The Art Hound Gallery

You won't find The Art Hound Gallery splashed across the usual Cambridge tourist maps, which is rather the point. It's a contemporary art space that takes itself seriously without the stuffiness you'd expect from something in this university town. The gallery focuses on contemporary work - paintings, sculptures, installations - with a rotating programme that actually changes rather than sitting in the same rooms for years on end.

The crowd here skews younger and more experimental than the Fitzwilliam down the road. If you're after Victorian landscapes and ancient pottery, keep walking. But if you want to see what's happening in British contemporary art right now, or you're just curious about the local creative scene, it's worth an afternoon. Expect to spend 45 minutes to an hour properly looking around.

It's free to get in, though obviously they'd appreciate you buying something from the shop if something speaks to you. Being just east of Cambridge proper, it slots nicely into a longer weekend if you're based at one of the nearby parks - Highfield Farm Touring Park is barely a mile away, which is convenient. Cambridge Camping and Caravanning Club Site and the Cherry Hinton option are also close enough for an easy drive or cycle in.

Go on a weekday morning if you can. Weekends pull in the school groups, and the space feels less like a gallery and more like a supervised art class. Check ahead on opening hours before you head over - they sometimes shift things around seasonally.