Cambridge surprises people. You’d expect a city with two universities, a thriving arts scene and more per-capita creative talent than almost anywhere else in the country to be bursting at the seams with art supply shops. The reality is a little more modest — but what Cambridge lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality.
I’m Paul Worrall. I spent the better part of a decade running digital marketing for ARTdiscount, one of the UK’s biggest online art retailers, before founding Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform now used by over 36,000 UK artists every week. I’ve visited a lot of art shops and I know what makes a good one. And Cambridge, despite its compact art supplies scene, has some genuinely brilliant options.
Here’s my honest guide to where to buy art supplies in Cambridge.
If you’re planning a trip to another city, also have a look at our guides to the best art shops in Manchester and the best art shops in Liverpool.
1. Tindalls Art and Graphics — King Street
If you only visit one art supply shop in Cambridge, this is the one. Tindalls on King Street is the undisputed heavyweight of art supplies in East Anglia — a family business with roots going back to 1870, originally printing and selling sheet music in Newmarket before evolving into what it is today: the largest independent art and graphics supplier in the region.
The Cambridge store at 15-21 King Street stocks over 28,000 products across art, craft, graphics and stationery from more than 180 leading suppliers. That’s not marketing copy — that’s a genuinely enormous range for a regional independent. Premium paints, a wide variety of papers and surfaces, quality brushes, calligraphy supplies, technical drawing tools, architectural equipment — if you can’t find it at Tindalls, you’re looking for something very specific indeed.
What sets Tindalls apart from a chain like Hobbycraft isn’t just the range — it’s the staff. The team there know their products properly. When someone at ARTdiscount used to ask me where to go in Cambridge, Tindalls was always the answer, and nothing in the years since has changed that. They also run workshops at the King Street store — worth checking their calendar if you want to pick up a new skill alongside your supplies.
The store is also formerly the Heffers art supplies site, which tells you something about the pedigree of the location. Heffers was a Cambridge institution. Tindalls has earned that mantle.
2. Hobbycraft Cambridge
I’ll give you the honest version of Hobbycraft rather than the snobbish one. Yes, it’s a chain. Yes, some artists turn their noses up at it. But having spent years watching what the UK’s actual hobbyist art community buys, I can tell you that Hobbycraft serves a huge proportion of it — and serves it well.
For everyday consumables — canvases, basic acrylics, sketchbooks, brushes, craft materials — it’s hard to beat on convenience and price. My kids Zach, nine, and Nancy, six, have both become quietly devoted to Hobbycraft runs. The fact that half the art supplies in our house came from there is probably evidence enough that it delivers for the regular painter who needs reliable stock without paying specialist prices.
The Cambridge store is well stocked and regularly runs promotions. It’s not where you’d go for professional-grade materials or anything particularly specialist. But for hobbyists, beginners, teachers buying class supplies or anyone who needs a reliable range on a budget, Hobbycraft Cambridge earns its place on this list without apology.
3. All Saints Garden Art & Craft Market — Trinity Street
This one is different from everything else on this list — and deliberately so. All Saints Garden is a Saturday market on Trinity Street, run cooperatively by the artists and makers who sell there, in partnership with Cambridge City Council Markets Department. It’s been running for nearly forty years, which tells you something about how well it works.
You won’t find tubes of paint here. What you will find is handmade jewellery, ceramics, pottery, leather goods, bespoke gifts and original artworks — all made by the people selling them. The setting, in a tree-shaded garden in the heart of historic Cambridge just across from the gatehouses of Trinity and St John’s College, is about as Cambridge as it gets.
For artists rather than art suppliers, this is actually one of the most inspiring places to spend an hour in the city. Seeing what other makers are producing at a high level — and being able to talk to them directly about their work — is worth far more than browsing another shelf of acrylic sets. I’ve always maintained that the most useful thing you can do for your art practice isn’t buying more supplies. It’s looking at what other artists are making. All Saints Garden is an excellent place to do that.
Location: Trinity Street, Cambridge | When: Saturdays
4. Byard Art — King’s Parade
Another one that’s slightly different from a conventional art supplies shop — but worth including for artists visiting Cambridge because of what it offers creatively.
Byard Art on King’s Parade is one of Cambridge’s most established contemporary art galleries, showing original paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics and jewellery from over 50 UK and European artists. The location — on King’s Parade, with King’s College Chapel visible from the front door — is one of the most extraordinary settings for a gallery anywhere in the country.
The gallery shop stocks a selection of art books, prints and smaller works at accessible price points. If you’re an artist looking for inspiration rather than supplies — and sometimes that’s exactly what you need — an hour in Byard Art is genuinely worth your time. They also run an Own Art scheme if you want to spread the cost of purchasing original work.
I always try to visit galleries when I’m in a new city. After nearly a decade working in the art supplies industry I’ve learned that what improves people’s painting most isn’t usually better materials — it’s looking at more art. Cambridge has extraordinary collections at the Fitzwilliam Museum too, which is free entry and one of the finest museums in the country. Don’t leave without visiting both.
5. The Works — Cambridge City Centre
The Works divides opinion in art circles and I understand why. It’s not a specialist art supplies shop. The range isn’t deep. The staff aren’t art experts. But here’s what The Works does that nobody else does at the same price point: it makes art materials genuinely accessible to people who might not otherwise buy them.
Canvases, sketch pads, pencil sets, basic acrylic and watercolour sets — all at prices that make it easy to pick something up on a whim. For parents buying supplies for children, teachers stocking a classroom, or anyone who wants to experiment with a new medium without spending serious money, The Works is a legitimate option that deserves more respect than it gets from the art world.
I’d always recommend checking our paints and mediums deals page before any visit to compare prices — you might find a better deal online. But for grab-and-go convenience on a Cambridge city centre visit, The Works earns its spot.
The Honest Reality About Art Supplies Shopping in Cambridge
Cambridge is a smaller city than Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol, and its art supplies scene reflects that. If you’re looking for the depth of specialist stock you’d find at a Cass Art flagship or an L. Cornelissen in London, you won’t find it here. For that level of specialist sourcing, online is genuinely your best option — and we track prices across all the major UK retailers at Discount Art Supplies so you can always find the best current price before you buy.
But for a day visit, Tindalls alone makes Cambridge worth the trip if you’re within reasonable distance. It’s a proper art supplies shop run by people who care about it, in a beautiful city that deserves to be explored properly. Go to Tindalls, walk along the Backs, visit the Fitzwilliam, stop at All Saints Garden on a Saturday. That’s a very good day out for an artist.
More City Guides
- The 7 Best Art Shops in and Around Manchester
- The 10 Best Art Shops in Liverpool
- Discover Birmingham’s 7 Best Art Supply Shops
- The 6 Best Art Supply Shops in Sheffield
- The Top 7 Art Shops in and Around Edinburgh
- The 6 Best Art Supplies Shops in Glasgow
- Brighton’s 8 Best Art Shops
- Discover Bristol’s 7 Best Art Supply Shops
