Cheap Hotels in Cambridge: Check the Parking Before You Book

Cambridge is small enough to walk across, so the thing that actually varies between hotels here is not location. It is parking. The two central hotels that have any charge £28 and £39 a night for it, and three of the best-known hotels in the city have none at all. Park & Ride, by contrast, is free to park for up to 18 hours and £4.50 return on the bus.

Five Cambridge hotels, and what they actually offer

Hotel	Where	Rooms	Parking
The Varsity Hotel & Spa	Thompson’s Lane, CB5 8AQ	48	Valet, £39/night
University Arms	Regent Street, CB2 1AD	189	Not published
The Gonville	2 Gonville Place, CB1 1LY	92	On site, £28/night, residents only
Clayton Hotel Cambridge	27–29 Station Road, CB1 2FB	~160	None, station car park 1 min away
Hotel du Vin & Bistro	15–19 Trumpington Street, CB2 1QA	41	None

Two name changes worth knowing. The Tamburlaine no longer trades under that name — Dalata bought it in 2019 and it is now Clayton Hotel Cambridge, with the old name surviving only on the restaurant. And The Gonville joined Radisson Individuals in May 2026, though it remains family-run. Older guides still list both under the old names.

The Varsity Hotel & Spa

The closest hotel to St John’s, Trinity, Jesus and Magdalene, on the Cam with a riverside steakhouse, rooftop terrace and Elemis spa. About 2 km from Cambridge station by the hotel’s own reckoning. Valet parking is £39 a night, cannot be pre-booked, and takes 10 to 15 minutes to retrieve the car — plan around that if you have a train to catch.

University Arms

The grand one, established 1834, listed, overlooking Parker’s Piece, and the only hotel on this list that publishes its rates: Cosy rooms from £209, Classic from £229, Superior from £249 and suites from £459. Its parking arrangements are not published anywhere on its own site, so ask when you book rather than trusting a review.

The Gonville, a member of Radisson Individuals

92 bedrooms on Parker’s Piece, with an ESPA spa, complimentary bicycles and 44 parking spaces with EV charging at £28 a night. Half a mile to King’s College, 0.39 miles to the Grand Arcade, 0.7 miles to the station. Spaces cannot be reserved unless you hold a Blue Badge.

Clayton Hotel Cambridge, formerly The Tamburlaine

Next door to the railway station, ten minutes’ walk from the centre, roughly 160 rooms. No car park beyond a few Blue Badge bays, but the 200-space station car park is a minute away. If you are arriving by train this is the least friction of the five.

Hotel du Vin & Bistro Cambridge

41 rooms in Grade II listed Victorian townhouses on Trumpington Street, the road that runs into King’s Parade, with deep Burgundy and Bordeaux cellars and a bistro. No parking at all; the hotel points guests at the Queen Anne Terrace and Grand Arcade multi-storeys, both about ten minutes away.

Centre, station, or Cambridge North?

King’s College Chapel is 1.5 miles from the central station — a 25 to 30 minute walk. So a central address is a convenience purchase, not a necessity.

• The station area is the value play. Direct trains to King’s Cross and Liverpool Street, and everything walkable.
• Cambridge North is a poor base for sightseeing. It is three miles north, next to the Science Park. Useful if you are driving in or working there, weak otherwise.

Arriving by car

There is no congestion charge and no Clean Air Zone in Cambridge. The proposed Sustainable Travel Zone was dropped in 2023, so ignore older warnings about it.

Use Park & Ride. Five sites — Babraham Road, Madingley, Milton Road, Newmarket Road and Trumpington — all free to park for up to 18 hours, with an adult return of £4.50 and buses every 10 to 15 minutes. City centre multi-storeys run up to about £28 to £30 for a day, and hotel parking is dearer still.

When Cambridge is most expensive

• Mid-June to early July is the worst window of the year. May Bumps and the May Balls fall in mid-to-late June, and General Admission — the four big graduation Congregations — lands at the end of June and start of July.
• Early October. Michaelmas term begins 1 October 2026, and the arrival fortnight is tight.
• There are further graduation ceremonies on 23 and 24 October and 28 November 2026.
• Quietest: January to March, and late July through September outside those dates.

If you want cheap rather than grand

Driving: Travelodge Cambridge Central, Cambridge Leisure Park, Clifton Way, CB1 7DY. Parking at the adjacent leisure centre is £7 for 24 hours with the ticket validated at reception — a fifth of what the central hotels charge.

By train: YHA Cambridge, a five-minute walk from the station. Premier Inn has a city centre site two minutes from the Grand Arcade, but with no parking of its own.

Four of the five hotels above publish no nightly rate on their own sites, so compare on the booking widgets rather than on any figure quoted elsewhere. Addresses, room counts and parking charges checked against each hotel’s own site, plus Cambridge City Council and Stagecoach, on 26 August 2026.