Hi--we are finally going to the Stratford Theater Festival the last weekend in June and would love suggestions of "must do's" and places to eat (no sushi please, otherwise open to all ideas). Flying in to Buffalo and driving up. We have tentatively made plans to stay at the Buckingham Inn. Anyone been there? If you have any thoughts on which performances we should definitely get tickets for, that also would be great.

The one performance I would not miss is The Tempest with William Hutt as Prospero. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has a good cast, if you like Tennessee Williams. This year's big musical is Hello Dolly, which is not a favourite of mine, but the musical productions are always well done.

The best dining in Stratford is at the Church, Rundles and the Old Prune. However, there are lots of other good restaurants in town, and I've always liked the Keystone Alley Café.

A few 'must dos' for you.

-To enhance your Festival experience, look at their Fringe events. I especially encourage people to do the costume and/or the backstage tour.

-For insight into the plays you'll want to attend Prologues. These are hour long insights/discussions that run mornings at the Kiwanis Centre.

-Shop downtown. We have some fabulous and unique shops. Stop for coffee at Balzacs. For lunch, try a sandwich from York Street Kitchen, or poutine (a Canadian dish) from Boomers Gourmet Fries.

-Walk the river & see our famous swans. Sometimes the drama on the river rivals that on the Festival stage. (Don't believe me? Pick up a copy of 'Swans on the Avon'. Battles for territory, adultery, infanticide, murder... Swans are beautiful creatures that can lead ugly lives!)

-Walk somewhere other than the river. There is a great little brochure of self guided tours available at the Tourist Information Centres. Or take a guided walk. (In June they are on Saturday mornings.)

-It sounds like you are only here for a couple of days, but if you are here longer, pick up the "Shakespeare to the Shoreline" pamphlet at the Tourism office. It is a really cute touring guide that covers from the town of Shakespeare, just east of Stratford, to Goderich on Lake Huron.

You will want to make your dinner reservations as soon as possible. Getting a pre-theatre spot on short notice is nearly impossible.

Some of the most popular spots; The Church, Rundles, The Old Prune, Bijou, Keystone Alley, Down the Street, Pazzo. All of their websites can be found through the Festival website. One wonderful thing about looking at the websites for restaurants in Stratford- I think every single one does a great job representing what the actual dining experience is like. If a website appeals to you, the restaurant will too.

www.stratfordfestival.ca

Stratford is a small town and the downtown is very compact. You can walk the whole thing in an afternoon easily, but there are many little shops and restaurants so if you're stopping to browse you could easily spread your walk over two afternoons. There is a pleasant park and walkway along the Avon River in the downtown area which has been mentioned. In summer they have outdoor art shows there. A short drive to the east is the hamlet of Shakespeare which features a number of antique shops. About 30 to 35 mintes to the east are the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo. Both have very popular and bustling indoor/outdoor Markets on Saturdays. The Waterloo one is actually called the St. Jacob's Farmer's Market and is at the north end of Waterloo, close to that village. If you have time, the Village of St. Jacob's itself is a popular destination - upscale boutiques mixed with country craft and other art and specialty shops in a historic village setting.

New Hamburg is between Stratford and Kitchener-Waterloo, there is a great restaurant there called: Spirits on Peel. If you are interested in dining options in KW let me know.

I was just at Stratford last night, it was fabulous. We dined at Carter's on Downie, food was wonderful, service was slow but we had lots of time. We noticed another cute restaurant next door called Garlics, I believe it is new this year.
We saw Fallen Angels and I highly recommend it!

Thanks so much. Our B&B called last night (Buckingham) to give us some suggestions and mentioned the new restaurant Garlic and also recommended Angels. Now have tickets for Angels and am checking out your and his restaurant suggestions: Sapori, Sunroom, farmer's market on Saturday, Carter's, a new restaurant called Garlic, and Down the Street. He recommended Pass the Pasta, Bijou and Wellington Deli for carryout/picnics.

P.S. Also got tickets for Tempest and Wingfield's.

If you are the type who likes to read novels set in places they visit, I recommend Spadework by Timothy Findlay. It's set in Stratford, and a lot of the restaurants make appearances.