Evening All,

Apologies for the off topic post but I know that some of you are familiar
with Cambridge and I'm after a bit of advice. I'm taking my 12 year old
niece to a concert at the Corn Exchange on Saturday night, we'll be driving
up from London and then back following the concert. Anyone got any
recommendation for parking close to the Corn Exchange that's either free or
doesn't cost too much?

--
Cheers, Steve.
Change jealous to sad to reply.

On Nov 25, 5:49�pm, "Steve Dulieu"
wrote:
Evening All,

Apologies for the off topic post but I know that some of you are familiar
with Cambridge and I'm after a bit of advice. I'm taking my 12 year old
niece to a concert at the Corn Exchange on Saturday night, we'll be driving
up from London and then back following the concert. Anyone got any
recommendation for parking close to the Corn Exchange that's either free or
doesn't cost too much?

--
Cheers, Steve.
Change jealous to sad to reply.

Steve,

The Grand Arcade car park (formerly Lyon Yard) which is part of the
big shopping centre near the Corn Exchange is the nearest car park,
but I have no idea what the Saturday evening cost is.

From 5p.m. I think parking is free on Saturdays all along Queens' Road
(the long road that runs along the Western edge of The Backs on the
opposite side of the River Cam from the colleges, but this road gets
pretty full by that time, so to be guaranteed a space there you'd need
to get there earlier than 5p.m. Adjoining roads like West Road are
similar. This is 10 minute walk from Cor Exchange (via King's College)
but that route would be closed on your return journey after the
concert so it would take twice as long to walk back, via Silver
Street.

Having said that, if you are only arriving after say 6.30 or 7p.m.,
Queens' Road and surrounding streets will have spaces available, since
all the shoppers and tourists will have left by then. But, then allow
a 20 minute walk EACH way, since King's College will be closed to the
public and you'll have to take the long route via Silver Street in
both directions.

It's also a great shame tha the really good Park & Ride doesn't
operate much after 7p.m. But check their website just to make sure I
haven't missed some pre-Christmas evening service!

Pity you're not (I assume) a member of a college - the free parking
they offer to graduates is worth its weight in gold!

Marc.

wrote:
On Nov 25, 5:49�pm, "Steve Dulieu"
wrote:
Evening All,

Apologies for the off topic post but I know that some of you are familiar
with Cambridge and I'm after a bit of advice. I'm taking my 12 year old
niece to a concert at the Corn Exchange on Saturday night, we'll be driving
up from London and then back following the concert. Anyone got any
recommendation for parking close to the Corn Exchange that's either free or
doesn't cost too much?

--
Cheers, Steve.
Change jealous to sad to reply.

Steve,

The Grand Arcade car park (formerly Lyon Yard) which is part of the
big shopping centre near the Corn Exchange is the nearest car park,
but I have no idea what the Saturday evening cost is.

From 5p.m. I think parking is free on Saturdays all along Queens' Road
(the long road that runs along the Western edge of The Backs on the
opposite side of the River Cam from the colleges, but this road gets
pretty full by that time, so to be guaranteed a space there you'd need
to get there earlier than 5p.m. Adjoining roads like West Road are
similar. This is 10 minute walk from Cor Exchange (via King's College)
but that route would be closed on your return journey after the
concert so it would take twice as long to walk back, via Silver
Street.

Having said that, if you are only arriving after say 6.30 or 7p.m.,
Queens' Road and surrounding streets will have spaces available, since
all the shoppers and tourists will have left by then. But, then allow
a 20 minute walk EACH way, since King's College will be closed to the
public and you'll have to take the long route via Silver Street in
both directions.

There is a footpath crossing the river behind Trinity Hall and then
coming out by King's.

It's also a great shame tha the really good Park & Ride doesn't
operate much after 7p.m. But check their website just to make sure I
haven't missed some pre-Christmas evening service!

Pity you're not (I assume) a member of a college - the free parking
they offer to graduates is worth its weight in gold!

AFAIK not all of them do...
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In article ,
wrote:

Pity you're not (I assume) a member of a college - the free parking
they offer to graduates is worth its weight in gold!

I'm a Cambridge graduate, and I live in the city. Where do I sign up
for the free parking?

On 25 Nov, 17:49, "Steve Dulieu"
wrote:
Apologies for the off topic post but I know that some of you are familiar
with Cambridge and I'm after a bit of advice. I'm taking my 12 year old
niece to a concert at the Corn Exchange on Saturday night, we'll be driving
up from London and then back following the concert. Anyone got any
recommendation for parking close to the Corn Exchange that's either free or
doesn't cost too much?

Cambridge is very anti-car, so they would much rather you didn't
drive. However, the alternatives aren't practical for evening visits -
the Park & Ride stops early evening so will be no good for you coming
back.

The Grand Arcade/Lion Yard car park is right next to the Corn
Exchange. Before 5pm, this is £1.80/hr, but arrive after 5pm and it's
80p/hr. That might be OK for you.

Otherwise you'll need to get lucky with an on-road parking space
that's 10-15 mins walk away, on Queens Rd, Lensfield Rd, Trumpington
Rd or similar. Do bear in mind, though, that Cambridge has a number of
routes that are blocked to through traffic (via rising bollards or
similar) so plan your route carefully!

Sam

In article ,
(Sarah Brown) wrote:

In article
,
wrote:

Pity you're not (I assume) a member of a college - the free parking
they offer to graduates is worth its weight in gold!

I'm a Cambridge graduate, and I live in the city. Where do I sign up
for the free parking?

In never-never land, Sarah. I think it's for alumni events only.

On the OP's question I think his best compromise will be to use the Queen
Anne Terrace car park. That's 50p an hour in the evenings while Grand
Arcade is 80p.

However, Grand Arcade can be the scene of a full 1000-space car park
trying to empty all at once after events at the Corn Exchange and Arts
Theatre, leading to long queues to pay and exit from the car park. In that
time you could walk back across Parker's Piece to the Queen Anne Terrace
car park. The latter is also easy to get to from the London direction.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Sarah,

Depends which college and how well you get on with the porters! Also,
it obviously depends on how much parking space they actually have -
not every college has a huge underground car park like mine!

Some colleges obviously like to treat their graduates better than
others, in the hope of financial assistance when we all become
millionaires! Mine also gives free dining on High Table twice a Term!

Sam,

It's a REAL shame that the Park & Ride closes so early. It means I can
never use it, since if I want to attend dinner in College it's not
going to be available for my return journey. Even if they only
operated once an hour between say 8p.m. and midnight it would be
something.

Marc.

wrote:

However, Grand Arcade can be the scene of a full 1000-space car park
trying to empty all at once after events at the Corn Exchange and Arts
Theatre, leading to long queues to pay and exit from the car park.

I can vouch for that :-/

In article
,
() wrote:

Sarah,

Depends which college and how well you get on with the porters! Also,
it obviously depends on how much parking space they actually have -
not every college has a huge underground car park like mine!

Which would yours be then? Mine is the largest (Trinity) but parking is
quite limited, not that it affects me personally as I live in central
Cambridge anyway.

Some colleges obviously like to treat their graduates better than
others, in the hope of financial assistance when we all become
millionaires! Mine also gives free dining on High Table twice a Term!

Only four times a year for Trinity MAs but then the college owns much of
Felixstowe and Ashford (Kent).

Sam,

It's a REAL shame that the Park & Ride closes so early. It means I can
never use it, since if I want to attend dinner in College it's not
going to be available for my return journey. Even if they only
operated once an hour between say 8p.m. and midnight it would be
something.

It slightly depends on how late you want. There is late shopping on
Wednesdays so P&R runs later then.

However you will have a more relaxed time all round if you come by train.
Travel at the right times and you can take your bike on the trains as I do
in the other direction. Otherwise the Citi 1, 3 and 7 serve the station
and city centre until late. The Citi 1 even has a bit of a night service
at weekends (not by London standards, I know).

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(David E Newton) wrote:

wrote:

However, Grand Arcade can be the scene of a full 1000-space car
park trying to empty all at once after events at the Corn
Exchange and Arts Theatre, leading to long queues to pay and exit
from the car park.

I can vouch for that :-/

It's a modern miracle, actually. :-)

--
Colin Rosenstiel