The Local Area Around ILC Cambridge | ILC English Blog

ILC Cambridge is right in the heart of the historic city of Cambridge, so our "local area" is pretty impressive. Our building is attached to the Cambridge Union, the home of the university's famous debating society, which has been on this site since 1866. The Union regularly welcomes well-known speakers: everyone from Winston Churchill to Bill Gates has passed through its doors, and visitors have even included Hollywood actor Robert De Niro.

Walk a few metres further and you come to the Round Church, a church that is… round. It's one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge, built around 1130, and one of only a handful of medieval round churches in England. You get the idea: Cambridge is full of some very old buildings!

The Round Church is on Bridge Street, so called because it leads north to Magdalene Bridge over the River Cam. Stand on the bridge and you'll see lots of people punting. A punt is a long, narrow boat that you push along with a long pole. It's a traditional, fun and relaxing way to see the famous sights from the river. You can have a chauffeur do the hard work for you, or have a go yourself (definitely fun, but probably a bit less relaxing!).

Walk south down Bridge Street and turn right into Trinity Street. Here you'll see the Cambridge colleges that are famous all over the world, not least because the university has been home to more than 100 Nobel Prize winners. The first college you come to is St John's College. Carry on into King's Parade and you'll reach Great St Mary's Church on the left, where you can climb the tower for an amazing view over the city and countryside. Opposite is King's College, probably the most famous of all the Cambridge colleges.

Continue down Trumpington Street to the Fitzwilliam Museum, which houses an amazing collection of art and objects from around the world, and it's free to enter. There are more fantastic free museums just round the corner on Downing Street, including the Museum of Zoology and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Back on King's Parade, turn into Bene't Street and you'll see the Eagle pub, where Francis Crick announced in 1953 that he and James Watson had discovered the structure of DNA (history tells us Rosalind Franklin deserves credit too!). If you've had enough history, the Grand Arcade shopping centre is nearby, with a wide range of famous brands, and Cambridge also has lots of independent shops selling clothes, books and art.

Being in such a central location makes our school a fantastic base for exploring some of the best history, culture and entertainment the UK has to offer, and we haven't even mentioned the restaurants, theatres and concert halls! Find out more about studying at ILC Cambridge, or read a day in the life of a Cambridge University student.