Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare was born here in 1564 and buried here in 1616 under a stone cursing anyone who moves his bones, and David Garrick's jubilee of 1769 — three days of rain, souvenirs and no actual plays — invented literary tourism. The Royal Shakespeare Company has performed here since 1879 and argues with the texts rather than embalming them.
Why go
Shakespeare's birthplace and grave — both in a market town of thirty thousand. The Royal Shakespeare Company — three theatres and a season that runs most of the year. Five Shakespeare family houses — kept by a trust founded in 1847, the first of its kind. The Avon — river walks, narrowboats and a church where he is buried under the chancel floor.
The character
Stratford was a Warwickshire market town that happened to produce the most performed playwright in history, and it has been managing that fact since the eighteenth century — David Garrick staged a jubilee here in 1769 that invented literary tourism as we know it, complete with souvenirs, and it rained for three days. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was founded in 1847 to buy the house on Henley Street, and it now maintains five family properties.
The Royal Shakespeare Company is what saves the town from being purely a shrine. It has performed here since 1879, occupies three theatres on the riverbank, and produces work that argues with the plays rather than embalming them — which means Stratford has a live theatrical culture attached to its heritage industry. The town itself is small, half-timbered, and entirely honest about what it lives on; the Avon and the Warwickshire countryside around it are the reason to stay a second day.
Places of character
Shakespeare's Birthplace — the Henley Street house, with visitors' graffiti scratched on the windows by Dickens and Scott. Holy Trinity Church — his grave in the chancel, with the curse on the stone against moving his bones. Royal Shakespeare Theatre — the 1932 building remade in 2010 as a thrust stage; the tower gives the best view in town. Anne Hathaway's Cottage — a farmhouse a mile out at Shottery, with a garden and an orchard. Hall's Croft — his daughter's house, and the most beautiful interior of the five. The Avon towpath — walk to the lock or take a narrowboat; the river is the town's other life.
The way to do it
Book a play first and plan the day around it — the RSC is the reason to be here in place of a coach stop. Buy the multi-house ticket only if you will use three. Walk to Shottery across the fields and not taking the bus. And stay overnight: the day trips leave by five and the town becomes a river town again.
One perfect day
Coffee, then the Birthplace at opening before the school groups. Walk the mile across the fields to Anne Hathaway's Cottage and back through the meadows. Lunch by the river. Afternoon at Hall's Croft and Holy Trinity for the grave and the curse. Tea and an hour on the towpath watching the narrowboats work the lock. Early dinner, then the RSC at seven-fifteen — a thrust stage with the audience on three sides, which is how the plays were built to be performed. A last walk along the Avon with the theatre lit behind you.
Grand hotels
Ettington Park — a Victorian Gothic mansion five miles out, used as the house in The Haunting. The Arden Hotel — opposite the theatre, and the practical choice for anyone going to a play.
When to go
Best expression: April to October, when the full RSC season is running and the river is usable. Consider: late April for Shakespeare's birthday celebrations on the 23rd. Avoid if possible: midsummer weekends, when the coach parties peak; and January, when the theatres go dark.
The frame
Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival train from London Marylebone, two hours · Airport BHX, 40 km · Walkability excellent and flat · Best without a car yes