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Stratford-upon-Avon Attractions
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
On the banks of the Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6BB (tel. 01789/403444; www.rsc.org.uk), is a major showcase for the Royal Shakespeare Company and seats 1,500 patrons. The theater's season runs from April to November and typically features five Shakespearean plays. The company has some of the finest actors on the British stage.
You usually need ticket reservations, with two successive booking periods, each one opening about 2 months in advance. You can pick these up from a North American or English travel agent. A small number of tickets are always held for sale on the day of a performance, but it may be too late to get a good seat if you wait until you arrive in Stratford. Tickets can be booked through Keith Prowse (tel. 800/669-8687 in North America, or 0870/840-1111 in England; www.keithprowse.com).
You can also call the theater box office directly (tel. 0844/800-1110) and charge your tickets. The box office is open Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm, although it closes at 6pm on days when there are no performances. Seat prices range from £5 to £45. You can make a credit card reservation and pick up your tickets on the performance day, but you must cancel at least 1 full week in advance to get a refund.
Seeing the Sights
Besides the attractions on the periphery of Stratford, many Elizabethan and Jacobean buildings are in town, a number of them administrated by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (tel. 01789/204016; www.shakespeare.org.uk). One ticket -- costing £15 adults, £13 for seniors and students, and £7.50 for children -- lets you visit the five most important sights. You can also buy a family ticket to all five sights (good for two adults and three children) for £40 -- a good deal. Pick up the ticket if you're planning to do much sightseeing (obtainable at your first stopover at any one of the Trust properties).
Guided tours of Stratford-upon-Avon are conducted by City Sightseeing (tel. 01789/412680; www.citysightseeing-stratford.com), Civic Hall, Rother Street. In summer, open-top double-decker buses depart every 15 minutes daily from 9:30am to 6pm. You can take a 1-hour ride without stops, or you can get off at any or all of the town's five Shakespeare properties. Though the bus stops are clearly marked along the historic route, the most logical starting point is the sidewalk in front of the Pen & Parchment Pub, at the bottom of Bridge Street. Tour tickets are valid all day, so you can hop on and off the buses as many times as you want. The tours cost £11 for adults, £9 for seniors or students, and £5.50 for children 5 to 15 (children 4 and younger ride for free). A family ticket sells for £27. Tour frequency depends on the time of the year; call for information.
11 Results
- Historic Site
Anne Hathaway's Cottage
Before she married Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway lived in this thatched, wattle-and-daub cottage in the hamlet of Shottery, 1.6km (1 mile) from Stratford. It's the most interesting and the most photographed of the Trust properties. The Hathaways were yeoman farmers, and their… - Historic Site
Hall's Croft
This house is on Old Town Street, not far from the parish church, Holy Trinity. It was here that Shakespeare's daughter Susanna probably lived with her husband, Dr. John Hall. Hall's Croft is an outstanding Tudor house with a walled garden, furnished in the style of a middle-class… - Historic Site
Harvard House
The most ornate home in Stratford, Harvard House is a fine example of an Elizabethan town house. Rebuilt in 1596, it was once the home of Katherine Rogers, mother of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. In 1909, the house was purchased by a Chicago millionaire, Edward Morris,… - Religious Site
Holy Trinity Church (Shakespeare's Tomb)
In an attractive setting near the River Avon is the parish church where Shakespeare is buried ("and curst be he who moves my bones"). The Parish Register records his baptism in 1564 and burial in 1616 (copies of the original documents are on display). The church is one of the most… - Historic Site
Mary Arden's House (Glebe Farm)/Palmer's Farm
So what if millions of visitors have been tricked into thinking this timber-framed farmhouse with its old stone dovecote and various outbuildings was the girlhood home of Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden? It's still one of the most intriguing sights outside Stratford, even if local… - Museum
Mary Arden’s House & the Shakespeare Countryside Museum
Dating from 1514, the girlhood home of Shakespeare’s mother contains country furniture and domestic utensils; the extensive collection of farm implements in the barns and outbuildings illustrates life and work in the local countryside from Shakespeare’s time to the present.Wilmcote
- Historic Site
New Place/Nash's House
Shakespeare retired to New Place in 1610 (a prosperous man by the standards of his day) and died here 6 years later. Regrettably, the house was torn down, so only the garden remains. A mulberry tree planted by the Bard was so popular with latter-day visitors to Stratford that the… - The Performing Arts
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Stratford home of the Royal Shakespeare Company will celebrate its 80th birthday in 2015. In recent years the theater has been made more accessible to the public, with a new visitor center, observation tower, exhibit, and cafe. Shakespearean plays are performed in the theater…Around town - Historic Site
Shakespeare's Birthplace
The son of a glover and whittawer (leather worker), the Bard was born on St. George's Day, April 23, 1564, and died on the same date 52 years later. Filled with Shakespeare memorabilia, including a portrait and furnishings of the writer's time, the Trust property is a half-timbered… - Museum
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
This is thought to be the home where the playwright was born, but even if it wasn’t—subsequent adoration of the writer has colored judgment—it’s a good, if heavily restored, example of an upscale Elizabethan house. The locals didn’t care for it much until P. T. Barnum tried to buy…Shakespeare Center - Cooking Class
The Stratford Brass Rubbing Centre
This is a brass-rubbing center, where medieval and Tudor brasses illustrate the knights and ladies, scholars, merchants, and priests of a bygone era. The Stratford collection includes a large assortment of exact replicas of brasses. Entrance is free, but visitors are charged…
Stratford-upon-Avon Shopping
Among the many tacky tourist traps are some quality shops, including the ones described below.
Set within an antique house with ceiling beams, the Shakespeare Bookshop, 39 Henley St. (tel. 01789/292176; www.shakespeare.org.uk), across from the Shakespeare Birthplace Centre, is the region's premier source for textbooks and academic treatises on the Bard and his works. It specializes in books for every level of expertise on Shakespearean studies, from picture books for junior high school students to weighty tomes geared to anyone pursuing a Ph.D. in literature.
Everything in the Pickwick Gallery, 32 Henley St. (tel. 01789/294861), is a well-crafted work of art produced by copper or steel engraving plates, or printed by means of a carved wooden block. Hundreds of botanical prints, landscapes, and renderings of artfully arranged ruins, each suitable for framing, can be purchased. Topographical maps of regions of the United Kingdom are also available if you're planning on doing any serious hiking.
Other shopping bets include the Antique Market along Ely Street, with some 50 or more stalls selling porcelain, silver, jewelry, and Shakespeare memorabilia. Antique Arms & Armour, Poet's Arbour on Sheep St. (tel. 01789/293453), has the best collection of antique swords and armor, some of it looking like old props from previous Shakespeare productions.
