A visit to Stratford Upon Avon

I recently visited the lovely town of Stratford upon Avon. What a nice time I had there. If you didn’t know already, it is the birthplace of Shakespeare. It wasn’t that far to travel to from the North West and I wanted to go somewhere that had a little bit of history. I had been to Stratford upon Avon when I was at school and to see the Merchant of Venice. I can’t remember much about it but that I didn’t really understand much of the play as we had read Macbeth in our class!

Stratford upon Avon is a lovely place to travel to as a solo traveller. I was a bit nervous about going because not only had I not travelled anywhere significant by myself since having a baby, I also had not stayed in a hotel by myself for a very long time so even though it wasn’t actually that far away from home, it was a bit of a leap of faith. I needn’t of worried though, everything was perfectly fine and it was interesting how much of a confidence boost it was for me to travel by myself. I hadn’t realised how much it was needed!

The hotel was very comfortable and whilst I was there I got to see Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre which was a lovely treat. The actors were amazing. I would definitely recommend going if you can and visiting the theatre in general. You can also visit the tower and see views of the area.

Whilst I was there I also visited Shakespeare’s birthplace, which at £25 I thought was a little bit steep as an entrance fee. That being said you can also add on other visits to your tickets such as Anne Hathaway’s cottage which makes it more affordable overall if you want to go and see more places. There is also the gift shop which was nice but some more historical references to the plays would have been great as there was a lot of schools on visits so I imagine they are trying to learn a lot about the history of Shakespeare

I had a great time there and the weather was glorious (very lucky for March!) so it made walking around the riverside very pleasant, including walking around all of the quaint streets and admiring the historic architecture.

I tried to go to see Shakespeare’s resting place also, which I think was inside the church but it was closed. I managed to have a stroll around the area and around the river. There is a tree that has been planted for Hamnet in the cemetery which you can walk past, and I will watch the movie when I get back that has just received an Oscar.

All in all, I would recommend a visit to Stratford upon Avon especially for a short or an overnight stay. There is a lot to see in a compact town so well worth a trip to absorb some culture and history.