Location: Stratford-upon-Avon
Top Things to do in Stratford-upon-Avon
Top 10 Sights & Landmarks in Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Stratford-upon-Avon is steeped in the history of its most famous resident, William Shakespeare. This Warwickshire country town contains the home where Shakespeare was born, the cottage where Anne Hathaway resided before their marriage and the church where the couple is buried. Need a break from the Bard? The town also boasts Europe's largest butterfly farm.
Restaurants in Stratford-upon-Avon
1. Parish Church of St. Gregory the Great
2. The Shakespeare Heritage Trail
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8 reviews
A self-guided walking trail through the heart of Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon that includes many important attractions such as Shakespeare's Birthplace, Hall's Croft, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, and Nash's House & New Place.
3. Lower Clopton
4. Anne Hathaway's Cottage & Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,200 reviews
This fifteenth-century, charming thatched cottage was the childhood home of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's sweet-heart and wife. Experienced guides share tales about the Hathaway family who lived here from the mid-1500s to the early 1900s. There are nine acres of gardens and grounds to explore including a woodland walk, the Shakespeare arboretum and a living willow cabin where you may listen to some of Shakespeare's sonnets.
Reviewed By F12MPpeters - Rome, Italy
Review covers a visit to Anne Hathaway’s family home at Shottery a couple of km outside the commercial centre of Stratford-upon-Avon. William Shakespeare – English poet, actor and playwright and generally considered the best-known writer in the English Language. And here we were briefly exploring the place where the Hathaway Family lived and where, it is reputed that William courted, impregnated and married Anne Hathaway – in that order; the first of three children – Susanna – was born to the couple six months later. William was just 18 at the time and his wife 26. Anne Hathaway’s cottage, in reality the farmhouse where she lived as child that has, since1892 (when it was acquired by the Shakespeare Birth Trust) evolved into today’s tourist icon - part of the Shakespeare Heritage Industry based upon Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare and his work are part of the background of English/Anglo school kids everywhere - those of us who read/learned/explored/acted their Henry V or Much Ado About Nothing or Midsummer Night’s Dream for their school-leaving certificates and/or amateur dramatics and/or because we liked the stories, enjoyed the plays, treasured the history or simply became captured by the language. Following through with an interest in the man and his times is an easy option and more particularly when the weather is fine for exploring glimpses of Tudor England in the 21st century. We had left London early that morning on a elegant train hauled by a period steam locomotive for a day of adventure in the Midlands. At Warwick we switched to coaches with which to follow in ‘William’s footprints’ – although not literally; like most rural people of 400 years ago he would have had to walk everywhere. We had comfortable wheels. It was our first time in the area and things had clearly changed from those original days. Anne Hathaway’s place is now a twelve-roomed farmhouse – so only a ‘cottage’ in the sense that it started small in the 15th century – the lowest/stepped down part of the existing structure. In fact, it was not originally a cottage at all, but an enclosed barn-like hall with an open hearth at centre (and, presumably, a hole in the roof). The original building was converted into a comfortable farmhouse in Shakespeare’s time with the addition of a second floor and a couple of chimney flues – wooden frame, lathe, plaster, fill/cladding and thatched roof. Voilà, here’s your image of a typical English country cottage – robust/efficient/low-cost design that was still being used countrywide through to the early 19th century. By the mid-1700s the structure had doubled in size with the addition of the larger/up slope part of the structure. And, later still, a short brick/wooden framed extension was added to the lower end of the original building. A couple of useful/descriptive wall boards on site provide an easy to follow timeline in pictures over the years. Stand at the highest point in the garden – where there’s an artistic woven seat overlooking the farmhouse, and you can sit and study the flow of the thatched roof over the upper windows; the snug and tidy condition of the entire building. Three chimneys, two of which are internal and centred on the roof line – imagine just how warm the building would have been in winter. Where would the livestock, stored feed and equipment, hand-tools, etc. have been kept? Where did the family store their bulk farm food? There may originally have been 36 ha of farmland, but the cottage today has 4 ha that include orchards, sculpture garden and an arboretum that contains all the trees mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays (so the guide says). We wandered the garden next to the cottage which had a veritable team of gardeners tending the decorative beds, plants and shrubs. This is where you wait your turn for the guided tour of the property – so lots of time in which to enjoy the ambience of the house within its immediate garden. Once inside you follow the guide and her stories through the narrow passageways, around the sharp corners and up (and down) the narrow staircases taking in the different rooms, making sure to clear those low and potentially hazardous roof beams and door lintels where required; people were small in stature in those days. There were beds in the upstairs rooms some with canopies and others without (and, again, small by comparison with today), books open next to the beds described the Hathaway Family’s debt and the early history of the ‘Shakespeare Courting Chair’. There is a robust well-serviced kitchen too on the ground floor with late 19th century images. What you see is what you get – this sanitized glimpse of a family home from the 15th century firmly, if briefly, linked to the life and times of William Shakespeare. And William Shakespeare? Following their marriage the couple went to live in Stratford town, but London eventually dominated his working life. Annual visits kept him in contact with his wife/children who remained in Stratford. He returned after retiring from the stage to spend the final years of his life where he had started … and died in 1616 aged 51. And Anne Hathaway’s cottage? The last of the Hathaway Family – tenants at the time - left the place just over 100 years ago in 1911. Many interesting stories then … of this the world’s most famous English writer … but, we had a train with an iconic English locomotive to catch for our return to London that evening. Peter Steele 27 May 2020
5. Hall's Croft
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 911 reviews
Explore the beautifully furnished Jacobean home of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna and her husband, the physician John Hall. Wander into the tranquil walled garden and discover the fragrant medicinal herbs, as John Hall would have used in his remedies. Explore 'Method in the Madness', a new exhibition exploring medicine John Hall. Enjoy refreshment in the cafe.
Reviewed By 674lizk - Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom
We went from the RSC along the river to the Holy Trinity church and then to Halls Croft...and there was hardly anyone there! (In August!). Lovely house to look round, some interesting medical history, as it’s Shakespeare’s daughters house (married to a physician). Has a really peaceful garden and great cafe. Friendly staff. Definitely do this one- you can walk down into the mayhem that is Henley St afterwards. Is part of the £22 ticket so well worth it.
6. St. Peter's Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8 reviews
Considered to be a "storybook in stone," Warwickshire's oldest church reflects its rich history with buttresses at odd angles, Saxon windows and remnants of a tithe barn.
7. Holy Trinity Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,080 reviews
Located on the banks of River Avon, this is considered one of England's most-visited Parish Churches and the site where William Shakespeare was baptized in 1564 and buried in 1616. In addition to Shakespeare's grave the 800 year-old church has some notable stained glass windows and 26 carved misericords dating from the 1400s. The high altar is one of the very few pre-reformation stone altars still in use in England today. Also of note is the sanctuary knocker on the inner porch door dating from the 1200s - anyone touching this could claim sanctuary within for 37 days.
Reviewed By aitchphoto - Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
I need to state that I am a member of the Church fraternity but that helps in trying to help visitors in what to see. There is of course Shakespeare's grave, as are those of members of his family, but do not overlook, whilst in the Chancel; The head of Christ {fortunately overlooked during the reformation} now illuminated and viewed via a mirror, the old medieval font, Shakespeare's birth and death certificates, the old bible, the misericord seats, the stained glass windows, one of the rare altars, the bust of Shakespeare, the lovely Monument to Richard & Judith Coombe {cousins due to be married until her death} and many, many more and that does not even mention anything in the actual body of the Church - I'll leave that to you!.
8. The Almshouses
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 74 reviews
Sir Baptist Hicks, a silk trader and reputedly the richest man in England during the early 17th century, financed homes that were, and still are, used as homes for twelve pensioners.
Reviewed By 814diana - Southampton, United Kingdom
These Almshouses are still lived in today by those requiring accomodation.The row is a wonderful example of terraced housing of a past era.kept in beautiful condition.(modern inside)
9. Shakespeare's Birthplace
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,053 reviews
Visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace to walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps and explore the house where he was born and grew up. Hear tales of Shakespeare’s family life, enjoy live theatre on demand and get up close to rare artefacts from the Trust’s world class collections as you discover how the extraordinary William Shakespeare continues to shape our lives today.
Reviewed By F12MPpeters - Rome, Italy
Review covers William Shakespeare’s birthplace, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. William Shakespeare – English poet, actor and playwright and generally considered the best-known/revered writer in the English Language. And the place where he was born? This is where the bard’s parents – Mary and John Shakespeare lived and where his father ran his workshop - making gloves, trading wool and occasional money-lending. This is where the couple started married life and where William - their eldest and his three brothers and two sisters were raised. (Two older siblings did not survive early childhood.) This is where you can catch a glimpse of what small town life was like in the Midlands of Tudor England >400 years ago. The reality today, of course, is nothing like it was back then. Apart from the example of the house as an isolated dwelling showing how middle-income people lived, the view out through the windows once inside will confirm exactly where you are in time/space. So, there’s that glimpse and then your imagination – house and garden in surroundings that represent modern Britain in all its spectacular heritage industries – the place is renovated, clean, reconstructed to a fault and, probably, with little bearing on the original/separate buildings that now make up the ‘birth-place’. Outside the front of the building the pedestrianized Henley Street was literally awash with ‘Shakespeare’s People’ those, like us, who had been attracted to the town/venue as a result of the admiration and enjoyment that his work has given people worldwide through to the present day. What would a time traveller from the 16th century make of it all? The house is a few steps down Henley Street from the modern Shakespeare Centre and typical of popular design from Tudor times – wooden frame with wattle and daub overlay – painted in beige/earth colour. Someone has, fortuitously, refrained from the more popular but contrasting white & black that seems to typify most buildings of this design/age in ‘tourist land’ nowadays. Four hundred years and the building has enjoyed many kinds of redevelopment and use. There was an informative wall board on hand showing the original/central part of the building with cottages tacked on either end with the kitchen later added at the rear. Eventually the entire building became part of a terrace of houses that stretched along this part of the street. The house became the property of William Shakespeare after the death of his father and was rented to a tenant. For a period, the original main house was converted into an inn. William with his family never lived there, although the house remained within the Shakespeare family through to the end of the 18th century. It was eventually rescued from obscurity and disrepair by the concerted efforts of a group of well-known national figures during the mid-19th century (recognizing the importance of the property to the Shakespeare heritage). Which neatly links into the house that we and many thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) have explored in recent (and more distant) times. It was surprisingly spacious - an impression of the enlarged/existing building that dominates to one side of the street behind a low fence of iron railings. Once inside this reflected further in the large size of the different rooms. Everything well-kept, tidy, clean … elegant even. Of course, it should be, except you somehow feel it should also represent the reality of those olden times. Explore inside and walk through the different rooms on both the ground and first floors, with the birth room above the parlour. We followed others through the passageways roped-off from the furnishings in the different rooms – exploring beds, chimney hearths, stairways, views from the windows, the ‘Hall’ where the family ate their main meals (and where a table was set with foods typical of those times) and the neat stone flag flooring – domestic museum par excellence. However, it is the garden at the rear of the house that dominated our visit that afternoon – this is where the majority people were located and where there was theatre, actors, entertainment; that feel of being part of the living heritage that represents Shakespeare and his writings in an original historical context. Look around you – a garden imitating that original design; comfortable, spacious with pathways between raised beds providing easy strolling, stopping and talking, and places at which to sit. During the visit, people were sitting in casual groups following the brief and rapidly changing theatre provided – handful of mainly young people on shallow podiums that put them head/shoulders above the audience – words, action, interaction, applause. Clearly fine-weather activities, but perhaps there are alternative wet-weather venues - for us it was the enthusiastic actors and their stories that provided that sense of history to one side of this 400-year old house in the centre of modern Stratford-upon-Avon. Many interesting features and much theatre then around the Henley Street house that helped provide an introduction to the early times of William Shakespeare - the world’s most famous English writer. But we had a train to catch that afternoon, and one with a gorgeous English steam locomotive attached. We expected to be in London that evening. Contrast this with the same journey that William took each year to keep in contact with his family in Stratford -upon-Avon – six days or more following foot tracks across country.
10. The Gower Memorial
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 54 reviews
Erected in 1888, this bronze memorial is dedicated to Stratford's most famous and celebrated son, William Shakespeare, and is surrounded by four statues of characters from the bard's plays.
Reviewed By Big_Jeff_Leo - St Helens, United Kingdom
The Shakespeare Memorial by Lord Ronald Gower 1888 is probably one of the most visited monuments in Britain. The most interesting thing for me is that the monument is surrounded by many of Shakespeare's most famous creations, each a monument within itself. The location is also excellent and leads you directly to the river walk. Parking is just across the road and you can easily walk into the very nearby town center from here..
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