Getting here

Park and Ride

Parking is free at all Park and Ride sites in Cambridge. There are disabled spaces and electric charging points.

The best park and ride sites for accessing Royal Papworth Hospital are Trumpington and Babraham Road. 

Please note: There is a two-metre height restriction for vehicles.

Travelling from Trumpington 

From Trumpington Park and Ride you can use Cambridgeshire Guided Busway service A, provided by Stagecoach. Please note its final destination may be shown as St Ives or Huntingdon but these buses serve Royal Papworth too.

The nearest bus stop to Royal Papworth Hospital is outside our north entrance, off Francis Crick Avenue. Your journey time from Trumpington will be around five or six minutes.

When returning to Trumpington Park and Ride, please check the bus destination prior to embarking as some buses may be heading the opposite direction into the city centre and beyond.

Plan your journey here.

Travelling from Babraham Road 

If coming from Babraham Road Park and Ride, take the PR4 service which stops at the Addenbrooke's Hospital main bus station. From here it is a 10-15 minute walk to Royal Papworth Hospital or you can take the Campus courtesy bus from here to our hospital, which runs every 30 minutes.

Please note: Space at the Babraham Road site is temporarily reduced due to a major climate change project by Cambridgeshire County Council, who are installing solar panels. 

Other buses

There are a number of other services which serve the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. 

Plan your journey 

Campus courtesy bus

The on-site courtesy bus shuttles around the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. 

The bus runs Monday to Friday (08:00- 17:00) in a continuous loop, stopping at the following points:

• Car Park 1
• Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre*
• Royal Papworth Hospital
• Car Park 2
• Rosie Hospital*, Breast Unit* and CDC*
• Oncology and Haemotology*
• Addenbrooke's Bus Station
• Main Outpatient's entrance (Returning to Car Park 1)*

* indicates part of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

We have a number of Sheffield bike stands around the perimeter of our hospital to which you can securely lock your bicycle. 

There are safe, off-road cycle routes from Cambridge railway station, Trumpington Park and Ride and Babraham Road Park and Ride, as well as cycle lanes in most major Cambridge roads.

Voi e-scooters also operate in Cambridge and are available to rent around campus and across the city.

You may prefer to travel by train to Cambridge Station and take a bus to the hospital (Stagecoach A service) or nearby Francis Crick Avenue (U service or X2 service). 

Alternatively, you could take a taxi from Cambridge Station to the hospital (2.5 miles), which would take around 10-15 minutes, depending on traffic.

Shelford Railway Station is also a similar distance away (three miles) but there is no taxi rank, so a taxi would need to be booked in advance. 

Cambridge South - coming soon

Cambridge South railway station is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in early 2026.

This is being built on the edge of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, a two-minute walk from our hospital. 

Royal Papworth Hospital can be easily accessed from junction 11 of the M11. You can also reach us via the A11 and A1307.

Visit Google Maps for personalised directions to our hospital.

Free parking is available at the Park and Ride sites in Cambridge - see 'travelling by bus' in the drop-down above.

Important: The postcode for our hospital is CB2 0AY, but some older sat navs that have not been updated may not recognise this. Please use CB2 0QQ as an alternative, or use ///using.improving.manage on what3words.

Drop-off and pick-up 

There are a small number of spaces outside our hospital to allow for patients to be dropped-off or picked-up. These have a maximum 30-minute stay limit. We also have six blue badge spaces with a maximum stay of four hours. 

Car Park 2

There is a multi-story car park - Car Park 2 - adjacent to our hospital offering 1,228 spaces.

Upon exiting the car park as a pedestrian, Royal Papworth Hospital is the large blue, curved building which runs directly opposite the car park. If you cannot see the hospital, then you will have come out the wrong exit. 

There are disabled spaces on levels 1-4 and some electric charging spaces on the ground floor.

This car park is run by Saba who are a private third-party.

Discounts and concessions

If you are an outpatient you are entitled to a concession rate of £5.50. You will need to show your appointment letter or card at the customer service desk located on the ground floor of Car Park 2 for the discount to be applied.

For repeat appointments within seven days, you can pay £5.50 in total (rather than each day), but you will need proof of multiple appointments. 

Please be aware that the operators, Saba, offer no discounted rates for inpatients who keep a car in the car park for multiple days without leaving. If you are staying with us as an inpatient, we strongly recommend you are dropped-off and picked-up, or travel via public transport if you can. 

Frequent visitors can also get a discounted rate by buying a seven-day or 14-day ticket.

To obtain either of these please take a ticket as you enter the car park and then exchange it at the customer service desk on the ground floor of Car Park 2 for the period you require. Pay the fee at the pay machine to validate the ticket - keep this ticket and use it each time you exit the car park.

Prices

More information on Car Park 2, including full prices. 

Size restrictions 

Lifts 

There are size restrictions in the lifts in Car Park 2. The door width is 90cm and the depth is 207cm. 

If you use a larger-than-standard wheelchair, please contact our estates team via switchboard on 01223 638000 in advance of your visit and we can help assist you in finding alternative parking. 

Barriers 

There is a two-metre height restriction for vehicles. 

Eligibility

If you are travelling to Royal Papworth Hospital for NHS treatment, you may be entitled to help with your travel costs, including parking fees. You must produce evidence of the car parking ticket and eligibility for any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
• NHS tax credit exemption certificate
• Low income and named on an HC2 certificate or HC3 certificate
• Universal Credit, and meet the criteria

Travel costs must be those ‘necessarily incurred’. This means travel by the cheapest means of transport available at the time you travel.
 
The type of paid travel costs:

• Public transport fares (supporting documentation required)
• Private car (mileage allowance)
• Voluntary car scheme (mileage allowance)

How to claim travel costs 

To claim travel costs, you or your representative should go to the cashiers office on the ground floor of the hospital. You must bring with you appropriate documentation (within date) showing your entitlement to have travel costs paid (eg benefit book, letter of notification of your entitlement).

If you do not bring evidence of your entitlement then we will not be able to refund you on the day. Instead, you will have to claim a refund using a HC5(T) form, which you will need to send to the appropriate benefit office.

Further information on help with health costs can be found here.

If you need someone to travel with you for medical reasons, you may also get help with your 'escort' costs, providing you are entitled to help with your costs.

Patient must meet of the following escort eligibility criteria:

• Under 16 years of age
• Condition requires the constant attention of an escort throughout their journey.
• Severe communication difficulties, (profound sight, hearing impairment, speech or language difficulties) and cannot travel alone
• Mental illness
• Clinical need for someone to accompany them, e.g., transplant assessment patients
• Attending a clinic where they are likely to receive upsetting news, diagnosis

To obtain 'escort' costs, please complete an escort stencil which can be obtained from the reimbursement office (next to main reception) or by ringing 01223 639117.

Escort costs are only payable on the completion of this form, signed by a senior nurse or doctor on the ward.

Community transport provides journeys for people who have difficulty using conventional public transport.

Many of the community transport schemes are restricted to individuals meeting the following criteria:

• You do not have access to public transport and do not have access to your own car.
• You experience difficulty using public transport ie because of a disability or age
• You are socially or rurally isolated from accessing basic public services and facilities (such as healthcare)

Here are links to local community transport services:

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough

Bedford

Hertfordshire

NHS-funded patient transportation is reserved for when it is considered essential to ensuring an individual’s safety, safe mobilisation, condition management or recovery.

Patients are likely to qualify for non-emergency patient transport if they meet one or more of the NHSE eligibility criteria.

Main themes:

• medical need
• cognitive or sensory impairment need
• significant mobility need
• travelling to or returning from in-center haemodialysis
• safeguarding concern
• wider mobility or medical needs

Main Contact Details for NEPTS (Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service).

The area of your NEPTS is dependent upon your GP’s registration.

Accessibility 

AccessAble 

Plan your accessible journey via AccessAble

Mobility and wheelchair taxis

Passenger Assist is a specialist mobility transport service for elderly and disabled people. Drivers are fully licensed, trained and authorised. Vehicles are equipped with large electric tail lifts that accommodate wheelchairs. 

Taxicard scheme

Taxicard schemes provide assistance towards the cost of taxi journeys for people who have difficulties getting or use public transport. 

Further help

For any further help about travelling to and from Royal Papworth Hospital, contact PALS on 01223 638896.

For information about travel costs, contact our patient reimbursement office on 01223 639117.

If you have any queries, ask your nurse to contact our social worker on 01223 639081 or 01223 638631.
Further advice may be found online at the NHS Choices website.

Visitors in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits visiting a close relative may be able to receive assistance in the form of a Discretionary Care Grant. Further information about this assistance can be obtained from your local council.