Stratford-upon-Avon

July 8, 2012 at 3:15 pm | Posted in General, Out and About, Travel, UK, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Tags: Bancroft Gardens, Royal Shakespeare Company, RSC, Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, Tourism, Travel, UK

About a year ago I visited Stratford-upon-Avon, most famous for being the birthplace of Shakespeare and home to the Royal Shakespeare Company. So, what can you see and do in Stratford-upon-Avon (not to be confused with Olympic hosting Stratford), well:

Royal Shakespeare Company and RSC tower – you can visit the RSC to take in-person tours, an audio tour and go up the tower to take in the view. The tours and tower were booked out for the day I visited and the audio tour was not working. I’d recommend you download the tour before you come (I tried to do it on my old HTC Desire but was unable to play it). Unfortunately a year later this link (and service?) no longer seems to be available. You can also take in a performance if you have time.

Bancroft Gardens – These gardens are located by the river and and the RSC and are an excellent way to sit back and watch the world unfold. Very relaxing.

Holy Trinity Church – A small church near the banks of the river, which is worth a look for its architecture, grounds and as the place where Shakespeare is buried.

Shakespeare Birthplace – This really should be your first stop as it provides more than just the place Shakespeare was born but also a broad context of his life and the importance of his works. You will probably have to contend with a fair few tourists here though.You can also buy the multi-pass for the other buildings they manage.

Halls Croft and Nash’s House – the other two trust properties in town offer more historical context and background to the archaeological process. Neither take a particularly long to do and are worth a quick look. The trust runs a couple of other properties but they’re not as accessible, especially on a day trip.

Farmers Market – Depending on when you visit you may come across the farmers market between the station and all the Shakespeare stuff.

On the whole Stratford-upon-Avon is interesting and worth a visit. Personally though I’d probably only spend a day (or less here).

Photos at Flickr.

Map at Google.