Museum · Cambridge · Cambridgeshire

The Polar Museum

The Polar Museum is a museum in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. It is run by Scott Polar Research Institute. 60 other places to visit are within 15 km, led by Fitzwilliam Museum (500 m).

Photo: The Polar Museum, GualdimG (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where

In Cambridge

inside the built-up area

Run by

Scott Polar Research Institute

the operator on record

Warmest months

May–Sep

highs of 18–23°C

In brief

Museum in Cambridge

Inside Cambridge

The Polar Museum is inside Cambridge’s built-up area, with 27 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Choosing a month

In Cambridge, May to September bring the warmest days: highs of 18–23°C.

Jan8° / 2°48 mm

Feb9° / 2°36 mm

Mar11° / 3°33 mm

Apr14° / 5°36 mm

May18° / 7°45 mm

Jun21° / 10°51 mm

Jul23° / 13°49 mm

Aug23° / 12°57 mm

Sep20° / 10°48 mm

Oct15° / 8°57 mm

Nov11° / 4°53 mm

Dec8° / 2°50 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Cambridge, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Cambridge. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Cambridge’s full climate →

About

The Polar Museum

Museum in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

In Cambridge, inside the town’s built-up area.

Type: Museum
Run by: Scott Polar Research Institute
Town: in Cambridge
Official site: spri.cam.ac.uk/museum

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Plan your visit

Opening times and entry

Entrance feesFreeNo entrance fee.

Hours and entry: OpenStreetMap contributors. They change through the year: check its site before you go.

The map

Mapping The Polar Museum

Orange shows The Polar Museum; numbers mark the places near it.

Towns near it

Nearby towns

The biggest base of the 8 is Cambridge (152,742 people). They run in order of distance, starting where it stands.

1 · It’s in town

Cambridge

152,742 people · 33 places to visit

2 · 2.7 km southwest of it

Grantchester

536 people · 26 places to visit

3 · 3.6 km northwest of it

Girton

4,384 people · 28 places to visit

4 · 3.7 km northeast of it

Fen Ditton

509 people · 31 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where The Polar Museum is	People	Places to visit
Cambridge	It’s in town	152,742	33
Grantchester	2.7 km southwest of it	536	26
Girton	3.6 km northwest of it	4,384	28
Fen Ditton	3.7 km northeast of it	509	31
Great Shelford and Stapleford	3.8 km south of it	6,159	21
Coton	3.9 km west of it	952	25
Teversham	4.1 km east of it	909	25
Histon and Impington	4.2 km north of it	7,781	32

Make a day of it

Make a day of it near The Polar Museum

Around it, within 15 km, lie 60 more, including 5 museums, a garden and a castle.

1MuseumMuseumFitzwilliam Museum500 m away · 364K visitors a year 2

MuseumMuseum of Zoology700 m away · 139K visitors a year (2023)3

GardenCambridge University Botanic Garden500 m away 4

CastleCambridge Castle1.7 km away 5

MuseumWhipple Museum of the History Of Science700 m away 6

Art galleryKettle's Yard Gallery1.6 km away 7

MuseumIWM Duxford12 km away · 401K visitors a year (2019)8

MuseumSedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences600 m away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Before visiting The Polar Museum

Where is The Polar Museum?

The Polar Museum is in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is The Polar Museum?

Museum in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

Who runs The Polar Museum?

Scott Polar Research Institute.

When is the best time to visit The Polar Museum?

May to September are the warmest months in Cambridge, with afternoon highs of 18–23°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

What else is there to see near The Polar Museum?

Within 15 km: Fitzwilliam Museum (500 m), Museum of Zoology (700 m), Cambridge University Botanic Garden (500 m) and Cambridge Castle (1.7 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

The Polar Museum: GualdimG, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Museum of Zoology: Magnus Manske, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cambridge University Botanic Garden: temporalata, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cambridge Castle: Samuel Buck / Nathaniel Buck, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Whipple Museum of the History Of Science: Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kettle's Yard Gallery: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
IWM Duxford: IxK85, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences: Sebastian Ballard, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.