Day Trips from London: London to Stratford-upon-Avon

Day Trip: London to Stratford-upon-Avon

A pilgrimage to Stratford-upon-Avon is a must for any lover of Shakespeare. This was his childhood home and birthplace. The cottage of his beloved Anne Hathaway is here along with the Holy Trinity Church where he was baptised, married and buried.

Ive been to Stratford-upon-Avon twice and enjoyed it both times. Once as part of a whirlwind day tour where I was trying to fit as much into my holiday as possible and once as a weekend away. Its a lovely, chilled escape from London and easily done as a day trip.

In less than 10 minutes from the station you will find yourself on Henley street and in front of Shakespeare's Birthplace. His home has been kept as it would have been when he was a child there (it was here i learnt where the expression "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" came from). In his fathers shop you can find out how they made gloves including some facts that might make you go "ew" if you happen to be the kind of person that says such things. Anyway, the thing that just adore is the actors, they do regular performances of snippets from Shakespeare's plays within the grounds. I just love that.

Not far from Henley street is the river Avon. Its beautiful when the sun is out and on Sundays there is a food and crafts market that runs along Waterside. Overlooking the river is the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre. I do think there is something to seeing a Shakespearean play in the place Shakespeare was born. The RSC does brilliant productions and interpretations and its worth seeing a play if you have time.

Further down past the RSC, if you take a bit of a stroll along Waterside/Southern lane, you'll find yourself near the Holy Trinity Church - Shakespeare's final resting place.

Also in that direction (just past the RSC on Waterside) is an odd lamppost donated by Israel. Some other lampposts along this street have been donated too but this one is the most striking.

 
If you are looking for the quintessential chocolate-box cottage with pretty gardens and a thatched roof, then you should visit Anne Hathaway's cottage which is also kept in the style of Shakespeare's period. Anne's family was more well off, and their house is more "grand" so it is a different experience.

Still, the best part is the beautiful grounds. Be warned, it is a good 20 minutes walk or more from the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon but it is a nice walk. Also, just across the road is a nice place to indulge in tea and scones or cake alongside a bubbling brook.

If you don't want to do all that, walking around the main streets in town will show off a large array of historic houses, each charming, well preserved and interesting in its own way - just be sure to look past the high street shop fronts. You never know what you'll find.

Another option is to explore some of the other homes managed by the Shakespeare Trust, such as Halls Croft (home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband), the home of John Nash (husband of Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth) and New Place (foundations of the home Shakespeare bought when he became a wealthy playwright). You'll be able to enter for free if you have bought a combined ticket.

Hot Tip: When you arrive at the train station check the brochures in the ticket office, i found one that gave me a 2 for 1 discount which was brilliant. My friend and I bought a combined ticket each (they are valid for a year for free repeat visits) at a bargain price!

Highlights

• Shakespeare's Birthplace
• Anne Hathaway's Cottage
• RSC
• Holy Trinity Church
• River Avon
• Markets

Travel Tips for London to Stratford-upon-Avon

• Trip duration by train is approximately 2 hours (quickest) to 2 and a half hours (longest)
• Make sure you choose Stratford-upon-Avon (SAV) not Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway (STY)
• Trains depart from London Marylebone, Euston and Paddington rail stations - it is best to try to depart from Marylebone as trains departing from there are less likely to require you to change at another station to get to Stratford-upon-Avon
• If you book early (eg a month in advance) you can get tickets for as low as £6
• You can drive to Stratford-upon-Avon - it takes approximately 2 hours (give or take, subject to traffic conditions)

All tips for visiting Stratford-upon-Avon, questions and comments are welcome! Hope you enjoyed this weeks issue!

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A weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon (including photo tour!)

I thought I would take a bit of a break from my Japan posts and write about a recent trip I did to Stratford-upon-Avon – also known as Shakespeare country. If you have been following my blog you’ll know that the last time I was here was via a very packed full day tour that didn’t leave much room to explore this lovely town. But I certainly had the opportunity to explore this time round!

I love Shakespeare. My favorite play is Twelfth Night and top of my wishlist was seeing it at the Globe Theatre in London. Sadly, it has been totally booked out – yard tickets (standing room only) are now being resold for 4 times their original listing price, that's crazy! So I thought, why not try and see it in Stratford-upon-Avon? The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) theatre isn’t the Globe Theatre but I like the connection of seeing Twelfth Night in Shakespeare’s home town. While I was on the RSC’s website I stumbled across a Social Media Call. Basically it was an open invite for anyone who has a blog, facebook, twitter, tumbler,  instagram etc account to submit their details to be considered to attend an event run by the RSC focusing on their new play. I’d only seen the posters of the play and it honestly didn’t appeal to me but I thought why not? To my surprise I was selected and was offered a free ticket to see the play before the social media call – read more about that in my next post here.

I guess being selected was a catalyst for my trip to Stratford-upon-Avon (Stratford-upon-Avon). I booked my train tickets and accommodation for the weekend and was off! The journey from London to Stratford-upon-Avon took just over two hours and went through rolling green countryside. Both Marylebone and Stratford-upon-Avon train stations are cute and have old world charm – I really must do a post on London Railways at some point, most visitors don’t give them a second glance but the architecture can be very charming. Anyway Stratford-upon-Avon!  The river Avon, its parks, swans, ducks and beauty. The weekend markets in the old square or by the river selling fudge, crafts, antiques and miscellany. The architecture and Tudor houses. Shakespeare's Birthplace and resting place and its curse in the Church. Anne Hathaway's cottage and Gardens’, Halls Croft and much more. Finally I was doing something touristy outside London

OK here is a tip that will save you a bit if you are planning to see all the Shakespeare trust houses. Pick up a leaflet at the train station that gives you 50% off the 5 house ticket. It’s good for one year and you can go back as many times as you like on that one ticket! Bargain! Using that ticket I went to see Shakespeare's Birthplace again, Anne Hatahway’s Cottage (the gardens are well worth a look) and Halls Croft. I still have Nash’s house and Mary Arden's farm to see next time I'm in Stratford-upon-Avon – maybe when the weathers a bit better!

I took a lot of photos while I was in Stratford-upon-Avon, mostly of the different buildings – some of which were visibly leaning where they shouldn’t. I also spent a lot of time just walking around and just taking in the bits and pieces that you will only notice if you have time to look. So, rather than me typing anymore I’ve put together a photo tour of Stratford-upon-Avon. Enjoy!

Photo tour time...

By the river Avon

   

  

The houses and architecture of Stratford-upon-Avon

Halls Croft - Road view

Halls Croft - Garden view

Shakespeare's Birthplace - front

Shakespeare's Birthplace - Garden view

           

    

Guild Chapel

Harvard House

Row of cottages on the way to Anne Hathaways Cottage

Shakespeare's grave (Holy Trinity Church and grounds)

Shakespeare's grave and "curse"

Where Shakespeare was baptised

Anne Hathaways cottage and grounds

Lavender maze

Stratford-upon-Avon around town

A quaint little town station

Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre

Gower Memorial - Shakespeare seated and surrounded by four characters from his play. It original location was near the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre before it was burnt and rebuilt

American Fountain (monument/clock tower in the town square)

Once the home of Shakespeares daughter...now a Crabtree and Evelyn

Shakespeare themed narrow-boat selling ice-cream

I love the quote!

Lampost near the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre

The Falcon pub appears to be a bit confused

The paper says "much ado about ice-cream"

Oh and one last thing, I have to say a big THANKYOU! to Claire and Rob who are the owners and hosts of the B&B I stayed in while I was in Stratford-upon-Avon. I’d never stayed before and i have to say, I really enjoyed it. It was a cute little place called Avonlea Guesthouse and Claire and Rob were just lovely. Claire is a such a warm and friendly person; my last morning there I had a few questions about the B&B and she sat with me over breakfast, answered them and even told me some stories about some colourful characters that had come to stay. Also, she didn’t bat an eyelid when I (completely mortified and going very red) had to tell her I’d accidentally spilled olive oil on the bedspread the night before (dinner was antipasto from the local Sainsbury) – bad VP! I did offer to pay extra for dry cleaning but she just waved away the idea with a laugh and said they had a company that did the laundry and not to worry. The previous day at breakfast I was being naughty and eavesdropping on a family who were trying to organise accommodation in Oxford. Claire was really helpful; she let them use the B&B laptop (even sat with them to look at some places) loaned them the B&B phone, gave them advice as best she could and was really friendly and nice about the whole thing. So rare these days! It really was such a nice place and I will definitely be staying there on my next visit (no antipasto dinners this time) and should you happen to find yourself in Stratford-upon-Avon, i totally recommend staying there. Thanks Claire and Rob!

VP

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