Cambridge is crowded with tourists, especially between April and September. Most are day trippers, who tend to patronise the many chain eateries, but there is a growing dining-out scene, and restaurants in Cambridge include the one-Michelin-starred Alimentum, and the two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House. Elsewhere, the rejuvenated Fitzbillies is good for coffee, Chelsea buns and light lunches, the Cambridge Chop House for no-nonsense classic British dishes.