The Orchard Tea Gardens

It's busy, especially when the weather is good and it's not cheap, but it's well worth a visit. Given the location and the quality of the food, prices are reasonable value. A large garden, with tables and chairs (many deckchairs) around tables among the trees. Although it gets crowded, there are some relatively peaceful corners.

The menu is not extensive, but everything we have had has been good. Tea with a scone with jam and clotted cream is about £5, but it is a huge scone, freshly baked and very tasty. The bread for the baguettes is also very fresh. Tea for two was served in a small pot, but they were happy to provide another pot of water on request. Tap water and ice is freely available with plastic glasses. If you need to wait for food, you are given an electronic gismo that flashes when your order is ready for collection. There are some tables undercover.

Before /afterwards take a walk around Grantchester or walk/put to Cambridge - a mile or so to Newnham. There are a few cows and a lot of bikes to dodge - even on the lower path by the river which is supposed to be a footpath - but it's a pleasant walk through the meadows and a famous day out.

This is pricey for what you get, but if you just have to do it, grit your teeth and forget the money. It is nice, especially when the weather`s good and the girls serving are really lovely ( Really !!! )

Makes a lovely end to a walk from Cambridge in the summer. Relax among the apple trees in a deck chair and sip pimms or tea (as is your want). If you're really pretentious, you could even recite some poetry.

Great location, but the only coffee available is filter coffee.

Ditto everyone else’s comments. No friend comes to Cambridge and doesn’t get taken here for the cakes among the apple trees

Like everybody else cannot but give a 5 to this amazing place.

The Orchard is a pretty unique place and, along with the backs, the medieval street layout and the University, is part of what makes Cambridge such a special place to live.

In our household, we judge the quality of a place by whether we have been there more than three times - well, I have lost count of the number of times we have been to the Orchard. It is great for taking relatives, friends, visitors and children.

For us, a typical visit is to have scones with jam and cream, coffee for the adults and fizzy drinks for the young ones, followed by a read of the papers / run around the Orchard and finally a stroll along Grantchester Meadows and climbing a few trees.

Bliss !

This is my favourite place to hang out on a gorgeous summer’s day - whether it’s reading a book on my own, lazing the day away with friends or showing visitors the delights of Cambridge and its most picturesque villages!

The Orchard is iconic amongst locals - a place where Cambridge intellects, writers and philosophers (including Lord Byron, Wichtenstein, Virginia Woolf and Rupert Brooke used to hang out). There’s nothing more glorious than enjoying real cream teas and organic ginger beer in an orchard surrounded by apple trees on a glorious summer’s day!

Grantchester isn’t too far out of Cambridge - and the walk or bike ride across Grantchester Meadows, watching the punters cruise by on the river, is part of the fun.

This place is very relaxed although it gets ridiculously busy in the summer and its prices are definitely on the steep side! But we’ll forgive it because it’s so seasonal - and besides, it’s fabulous.

While you’re there, you can burn off some of those cream teas with a lovely walk in nearby Byron’s Pool.

This is a great place to come for a cup of tea and a slice of cake especially in summer. It is open all year round and is usually really busy in the summer. You can punt here from Cambridge although it does take about an hour each way but it is a beautiful journey along the river.

Gorgeous setting, yummy teatime treats, and an inspiring literary heritage - what’s not to love? Enjoy the walk from Cambridge, then settle in with newspapers and plenty of cakes and tea. Bliss, and a Cambridgeshire institution.

A unique spot of tranquillity, only a short drive from the centre of Cambridge. The Orchards provides you with the opportunity to enjoy delicious food - big sandwiches, Ploughman’s, amazing cake, delicious juices - whilst sitting among the trees. The food is a little bit pricy for what it is, however you are really paying for the whole experience - which is worth it. It is a very popular site, and so finding a car parking space can prove a bit tricky so be prepared to drive around a bit once you arrive. The staff are very friendly, and clearly enjoy working there, which makes the whole experience even more enjoyable.

The low deck chairs might prove difficult for the elderly to get in and out of, and the ground is quite uneven in some places. This is the ideal place to spend a summer’s afternoon, and fantastic for people with children - children are very welcome, and have great fun running around the trees! But, remember to slap on the sunscreen, as you will want to sit out there for hours.

Here you can step back in time and relax with a book among the apple trees. There is history which is all around you and if you close your eyes you can get whisked back there!!! They have a little tribute to Rupert Brooke (who lived in Orchard house) and V.Wolfe who used to gather with various other friends there. It feels very typically English and it helps when there is an array of freshly baked goodies, teas and coffees on offer to finish off the mirage. There is a lovely walk through the trees and down to the river. The deck chairs are lovely and complete the 'look’ but can be a little difficult to get in and out of!!!! All together a very special somewhere.

This is a lovely tearoom, but I owuld avoid in the winter. there is little space inside, which means if you have small children like we do it isn’t the easiest place to be. In the summer though it is lovely having tea between the apple trees and with such a history too.

We go to the Orchard a couple of times a year when the weather is good, only we pile into the works minibus and head out there on Wednesday at 10:00 am for our weekly business meeting. It’s usually quiet at this time, we find a quiet place and the meeting goes by very pleasantly.
The only problem with us is of our own doing, it’s very difficult to peel ourselves off the deckchairs and get back to the real world.
The cakes are first-class, scones are excellent, service is friendly. It’s by far the best tea and cakes venue in Cambridge.
We especially like it as it’s dog-friendly as long as they’re on a lead, so we bring our two office dogs with us.

The Orchard Tea Garden is really special. Here you can sit amongst the trees on deckchairs sipping tea and munching cake after a walk across Grantchester Meadows.

Several varieties of tea and coffee are available to accompany light lunches and cakes galore. All are of a superlative quality.

Service here is smart and efficient - grab a tray, select the 'eats’ you want and then order your tea/coffee, pay the charming staff what is owed and away you go . . . .

The tea garden is about 2 acres in all, bounded by thick hedgerows and dotted throughout with fruit trees like pear, meddlar and apple.

Knowledge of the various luminaries that have trodden this path before you only adds to the sense that this is a proper treat . . . . in my view one that should be earned only after a lovely walk across the meadows, a must for any visitor to Cambridge.

The orchard is amazing place to while away a few hours. You are morally obliged to have the cream tea with all the trimmings. Its a lovely walk over from town and on a fine sunny day there is nowhere I would rather be.

Its always really rammed, and I dont think you can book, but its got to be worth a try.

Have a read of all the people who used to come here! Its like a whos who of British society. Makes you feel like you’re a part of something special.

A simple hour of so out of Cambridge by punt, so only just down the road, is the only place to have tea and scones on a summer's afternoon. I have been here with friends and whiled away the whole day in the shade of the fruit trees. Chanpagne on the way there, tea and cake when you arrive, and if you have planned well Pimms on the way home. A truly sophicated way to spend your afternoon.

From Rupert Brooke on, punting upto the Orchard for afternoon tea in summer has become a Cambridge rite of passage. In spring the blossom makes this one of the most beautiful places in Cambridge, and as you sit outside with friends you can soak up the atmosphere and pretend to be a carefree bright young thing, although alas, you will have to leave at some point if you don't want a fine for returning your punt late!