Last Updated on April 22, 2021 by Maggie McKneely
This is post is dedicated to the many places that you can learn about William Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon!
Experiencing Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon
That’s a bit of a misleading title. Trying to find evidence that, yes, Stratford is the hometown of William Shakespeare is about as difficult as finding a winery in Tuscany. What I actually mean by that is I’m going to take you on a blog-post tour of the many different places that you can encounter Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon. Hold on tight.
But first…
I’ve spent far too many hours of my life binge-watching BBC productions. I can’t tell you anything about 95% of the shows on American TV, but if you need a quote from Downton Abbey, I got you. Keeping Up Appearances? Mom and I watched that every Saturday night growing up. And I feel like beating my car with a tree ala Basil Fawlty every time my car makes some new, alarming noise.
So why it has taken me a year to actually write anything about the 10 days my family and I got to spend in England is beyond me. But, here I am, remedying that now.
But before we get too far, I should point out that if you read about this village online, it has a number of variations on its name: Stratford Upon Avon (no hyphens, all capital letters), Stratford-upon-avon (hyphens and mostly lowercase), Stratford-upon-Avon (hyphens and indecisive about the lowercase), or just plain Stratford (for the lazy). I’m going to use several of these versions (because why should I be the one to decide which is best?), so just know that, at least in this post, they are all talking about the same town.
To Visit or Not to Visit?
I fully expected Stratford to be exactly the type of town I don’t like – a mecca for tourists. I envisioned streets filled with Shakespeare groupies, spouting off random lines from Henry V on every street corner. Or worse, throngs of those whose Shakespeare knowledge only extended to that one time their teacher forced them to read Romeo and Juliet in high school.
Love his plays or hate them, the world knows Shakespeare. Therefore, most of the world knows Stratford Upon Avon, as the site of his birth, his death, his grave, and a lot of his life (and that of his family members’) in between. And since it’s only 2 hours from London, it’s an easy day trip for tourists visiting one of the world’s busiest cities. Finding Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon would be difficult only because of the hordes of other tourists.
But Stratford turned out to be a surprise. Of the places in England we visited on our trip, it was one of my favorites. It may see thousands of visitors every year, but Stratford feels like a small English town. Somehow, it has retained it’s quintessentially British identity, unlike London. The buildings have maintained their Elizabethan-era facades, with the exposed timber posts and white paneling in between.
Leave the main streets and you’re immediately in a quiet, residential part of England, with private cottages and well-kept English gardens, and locals out walking their dogs and running errands.
So if you’ve avoided Stratford out of fear of it being a tourist trap, don’t put it off any longer. If you are even slightly interested in Shakespeare’s life, a trip to learn more about Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon would be well worth your time.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
In this one town, you can visit the place where he was born, where he lived with his family, other miscellaneous homes owned by extended family members, and his gravesite. If you want to hit it all in one day, you can. We visited the majority of the sites connected to Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon in just a few hours without feeling too rushed.
Because you can cover the entire timeline of the poet’s life via the various homes and museums in Stratford, it makes sense to begin your pilgrimage at Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
The wattle-and-daub half-timbered building is nothing special to look at from the outside, but when John and Mary Shakespeare owned the building, it was the largest house on the street. William Shakespeare was born here in 1564 and was raised here along with his seven siblings. He even spent the first five years of his marriage to Anne Hathaway in this house. When his father died, the building was left to William, who leased part of it to an inn called the Swan and Maidenhead. The inn remained open until 1847.
The original front door
Shakespeare left the house to his daughter, who left it to her daughter, who passed it on to a descendant of one of Shakespeare’s sisters. In 1847, the house was put up for sale and purchased by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who have been taking care of it ever since.
Spend one day in Bath, another amazing English historical city!
Today, visitors can tour the inside of the home, much of which is original from the 16th century. You can also take a stroll through the gardens, or have some Shakespeare monologues recited for you from one of the actors who work for the Trust.
Since my mom and I always breeze through museums, we got to have a long chat with one of the actors (and made a new friend, as always), who had just finished filming for BBC’s Prime Suspect. And then, of course, had our own private performance of Leontes’ monologue from A Winter’s Tale. Our quest to find out all about Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon was off to a good start.
Our new actor friend wanted to take a goofy picture, but I think my mom is the only one who got the memo
New Place
“New Place” is an odd name for any type of museum, isn’t it? Something that houses old artifacts or that is a historical building can’t really be associated with “new.” And in this case, it’s really just a lovely garden in the place where a building once stood. Shakespeare’s New Place is not a building; it’s an experience.
Entrance to New Place
Shakespeare’s New Place is located a couple of blocks from his Birthplace. A modern gold-framed gate marks the entrance to the site. From 1597 to 1616, Shakespeare and his family lived in a home on this block. But on one of Stratford’s most tragic days in 1759, the home was demolished. The Rev. Francis Gastrell was the owner at the time and became so frustrated with the number of tourists wanting to see the house that he just knocked the whole thing down.
I get the whole “I really dislike multitudes of strangers knocking on my front door every day” thing, but…really? That’s just not a good reason to bulldoze the entire building.
If there’s some kind of symbolism behind the cool-looking hedges, I don’t know what it is
Fortunately, not everyone in Stratford has such a distaste for tourists. Today, a commemorative garden stands in place of the playwright’s home. There are modern sculptures that signify different aspects of Shakespeare’s life.
Admittedly, modern art is often lost on me. The symbolism was explained to us by the tour guide, but I either don’t remember it or never understood it in the first place. Sorry to all of you modern art fans out there.
Yeah, don’t know what a ship has to do with Shakespeare
There are also remnants of the Great Garden, which is the largest surviving piece of Shakespeare’s estate, and an excellent example of an English garden. No art knowledge needed to appreciate that.
The Great Garden – great indeed!
Hall’s Croft
A five-minute walk from New Place is the elegant Hall’s Croft, another place to learn about Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon. Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna married renowned doctor John Hall. Their home is a beautiful example of how the well-to-do lived in the 17th century and includes an exhibit on medical practices of the day (including a number of gruesome ones that will make you very glad you weren’t alive then).
Hall’s Croft
Scary-looking medical devices
But the highlight of Hall’s Croft is the magnificent walled garden that contains herbs and other plants John Hall would have used to treat his patients, as well as a manicured rose garden.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
No, it’s not the home of the American actress (some people on the trip with us asked that so I feel that’s important to clarify…..lol).
This is my favorite of the places to learn more about Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is away from the town center, about a 30-minute walk from Hall’s Croft. It’s technically in the hamlet of Shottery, not Stratford. A few hundred years ago, the two were entirely separate villages. But in today’s world, they are so close that there’s hardly a difference.
If the weather is cooperating, the walk is a great opportunity to see the residential side of Stratford, with its quiet streets and private cottages. The path to Anne Hathaway’s cottage goes between gardens and past an idyllic sheep farm. If you want some pictures of the stereotypical British countryside, this is a good place to get them.
On the way to the cottage
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage was originally a humble farmhouse built in 1463. Her grandfather was the first of the family to live there, and Anne, who would eventually become Shakespeare’s wife, was born there in 1556. But as the family grew, so did the house, to the point that “cottage” became a misnomer for the structure. For the time period in which it was built, it’s a substantial building and is evidence that the Hathaway family made a fine living off of sheep farming.
The cottage
The cottage looks just as you imagine a Tudor country home should look, with its overhanging thatched roof and exposed timber structure. There’s a sprawling garden as well, with a number of benches and pavilions made from twisted vines.
Ticket info: You can buy one inclusive ticket for all five of the Shakespeare sites (including Mary Arden’s farm, which I didn’t visit) for £23. Tickets to one individual site cost around £18, so even if you just do two out of the five, it makes more sense to get the all-inclusive pass.
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church is where Shakespeare was baptized, where he worshiped, and where he and several of his family members are now buried. It’s still an active parish, but visitors are welcome to come and see the gravesites for a small fee of £3.
Holy Trinity Church
The church and its grounds are lovely, if eerie. Large and ancient tombstones are scattered around the church, which dates back to 1210.
Shakespeare’s grave, and that of Anne and their daughter Susanna, are inside at the front of the church, in the chancel.
Royal Shakespeare Theater
You can’t experience Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon without seeing a performance of one of his plays! The Globe Theater in London is where everyone wants to see a Shakespeare play in England. But the performance we got to see at the Royal Shakespeare Theater (RST) in Stratford was leaps and bounds superior to the one we saw at the Globe several days later.
Now, I know every theater has both good and bad productions. But the RST’s rendition of Julius Caeser was the best I’ve ever seen. The Globe’s rendition of Twelfth Night….well, they tried to turn it into a pop-musical. That’s three hours of my life I’ll never get back.
That to say, it’s worth blocking out an evening in Stratford to see a show at the RST. After all, a trip to Shakespeare’s hometown isn’t complete without watching one of his works on stage!
Some of the world’s best Shakespearean actors make regular appearances there. The theater itself is in the round, like the Globe, but it’s a modern building, with seats for everyone and air-conditioning. Which, after a full day spent walking all over Stratford, are god-sends.
It’s easy to spend a full day experiencing Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon! This short trip from London to a charming, fascinating town is absolutely worth.
How to Get There:
Stratford-upon-Avon is just a couple of hours from London, so it makes for a great London day trip or weekend getaway.
By train: The Stratford’s rail station is just a 10-minute walk from the town center. From London, Chiltern Railways runs a direct service from Marylebone station to Stratford-upon-Avon three times a day. The trip takes about 2 hours and average ticket prices are £30 (as off December 2018).
By car: Stratford-upon-Avon is a 2-3 hour drive from London via the M4, M25, M40, and A46 roads.
By bus: National Express runs three coach trips each weekday from London’s Victoria Coach Station direct to Stratford’s Riverside Station. The trip takes about 4 hours. Tickets are usually around £5, but use the company’s fare finder for the cheapest rates.
Need a place to stay in Stratford-upon-avon? Check out this Georgian mansion!
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I’ve just moved to England and actually live an hour drive from Stratford-upon-Avon. I’m definitely planning to do a weekend trip there sometime soon. The Croft Guest House sounds like a lovely place to stay! While I’m there, I’ll have to see a performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theater and see the remnants of the Great Garden!
I love that you decided to write an entire post on Shakespeare-related places. Do you really love his work? Or do you love like walking through the lives of past famous people? What inspired you to do this?
Actually, my trip to England was planned by my college literature professor! So he was the one who put Stratford on our itinerary. I’m not the world’s biggest Shakespeare fan, but I think anyone can appreciate a visit to the town where he lived most of his life. I never see anything written about Stratford, even though it’s really an awesome place to visit. So I thought it deserved a little bit of attention 🙂
I didn’t know about this place or it’s history! Thank you for sharing this. Love to know about new places to add to our travel itinerary
Wow, I really love places like this where there’s so much history in each building. Thank you for taking us through it even though it’s been almost a year!
That Anne Hathaway comment made me laugh!
I’m British and have never been to Stratford – I must make the time to.
Thanks for sharing and I love the sheep ???? dotted around the road and cottage, so rural
I haven’t been to Stratford, but it is somewhere I have wanted to visit. My niece who is obsessed with Shakespeare would probably love this.
It’s a must-visit for anyone even mildly interested in Shakespeare!
So loved reading your thoughts about Stratford. It’s good to ‘see’ this lovely little town through a visitor’s eyes. Would love to read more visitor tales if any of your readers pay a visit to Stratford ???? Love from Stratford for the Weekend x
I love that you have an entire blog dedicated to Stratford! I really did love our visit. Stratford was exactly how I expected England to be, especially in contrast to London. I want to encourage everyone to visit, but I don’t ever want it to become too overrun with tourists!
I had no idea there was so much to see in Statford upon Avon. I’d heard of Shakespeare’s house, but not these other sites. Thanks for the great overview!
Maggie, what a lovely written and informative post. Put me right in the middle of the tranquil English countryside and the Great Garden. So relaxing. Could gladly stay there a while longer. Â
p.s. I visited Siem Reap two years ago and still haven’t written a word about it. Sometimes it takes more time than usual for things to mature 😉
Thank you!! 🙂
Like a lot of British people, it took me a while to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, but I’ve been a couple of times now and it always strikes me how much of the heritage is so well preserved! Thanks for sharing, it’s not written about enough… ????
That is pretty amazing that they have been able to preserve everything so well. I really like all of the gardens and how well they are maintained. The countryside looks beautiful. I could wander there for days. The art would be lost with me too.
How lovely! My best friend would go nuts through here! I’m not hugely into art but like the idea of being in places of past famous people lol i love to imagine how they lived ! Thanks for sharing!
I absolutely agree with you about the English countryside. It is so beautiful outside of London. You actually see houses with thatched roofs that people live. The England of your 6th grade Shakespeare is actually real, living and breathing outside the streets of London.
Yes!! Stratford was exactly what I expected England to be like, especially in contrast to London. So cool!
Stratford-upon-Avon is one of those tourist destinations that does not feel like a tourist trap, I would agree. Visited it a number of times, and once stayed in the Croft House (so can second your recommendation). There are times, like any other village of its size, it can become overwhelmed with tourists and tourist busses, but if you stay overnight, and plan your visit well, the village is oh so quaint and the history … captivating, even if you are not a fan of Shakespeare.
I’d love to visit Stratford-upon-Avon (I belong to the group of confused lowercase users!) and places associated with Shakespeare. Besides, who doesn’t love the English countryside and Tudor-style homesteads? In my dreams, I live in one with a neat garden and a rustic vegetable patch 🙂 Thanks for this beautiful post.
Wow, I was planning to visit this place in this month. Thaks for sharing this article!
Wow, what a cool place! I’ve lived in the England most of my life and never once been to there. It looks and sounds like good fun though! 🙂
That place looks so lovely 😀
Have a wonderful week,
xx
Patricia & Miguel
http://www.freeoversea.com
It’s so cool that you’ve done this post – especially for people like me who grew up reading Shakespeare in school! His work is amazing and I love that you covered some history of the place! Definitely a place to visit for bookish travelers!
Seems like the perfect weekend stop. Will bookmark your post for the future!
Stratford is a beautiful place, I went quite a bit as a child. But i never did any of the Shakespeare things, will have to go back again ???? thanks for sharing!
Maggie!!! You’re taking me waaay back! I grew up in England and even though I never made it to Stratford-upon-Avon, I have been to another literary genius’ home – William Wordsworth in Lake District, Cumbria. Those pictures just took me back to schooling in Cambridge and visiting the countryside and no one does country like the English, trust me lol. Glad you have a proper English brekkie though you missed the kippers and black pudding <–boiled blood :0). I still prefer Heinz baked beans to any other lol. Lastly, we are twins! I grew up watching re-runs of Fawlty Towers, Carry On…, Monty Python, Some mothers do have them (Frank Spencer), Keeping up Appearances, Are you being served?, Only Fools and Horses (this one was in my time lol)…Good, good times in my childhood. Sigh.
This is the first time I’ve read anything about Stratford Upon Avon. If you are a Shakespear fan it certainly sounds like the place you want to go. I’d do the walk to Anne Hathaway’s cottage for sure o get a sense of the landscape. Plus, I love small towns so thanks for putting another on my list!
This is exactly the kind of visit I love: tracing the life and path of a genius celebrity. I’ve done this so often all over the world, and visiting Mr. Shakespeares home would definitely be special since I like him so much. Have you been to the Globe in London? Very impressive Shakespeare theater.
Visited Stratford upon Avon years ago. What an inspiring place…not big at all, very modest…for a prolific writer!
Visited Stratford upon Avon years ago. What an inspiring place…not big at all, very modest…for a prolific writer!
This would be such an amazing place to experience! What a perfect way to experience Shakespeare and his world. That Great Garden just looks like it’s waiting for an outdoor performance to happen, but I think like you I’d appreciate the seats and airconditioning of The Globe. This is definitely a bucket list destination for me, I hope to visit there soon!
How amazing Stratford is! I am so impressed by the beauty of Shakespeare’s little hometown’s architechture, especially the Holy Trinity Church! Hopefully I can have a chance to visit this gorgeous small town once in my life!
OK. I am a Shakespeare nerd. I love going to Shakespeare festivals during the summer and have seen too many performance of his plays. And I have always wanted to go to Stratford. I love that the houses maintain that Elizabethan Era feel. New Place looks like an interesting stop. Also, I did not know you could visit Anne Hathaway’s home, so I will definitely be adding that to the bucket list.
Loved reading this post as it was all about the Bard’s place. Being a fan of his plays, this is indeed a sort of pilgrimage for me. We have never been to London, but hope to get there soon and needless to say one of our first trips is going to be to Stratford upon Avon. It is understandable that given his fame, the place will be buzzing with tourists, but there is no way one can not go to Shakespeare’s birthplace.
This is such an awesome blog post and amazing to see your perspective on the town! I’ve been before but it is somewhere I’ve driven through a few times, so I forget to really appreciate it 🙂
We loved Stratford … so much to see and do and so pretty
It looks like such a pretty place! I don’t live too far away, so I’ll have to make a visit soon!
As an English major, I would love to visit Stratford Upon Avon and explore Shakespeare’s birthplace and where he lived. Thanks for the details.
This looks like a really charming town! Like you I always thought it would be very touristy so I’m glad to hear you liked it so much, I’ll definitely think of visiting now next time I’m in the area!
Only 2 hours from London?? For some reason in my brain I thought it was much further. I’ll have to check this out.
I love your post… Its such a great post for Shakespeare fans… Such an informative post…I have already recommended to few of my friends…. Your pictures are super beautiful as well 🙂
Yayyy! I loved reading this! Half of my family is from Stratford so I spent much of my childhood there, I can’t believe I haven’t gone back and written about it actually! Lovely to see it from a tourist’s perspective as I’ve done most of these but never really felt like a tourist. Funnily enough I’ve seen a few shows at the RST (both Shakespeare and not) and until I visited London, it never even occurred to me to go there for a show! I’ve still never been to the Globe lol. Can’t believe how expensive each place is, but the pass is definitely worth it!! My favourite thing to do in Stratford is actually to rent a canoe and go down the river. 🙂 So peaceful!
As a massive bibliophile, this post was such a delight to read thank you!
I love the architecture of these old cottages, especially Anne Hathaway’s. They’re so quaint and perfect. I’m a huge fan of Shakespeare, so I would love to walk through the critical places in his life.