Twelve places worth your time — the five Shakespeare family homes, the theatre and the river, plus the day trips that make a second night worthwhile.
Stratford-upon-Avon is compact enough to walk end to end in twenty-five minutes, which means almost everything in the town centre is within five minutes of everything else. The five Shakespeare family properties are the backbone of any visit; the theatre, the church and the river fill out a very good day; and Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds are close enough to make a second day easy.
Each place below has its own guide with opening advice, how to get there, insider tips and the tours and tickets that cover it.
Five properties survive from Shakespeare’s immediate family, all cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Three are in the town centre and two are a short bus ride out — and a multi-house ticket makes visiting several much cheaper than buying separately.
Shakespeare's family homes Where it all began, on Henley Street
The half-timbered Henley Street house where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and grew up above his father’s glove-making workshop. Restored to its Tudor layout, staffed by costumed guides and paired with an exhibition that sets up the whole story.
Shakespeare's family homes A thatched farmhouse and nine acres of garden
The Shottery farmhouse where Shakespeare courted Anne Hathaway, lived in by thirteen generations of her family. Original furniture inside, and outside the finest gardens in Warwickshire — orchard, willow sculptures and woodland walks.
Shakespeare's family homes The site of the house he died in
Shakespeare bought the second-largest house in Stratford in 1597 and died there in 1616. The house is long gone, but the site is now an imaginative contemporary garden that traces its footprint and marks the height of his success.
Shakespeare's family homes His daughter's elegant Jacobean townhouse
The handsome Old Town house of Susanna Shakespeare and her husband, the physician John Hall. Panelled rooms, a collection of Jacobean medical instruments and one of the prettiest walled gardens in town — and usually the quietest of the five houses.
Shakespeare's family homes The working Tudor farm of Shakespeare's mother
Four miles out at Wilmcote, the childhood home of Shakespeare’s mother is run as a living Tudor farm — rare-breed animals, falconry, open-hearth cooking and costumed farmhands. Comfortably the best of the family properties for children.
Between the houses lies the town itself: the world’s leading Shakespeare theatre company, the church where he is buried, the medieval schoolroom where he was educated, and the river that made Stratford a market town in the first place.
Town, theatre & river The best Shakespeare on the planet, on the riverbank
Home of the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1932 and rebuilt around a thrust stage in 2010, with no seat more than 15 metres from the actors. Even without a ticket, the tower, terrace and riverside restaurant are open to everyone.
Town, theatre & river Shakespeare's grave, beside the Avon
The spired riverside church where Shakespeare was baptised in 1564 and buried in 1616. His grave lies in the chancel beneath the famous curse against moving his bones, alongside his wife, daughter and son-in-law, at the end of a lovely avenue of limes.
Town, theatre & river Swans, narrowboats and the classic view
The green heart of Stratford, where the canal meets the river beside the theatre. Sightseeing cruises, rowing boats, a chain ferry, the Gower Memorial and the town’s best picnic lawn — all free to wander, and floodlit at night.
Town, theatre & river The classroom that made a playwright
The medieval Guildhall where travelling players performed for the town — almost certainly watched by a young Shakespeare — with his actual schoolroom upstairs. Next door, the Guild Chapel hides an extraordinary rediscovered Doom wall painting.
Stratford sits at the northern gate of the Cotswolds with Warwick Castle eight miles upstream — which is exactly why a second night here pays for itself.
Nearby day trips 1,100 years of history, 25 minutes away
A genuine Norman fortress turned great stately home on the same River Avon, eight miles upstream. Ramparts, state rooms, birds of prey, a working trebuchet and dungeons — the strongest second-day option in the area, especially with children.
Nearby day trips Honey-stone villages on the doorstep
Stratford is the northern gateway to the Cotswolds, and the loveliest villages — Chipping Campden, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water and Bibury — are all within an hour. Day tours from town make it easy without a car.
Nearby day trips The deer park Shakespeare allegedly poached in
A Tudor mansion in a Capability Brown deer park four miles downstream, home to the Lucy family since the 12th century. Legend has it the young Shakespeare was caught poaching deer here — and left town shortly afterwards.
Start at Shakespeare’s Birthplace at opening, take a 90-minute town walking tour at eleven, have lunch on Sheep Street, then walk down Old Town to Hall’s Croft and Holy Trinity Church. Come back along the river, take a half-hour cruise, and finish with an evening ghost walk or a play.
Add Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and its gardens on the second morning — walk out across the fields — then either Warwick Castle in the afternoon or a full-day Cotswolds small-group tour. Book the theatre for whichever evening has the better production.
Prioritise Mary Arden’s Farm and Warwick Castle over the town houses, use the hop-on hop-off bus to save legs, and take a rowing boat out on the Avon. Tudor World is cheap, indoors and reliably popular with over-sevens.
Five Shakespeare family homes, the best classical theatre in the world and the Cotswolds on the doorstep. Compare tours, tickets and day trips and book in a couple of taps.
A great deal: river cruises and rowing boats on the Avon, the canal basin and narrowboats, the Stratford Butterfly Farm, a gin and rum distillery tour, Warwick Castle, Charlecote Park’s deer park and the Cotswolds villages half an hour away.
Five: Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Shakespeare’s New Place in the town centre, Hall’s Croft in Old Town, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Shottery and Mary Arden’s Farm at Wilmcote.
Very. Mary Arden’s Farm is a working Tudor farm with falconry and animals, Warwick Castle is a full family day out, and boats, the butterfly farm and the open-top bus fill the gaps between the historic houses.
Walk the Tudor town centre, Bancroft Gardens and the canal basin, enter Holy Trinity Church (a small donation is asked for the chancel), visit the Guild Chapel, explore the RSC foyers and riverside terrace, and follow the riverside path to the Recreation Ground.
