The Solo Scale:

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During one of my trips to England, my friend and I decided to head West after landing in Gatwick. We headed through the English countryside, through Wales, and then onto the ferry to Ireland. Because we only had one day, we had to pick between Stratford and Bath. We chose to do Shakespeare’s home. Luckily, I’d be able to return to Bath a few years later.

For fans of the bard, Stratford is a must-do experience. Not only for its historical impact, but because of the reverence and care that the city has put into the experience for Shakespeare fans. Below is a highlight of some of the activities we did in our day, but our time limits prevented us from doing it all. If you stay more than a day, you’ll definitely be able to accomplish all you want to! We bought a pass that let us to do multiple locations throughout the town. It was easy to park and explore on foot until we continued onward to Wales. You can find more information about the “Story Ticket” here. This gives access to his birthplace, New Place, and Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

In addition to the historical sights, Stratford itself is a charming town. You can stroll along the Avon River (and in the summer when it’s warm enough, indulge in ice cream), and the picturesque streets don’t lose anything for its modern buildings lining them.

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Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Some of the more unique things about this visit was the frames of glass that had signatures of many visitors over the years. Obviously, it’s not specific to Will Shakespeare, but the idea of so many people leaving their mark to create their own history is a fantastic picture of humanity.

The second extremely cool thing is when you head out to the small gardens at the end of your visit and discover that there are live performances of monologues, fight scenes, dual scenes, and more. Watching young kids and teens be immersed in the Bard in such a unique way is incredible to see how a love for his plays might begin growing from this one visit (Note: The “All The World’s a Stage” feature, which puts this on, may not always be running so if this is something you’re interested in, make sure you check out this page for details).

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Holy Trinity Church

From there, we travelled onward to Holy Trinity Church, the burial place for Shakespeare and his family. It might be surprising to see such an inconspicuous location for the resting place of one of the world’s most famous authors. There wasn’t even a long line and hardly the kind of crowds you’ll see at Westminster Abbey.

Getting this close will also mean you get to read the “curse”:

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Once you’ve visited the resting place and spent some time in the church, it’s a fairly simple church. The grounds are lovely on a sunny day, but you’ll be ready to move on after a quick visit.

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New Place

Our last stop was at New Place, another family home for the Shakespeare family. For me, the biggest draw here was in the gardens, where there was an art installation that gave a unique marker to each of the plays that also included the year it was published.

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While we didn’t have time, there’s also the theatre in town. If you’ve planned ahead, you can buy tickets to be able to watch a show in Stratford. It’s a modern theatre, so don’t expect to be getting the same experience as a groundling (which you can get in downtown London at the Globe recreation), but it’s still an experience to say that you watched a Shakespearian play while in Stratford (something you can also say about Stratford, Ontario, but it’s not quite the same).

To go or not to go? Get more details about a visit to Stratford by reading up on the website at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

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