Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's birthplace and final resting place, where you can catch a play at the riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre, with Warwick Castle and the northern Cotswolds close by.

Stratford-upon-Avon lies in Warwickshire in the English Midlands, about 160 km from London and 40 km from Birmingham. This market town is where Shakespeare was born, raised a family and was laid to rest. The old town stretches along the west bank of the River Avon, and the area around Henley Street, High Street and Church Street preserves many black-and-white Tudor timber-framed houses. Shakespeare's Birthplace, the site and gardens of New Place, his daughter's home Hall's Croft and the classroom of the grammar school he attended are all within a 15-minute walk; they are run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which offers combined tickets. The riverside Bancroft Gardens and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre are the heart of town, and seeing a Royal Shakespeare Company performance in the evening is the classic Stratford experience; Holy Trinity Church at the southern end holds Shakespeare's grave.

About 1.5 km west of town is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the thatched home of Shakespeare's wife, and around 5 km northwest in Wilmcote is Mary Arden's Farm, his mother's family home. For day trips, Warwick Castle, about 13 km northeast, is one of Britain's most popular medieval castles, and further north lie the ruins of Kenilworth Castle; to the east are Charlecote Park and the Compton Verney art gallery, while about 14 km south you reach the northern edge of the Cotswolds and can visit the gardens of Hidcote Manor.

The best time to visit is Apr–Oct. Around 23 April, Shakespeare's birthday weekend brings a parade and celebrations, and summer is the liveliest season for the gardens and river boat trips; there are performances in winter too, plus a Christmas market in December. Getting there: trains from London Marylebone take about 2 hours, or about 1 hour from Birmingham. The town is easy to explore on foot, but the surrounding castles and country houses require a car or a tour. Allow 1–2 days, and book ahead for popular productions and peak-season weekends.

Top sights

• Shakespeare's Birthplace – A 16th-century half-timbered house on Henley Street, where Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood. It is a pilgrimage site fo…
• Royal Shakespeare Theatre – The home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, this red-brick riverside theatre stages world-class Shakespeare productions, and its viewing tow…
• Anne Hathaway's Cottage – The family home of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife. Its thatched-roof farmhouse and English cottage garden make it one of the most photog…
• Holy Trinity Church – A medieval church on the bank of the Avon where Shakespeare was baptised and buried. His grave before the altar and his memorial bust are t…
• Warwick Castle – A medieval castle on the River Avon, begun in the Norman era under William the Conqueror, with intact walls and towers, plus trebuchet and…
• Shakespeare's New Place – The site of the house Shakespeare bought after his success and where he spent his final years. The house is gone, and today it is a memoria…
• Hall's Croft – The home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter Susanna and her physician husband John Hall, showing 17th-century medicine and elegant half-timbe…
• Shakespeare's Schoolroom & Guildhall – A 15th-century guildhall with a schoolroom on its upper floor, where the young Shakespeare studied. Visitors can sit at wooden desks and ex…
• Bancroft Gardens & River Avon – A riverside garden and canal wharf beside the theatre, where swans, narrowboats and the old Clopton Bridge make up the town's most classic…
• Mary Arden's Farm – The childhood farm of Shakespeare's mother, bringing Tudor-era farm life to life with traditional tools, rare livestock and falconry displa…
• Tudor World – A Tudor life museum in a 16th-century old inn on Sheep Street, recreating plague, punishment and daily life through scenes, with night-time…
• The MAD Museum – A mechanical art and design museum on Henley Street, with interactive automata, ball runs and kinetic sculptures that are popular with chil…
• Stratford Butterfly Farm – A large tropical greenhouse on the east bank of the Avon, with hundreds of free-flying butterflies plus insect and spider displays, popular…
• Lord Leycester Hospital – A group of 14th- to 16th-century half-timbered buildings by Warwick's west gate. Once a veterans' almshouse, it is a filming location for s…
• Kenilworth Castle – One of England's most impressive castle ruins, with red sandstone walls and the Norman keep still standing. Elizabeth I was once lavishly e…
• Charlecote Park – A 16th-century Tudor manor and deer park with fallow deer, where legend says the young Shakespeare was caught poaching, just about 8 km fro…
• Hidcote Manor Garden – An Arts and Crafts garden on the northern edge of the Cotswolds, divided by hedges into a series of 'outdoor rooms', and one of England's m…
• Compton Verney – An art gallery in an 18th-century Georgian mansion, showing English folk art and Neapolitan paintings, set in a lakeside landscape designed…
• Coughton Court – A Tudor manor of the Catholic Throckmorton family, linked to the Gunpowder Plot, with a grand gatehouse and a celebrated walled rose garden.

Where to eat

• The Woodsman – A Michelin Guide-recommended English restaurant serving farm-to-table food and woodland game, cooked over charcoal, rig…
• Lambs Restaurant – An English restaurant in one of the town's oldest buildings, with oak beams. Lamb and calf's liver are the signature di…
• The Vintner Restaurant – A wine bar and small restaurant in a 1600s vintner's house, with its original timber beams and staircase preserved. It…
• The Opposition – A long-standing local bistro, known to locals as 'the Oppo', that has specialised in pre-theatre set menus for over twe…

Itineraries

• Great Britain Classic Loop: England & Scotland – A classic British road trip from London, looping through Bath, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and York.
• Oxford, Shakespeare Country and the Cotswolds in – A short trip from London: Blenheim Palace, Shakespeare's hometown, Warwick Castle and honey-coloured villages.