The house where William Shakespeare was born

Hamlet in the park

There may be few towns in England that are as inextricably linked to one person as Stratford-upon-Avon is to William Shakespeare.  As the town where he was born, fell in love and is buried, the small midland town of 25,000 people plays host to as many as 800,000 tourists a year from all over the world.  A 40 minute train journey from Birmingham (and a two hour drive from London), the town is reasonably well placed as a location for day trips.  For fans of the bard, there are plenty of things to see - the house where he was born, the house where Anne Hathaway lived and the houses of other notable people in his life who where deemed important enough for the buildings to be preserved.  All of these locations can be visited on a single ticket (which was too expensive for us as poor student visitors).  In addition, the newly constructed Royal Shakespeare Company building on the banks of the River Avon is always putting on performances and as we happened to be there for the River Festival we were able to see a free contemporary performance of Hamlet in the park.

The grave of William Shakespeare

Even for people who are not so interested in Shakespeare, the town is a pleasant enough place to visit, set around the River Avon and the associated canal network and with lots of great examples of Tudor architecture.

Inside the church where Shakespeare is buried

Tudor styled Housing

Canal boats

Inside the RSC auditorium