With its hallowed streets, glorious colleges and peaceful riverside walks along the Cam, Cambridge is the jewel in the crown of Cambridgeshire and a richly rewarding city to tour on foot. This is a big county, however, and it is well worth exploring the countryside beyond the glittering city.

This guide takes you through the rich heritage of the county's market towns and pretty thatched-roofed villages, along old hilltop tracks and into ancient woodlands, full of interest and beauty.

Cambridgeshire is also the lowest and flattest place in England and the straight roads, endless network of dykes and isoloted windmills of the fenlands have a stange minimalist magnetism which is hard to resist.