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Cambridge or York?

Two places visitors weigh up, side by side. Every figure comes from our guides, the Met Office, National Rail or an event organiser, and we do not rank either one.

Cambridge guide · York guide

King's College Chapel seen across the lawns of the Backs
Cambridge: King's College Chapel seen across the lawns of the BacksPhoto: Sandra Humphrey, CC BY-SA 2.0
York Minster seen over trees and rooftops from the city walls
York: York Minster seen over trees and rooftops from the city wallsPhoto: Chris Gorringe, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Museums, Botanic Garden and the South
Cambridge: Cambridge University Botanic GardenPhoto: temporalata, CC BY-SA 2.0
Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, The Shambles and Stonegate
York: Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-GatePhoto: Kaly99, CC BY-SA 3.0

Who each place suits

outdoor-leaning

Cambridge

A university city of colleges, bridges and riverside meadows on the River Cam.

Our guide covers 4 areas, with 59 sights, 107 places to eat and drink and 20 places to stay, and 5 theatre venues in the directory.

Most common sight types we list: College (16), Museum (8), Church (5).

51% of the 39 sights we tag are outdoor places and 49% are indoors, so it reads as outdoor-leaning.

Our Cambridge guide suggests 1 to 2 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days.

Cambridge guide Theatre in Cambridge Events in Cambridge Weather by month Rainy-day ideas
outdoor-leaning

York

A walled cathedral city of medieval streets, Roman and Viking layers, and the railways.

Our guide covers 5 areas, with 61 sights, 88 places to eat and drink and 27 places to stay, and 4 theatre venues in the directory.

Most common sight types we list: Church (9), Street (8), City gate (5).

59% of the 44 sights we tag are outdoor places and 41% are indoors, so it reads as outdoor-leaning.

Our York guide suggests 1 to 3 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days.

York guide Theatre in York Events in York Weather by month Rainy-day ideas

Side by side

Facts only. Counts show how much our guides list, not how much exists. “Reported” means tagged on OpenStreetMap or a venue’s own page: check with the venue.

Cambridge and York: counts from our guides, climate averages and events.
ItemCambridgeYork
Country England England
Areas in our guide 4 5
Sights listed 59 61
Places to eat and drink listed 107 88
Places to stay listed 20 27
Theatre venues in our directory 5 4
Eat, stay and theatre entries reported step-free 24 26
Eat, stay and theatre entries marked family-friendly 0 0
Character from sight types Outdoor-leaning (51% of 39 tagged sights are outdoors) Outdoor-leaning (59% of 44 tagged sights are outdoors)
Suggested stay in our guide 1 to 2 days 1 to 3 days
Average high in July 23.1°C1 21.5°C2
Average high in January 7.7°C1 7.3°C2
Rain in a year (sum of monthly averages) 561 mm on about 107 days1 618 mm on about 116 days2
Sunshine in a year (sum of monthly averages) 1522 hours1 1524 hours2
Daylight mid-June / mid-December (calculated) 16 h 45 / 7 h 43 17 h 07 / 7 h 24
Dated events in our calendar 5 dated, from organiser pages 6 dated, from organiser pages
Weather station used Cambridge, NIAB Church Fenton
Between the twoAbout 210 km in a straight line. No published train time in our data: check National Rail. Journey details

Climate: Met Office 1991-2020 averages, stored 25 October 2026. Each station sits in or near the region, not necessarily in the town, so differences of a degree or two or small rainfall gaps can come from the station rather than the place. Daylight is calculated from latitude, not a Met Office figure. Station notes: York: Church Fenton is the Met Office station page for the area around York (it lies south-west of the city, not in it); no station page for the city centre was found.

Choose Cambridge if… choose York if…

Choose Cambridge if you…

  • are going in July and want warmer days: highs average 23.1°C at the Cambridge station (Cambridge, NIAB), against 21.5°C at the other.
  • have a short break: our Cambridge guide suggests 1 to 2 days, against 1 to 3 days for York.

Choose York if you…

  • can give it longer: our York guide suggests 1 to 3 days.

Each line appears only where our data shows a clear gap. The thresholds are listed under “How we write this”.

How many days each needs

  • Our Cambridge guide suggests 1 to 2 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days. Cambridge guide
  • Our York guide suggests 1 to 3 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days. York guide

These are our guides’ suggestions, not a rule. Add travel time between places: check National Rail for the journey.

Plan both

We have no itinerary that combines Cambridge and York yet. These cover one of them:

Cambridge guideYork guide All itinerariesGetting between the twoWhere to go each month

Questions people ask

How far apart are Cambridge and York?

About 210 km in a straight line between the region centres. We hold no published journey time for this pair, so check National Rail.

How many days do I need in Cambridge and in York?

Our Cambridge guide suggests 1 to 2 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days. Our York guide suggests 1 to 3 days; its sample plans run from half day to 2 days.

Is Cambridge better than York?

We do not rank destinations. This page shows where our data differs so you can match it to your own interests, season and time.

Can I visit Cambridge and York on one trip?

We have no itinerary that combines them yet. See the journey details on getting between regions and check National Rail for current times.

Editorial note. We do not claim one destination ranks above another. There are no scores, no “best”, and no cost levels, because we hold no sourced price data. For prices, check each operator or venue.

Facts last checked 1 November 2026.

How we write this

  • Counts come from our own region guides (sights, eat and drink, stays) and theatre directories. A “Choose … if” line appears only when the gap is at least: 1.25x and 8 sights; 10 percentage points of outdoor share; 1.5x and 5 theatre venues; 1.5°C in July or January highs; 15% in yearly rain; 10% in yearly sunshine.
  • Character: outdoor-leaning at 50% or more of tagged sights outdoors, city-leaning at 30% or less, otherwise mixed. Tags come from the sight type (park, museum, church and so on) with a short list of overrides in src/data/weather-fit.json.
  • Step-free and family-friendly counts include only entries tagged on OpenStreetMap or a venue page; many entries carry no tag, so a low count does not mean low access.

Sources

  1. Met Office: Cambridge, NIAB, 1991-2020 averages (for Cambridge)
  2. Met Office: Church Fenton, 1991-2020 averages (for York). Church Fenton is the Met Office station page for the area around York (it lies south-west of the city, not in it); no station page for the city centre was found.

Sights, places to eat and stay, suggested stays and events come from our Cambridge and York guides, each of which cites its sources. Journey times are as National Rail publishes them, retrieved 25 October 2026, and are not timetables.

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