14 Best Sights in Stratford-upon-Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Heart of England

The most picturesque of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties, this thatched cottage on the western outskirts of Stratford is the family home of the woman Shakespeare married in 1582. The "cottage," actually a substantial Tudor farmhouse with latticed windows, is astonishingly beautiful. Inside, it is surprisingly cozy and has lots of period furniture, including the love seat on which Shakespeare reputedly conducted his courtship and a rare carved Elizabethan bed. The cottage garden is planted in lush Edwardian style with herbs and flowers. Wildflowers are grown in the adjacent orchard (a nod to what was grown in the garden in the Hathaways’ time), and the neighboring arboretum has trees, shrubs, and roses mentioned in Shakespeare's works.

The best way to get here is on foot, especially in late spring when the apple trees are in blossom. The signed path runs from Evesham Place (an extension of Grove Road) opposite Chestnut Walk. Pick up a leaflet with a map from the tourist office; the walk takes 25–30 minutes.

The final resting place of William Shakespeare is this 13th-century church on the banks of the River Avon. He was buried here not because he was a famed poet but because he was a lay rector of Stratford, owning a portion of the township tithes. On the north wall of the sanctuary, over the altar steps, is the famous marble bust created by Gerard Jansen in 1623 and thought to be a true likeness of Shakespeare. The bust offers a more human, even humorous, perspective when viewed from the side. Also in the chancel are the graves of Shakespeare’s wife, Anne; his daughter, Susanna; his son-in-law, John Hall; and his granddaughter's first husband, Thomas Nash. The christening font in which Shakespeare was baptized is here too.

The hometown of Shakespeare has developed an international reputation for theater and is home to the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company. It’s a rite of passage for serious stage actors to pass through here at some point. Overlooking Bancroft Gardens and with views along the River Avon, the main theater building is a sight in itself. There are three or four theaters to choose from, depending on the season: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which is the largest and features a thrust stage; the older Swan Theatre, where many Shakespearean actors prefer to perform; and the Holloway Theatre outside, wonderful in spring and summer.  You can also visit The Other Place, traditionally presenting more experimental plays. A couple of minutes’ walk away from the main site (toward Holy Trinity Church), it has a cool café. At the main theater, you can take the lift to the top of the tower for incredible views of the town and countryside. Tours are highly recommended and take you behind the scenes to places like the main theater auditorium while set changes are taking place or (if you're lucky, as tours are not the same) to the costume department across the road.

Gin is having a moment in England right now, and this distillery run by two brothers is embracing the trend while combining traditional Tudor ingredients with modern handcrafting techniques. Tours (1½ hours) are entertaining and informative, with plenty of fun history woven in. At the end, you'll enter a tasting room with mini stills (there are options for making your own gin) for a tasting of a few gins, followed by a complimentary gin and tonic. Tours also discuss the distillery's rum: this is one of the country's only distilleries to make its own from scratch. The distillery is a couple of miles out of town, but the taxi ride is very much worth it. You can also shop for bottles and other gifts at the distillery's shop on Stratford's High Street.

This is the spot where Shakespeare lived for the last 19 years of his life and where he wrote many of his plays, including The Tempest. Though the actual 15th-century building he inhabited was torn down in the 18th century, the site was imaginatively reinterpreted in 2016 as an outdoor space where the footprint of the original house can be traced. Each of his 38 plays is represented by a pennant in the Golden Garden, and his sonnets are engraved into the stone paving. Highlights include a mulberry tree that some believe was given to Shakespeare by King James I and a restored Elizabethan knot garden. An exhibition inside the neighboring Nash’s House tells the story of the New Place and Shakespeare’s family life within it, and the house's roof terrace provides views of the gardens. Nash’s House was once home to Thomas Nash, the husband of Shakespeare’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall.

Between the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Clopton Bridge lie these well-tended expanses of lawns and flower beds, with lots of seating and occasional performers entertaining those taking a breather between seeing the sights. The swans gliding gracefully along the river are permanent residents, coexisting with the pleasure craft on the river and the nearby canal. The centerpiece of the gardens is the Gower Memorial statue, designed in 1888 by Lord Gower as a homage to Shakespeare and adorned with bronze figures of Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Falstaff, and Prince Hal—symbols of philosophy, tragedy, comedy, and history, respectively.

A celebrated house in the village of Hampton Lucy just outside Stratford, Charlecote Park is a prodigy house (a substantial and elaborate manor), built in 1558 by Sir Thomas Lucy to impress Queen Elizabeth I; the house is even shaped like the letter "E" in her honor. Shakespeare knew the house—he was supposedly even caught poaching deer here. Overlooking the River Avon, the redbrick manor is striking and sprawling. It was renovated in neo-Elizabethan style by the Lucy family, represented here by numerous portraits, during the mid-19th century. A carved ebony bed is one of many spectacular pieces of furniture. The Tudor gatehouse is unchanged since Shakespeare’s day, and a collection of carriages, a Victorian kitchen, and a small brewery occupy the outbuildings. Indulge in a game of croquet near the quirky, thatched, Victorian-era summer hut, or explore the deer park landscaped by Capability Brown. Interesting themed tours and walks take place in summer—call in advance to find out what's on offer. The house is 5 miles northeast of Stratford; by car it is reached via the B4086, or it costs around £20 in a taxi from Stratford-upon-Avon.

A neoclassical country mansion remodeled in the 1760s by Scottish architect Robert Adam has been repurposed by the Peter Moores Foundation as an art museum with more than 800 works. The house is set on 120 acres of rolling parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. Intriguingly varied works of art are beautifully displayed in restored rooms: British folk art and portraits, textiles, Chinese pottery and bronzes, southern Italian art from 1600 to 1800, and German art from 1450 to 1600 are the main focus. Tours take place Tuesday through Sunday and bank holidays at noon. It's 10 miles east of Stratford; by car, take the B4086.

This historic chapel is the noble centerpiece of Stratford’s Guild buildings, including the Guildhall, the Grammar School, and the almshouses—all well known to Shakespeare. It also houses some of the finest surviving medieval wall paintings in Europe. The ancient structure was rebuilt in the late Perpendicular style in the 15th century. The paintings were covered with limewash during the Reformation on orders given to Shakespeare’s father, who was mayor at the time. Some of the most impressive paintings, rediscovered centuries later, have been restored and can be viewed, including an ornate painting known as The Doom above the chancel arch. Restoration on other paintings continues.

Push buttons and pedals to your heart's content to make the more than 70 exhibits in the wacky Mechanical Art & Design Museum come alive. Witty, beautiful, and intricate automata and examples of kinetic art will clank, whir, and rattle away. Marbles and table tennis balls bounce through looping runs, a typewriter plays tunes on glasses and bottles, and two trains chuff around high up on the walls. Kids will love constructing their own marble run, and grown-ups will marvel at the Kitchenator display. There’s also a shop full of weird and wonderful things.

A half-timber house typical of its time, the playwright's birthplace is a much-visited shrine that has been altered and restored since Shakespeare lived here. Passing through the modern visitor center, you are immersed in the world of Shakespeare through a state-of-the-art exhibition that includes evocative audio and visuals from contemporary stagings of his plays. The house is across the garden from the visitor center. Colorful wall decorations and furnishings reflect comfortable, middle-class Elizabethan domestic life. You can view his father’s workshop and also see the room where Shakespeare was born. Mark Twain and Charles Dickens were both pilgrims here, and the signatures of Thomas Carlyle and Walter Scott are scratched into the windowpanes. In the garden, actors present excerpts from his plays. A café and bookshop are on the grounds. The birthplace can get extremely busy, so avoid holiday and weekend visits.

Dating from the early 15th century, this is where a young Shakespeare went to school and where he was allegedly first introduced to the world of theater. Once the administrative center of the town, it now serves as a heritage center where visitors can see medieval wall paintings, including two of the oldest surviving Tudor roses in England, plus take part in a lesson in the room where Shakespeare was taught. Visitors can don period costumes and try writing with a pen and quill. In the 16th century, the Guildhall was where the city council once sat, including John Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s father, who was town mayor in the 1560s. Around this time it also became home to the King’s New School, and shortly afterward William Shakespeare attended as a pupil. On the first floor is the Guildhall proper, where traveling acting companies performed to obtain their licenses. Many historians believe that it was after seeing the troupe known as the Earl of Leicester’s Men in 1587 that Shakespeare got the acting bug and set off for London. 

The United Kingdom’s largest exotic butterfly collection is housed in a tropical greenhouse, a two-minute walk past the Bridgefoot bridge (spiders, caterpillars, and insects from all over the world also make their home here). Kids can watch as butterflies emerge from pupae, search for caterpillars among the plants, or take a look at a toxic black widow spider. The ant colony is another highlight. There is also a fantastic shop, plus places to picnic in the lovely garden.

Tread carefully over the cobbles, and enter Tudor World on Sheep Street to find a dimly lit and quirky maze of displays that explore, with the help of Tudor mannequins, aspects of the 16th century, including the plague years, early medicine, witch trials, bearbaiting, punishment, and alleged ghosts. Kids will enjoy peering round the curtains and opening the boxes of smells. At night, ghost tours by lantern light (suitable only for adults and older children) explore the house’s paranormal history in spooky detail.