University of Cambridge, Pembroke College Partnership

Activities and excursions are an important piece of your IFSA experience, designed to pull you into the fabric of the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. That said, at times, circumstances beyond our control—including local government regulations and health protocols—could impact our ability to hold these events as planned.

Know that we’ll make every effort to run the activities, trips, and excursions slated for your program. You’ll see detailed examples of previous outings offered during this program below. Keep in mind that the options could look different for your program, and that we cannot guarantee these activities, trips, and excursions.

You are invited to join other IFSA students in London for exclusive activities. Activities are optional, but they are included in your total program fee. They vary each term based on availability, but activities may include:

• London Pandemics–Past and Present: This event will engage you with both an historic overview and a contemporary look at concepts of community health and global health, with a particular focus on London and the pandemic. You will attend a guest lecture at the IFSA London Flagship, followed by the John Snow Cholera Tour. This tour will take you to the nearby streets of Soho to visit important sites in the story of Dr. Snow and the cholera outbreak in 1854.
• London Statue Walk: This walking tour includes stops at some of London’s most iconic statues as well as some of its most obscure, weaving in historical, cultural, literary, and political threads as it seeks to put the past into dialogue with the present.
• Homelessness in London–A Dialogue: This event will explore the realities of homelessness in London from three perspectives. First, you will participate in a dialogue with guest speakers followed by a tour of Central London developed, curated, and delivered by vulnerably housed individuals through Unseen Tours.

IFSA excursions are included in your total program fee and though these are optional, most students choose to participate. They vary each term based on availability, but excursions may include:

• Cambridge Walking and Punting Tour: Marvel at some of the greatest examples of Gothic and Neoclassical architecture in the world. Inspiring, baffling, and downright outrageous: Cambridge is a city full of stories waiting to be told. See the rooms where Newton wrote his theory of gravity and hear the truth behind the apple tree myth. You’ll also get the chance to visit the pub where Watson and Crick announced one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. You’ll then experience Punting, offering a chance to explore the city from a different perspective. Enjoy the majesty of the River Cam on a punt tour complete with an expertly trained chauffeur who will effortlessly glide you along the water.
• The Fitzwilliam Museum Tour: One of Cambridge’s most impressive landmarks, is widely acknowledged to be the finest small museum in Europe. Home to a world-class collection of art and antiquities spanning centuries and civilizations, there is plenty to see. Highlights include masterpieces of painting from the 14th century to the present day, drawings and print, sculpture, furniture, armor, pottery and glass, oriental art and illuminated manuscripts, coins and medals and antiquities from Egypt, the ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome.
• Proud Cambridge Tour: Learn about the history of Cambridge’s LGBTQIA+ community, from the lives of famous Queer alumni who accomplished major political milestones, to the stories of residents who experienced the vibrant nightlife of the ’70s. Learn about the Lesbian Line, the creation of Stonewall, Cambridge’s major gay pub the Turk’s Head, and see a plethora of other sites in the city’s beautiful historic center. This is the first tour in Cambridge dedicated to Queer history, and it has been curated with the aim of paying tribute to those who have come before—suffering the effects of homophobia but also making major contributions to science, art, and the humanities.
• Magdingley Hall and Afternoon Tea Experience: Madingley Hall has been described as a 20th century restoration of an 18th century adaptation of a 16th century Tudor manor house. It is also a story of wealth, power, decline, and enthusiastic restoration. Today it is the home of Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education, and the tour guides are proud to be associated with the hall and to be allowed, by special arrangement, to take you around. A tour of the hall wouldn’t be complete without experiencing English Afternoon Tea, full of tradition, celebration, and a tremendous amount of cake.
• Women’s History in Cambridge Tour: This tour covers the key role Cambridge played in education for women and women’s suffrage, as well as considering some of the tremendous women who have been associated with the city. Some key highlights areas include Millie Fawcett’s house, Newnham College, Senate House, and Market Square. 150 years have passed since women were first admitted to the University of Cambridge, and you’ll find out how things have since changed.