Cambridge

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Cambridge
<map lat='52.2' lng='0.1166667' zoom='12' view='0' float='right' />
Information
Country:
Flag of England
England
State: East of England
Population: 120,000
Major roads: M 11
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Cambridge is a university city in the region East Anglia of England in the United Kingdom.

Hitchhiking out

Hitchhiking out of the city is pretty simple, there are park and ride services that connect the main city centre bus station with car parks by the entrance to the M11 motorway.

North-West towards Peterborough, Leicester

For heading north on the M11 (towards Peterborough, Leicester and The North), get the Madingly Road Park and Ride service all the way to the end. From here it is around 15 minutes walk to the entrance to the motorway north.

Try just after the mini roundabout where Fen Causeway meets Newnham Road- there are places for cars to stop and it takes you to the larger roads which head to the M11 in both directions. I hitched from here to the ramp going to the M11 after waiting about 20 minutes, and have seen others do the same. It's about 15 minutes' walk from the town centre.

West-North-West towards Huntingdon, Birmingham

From the town centre walk out north-west until you reach the Huntigdon Road. You can hitch the whole Huntigdon Road as there is enough place for cars to stop on the bikepath. But it may be easier if you walk about 1 mile until you reach a small restaurant on the left side where cars have really good space to pull over (and they not taking the risk to injure a student on a bicycle).

Try and get a ride out to the Cambridge Services, about 4/5 miles out of the centre and on the A14 heading to Huntingdon and further north. Once here, it's easy. The service station is huge with a lot of traffic.

North towards Ely, King's Lynn, Dersingham, A10

Go to the Milton Park & Ride (it has a huge Tesco's supermarket..most people know it and should be able to point you in the right direction from the centre of the town). You can walk here without taking a bus quite easily, it's around a thirty minute walk from the centre. Along the way are two Co-op's, one often has amazing amounts of food in the bins, which will be on your right-hand side. Keep walking and you'll pass something like a science park and then you'll see directions for Ely, A10 and so forth. Great space to stand. You could get a ride all the way to King's Lynn if you're patient (about an hour and a half's ride) but surely Ely will take you no longer than ten minutes waiting for.

South towards London

For heading south on the M11 (towards London and the M25 motorway, get the Trumpington park and ride service (£3.50 day ticket or £1.90) all the way to the end car park. From there it is about 5 minutes walk to a large lay-by where cars can stop (just before the roundabout) - it's hugely recommended either having a sign saying London.

Alternatively, there is another great spot - lay-by on the southbound slip road where vehicles from the A10 join the traffic and can also pull over. Further down the M11 it is not possible to find an area to hitch safely, so this is probably your best bet.

East towards Ipswich

To head onto the A14, the best bet if you don't want to take a park and ride to Teversham is to walk on Newmarket Road trying to thumb a ride. Its a long walk to the A14, so you should get a ride before getting there, and if you don't then maybe your luck is dispersing for the time, and you should take a break.

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