My wife and I have attended mnay performances of Shakespear's work, both in actual theathers and…read moreoutdoors "in the park". So, when we got a chance to visit his birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon, we jumped at the chance. Our tour guide was excellent and shared many details of what it was like living in this house in William's time (e.g. the boys shared one room and the girls were in another - and the boy's room was more comfortable because - in those days - the boys were more valuable. It was fascinating walking through the house where Shakespear actually lived and grew up. The day we were there, there were actors in the courtyard performing snippets of Shakespear's plays and writings. The one actor asked members of the audience to call out their favorite and he would then perform something from that particular play. Fascinating visit and tour.

Okay, it's a house, but then again back in Shakespeare's days, they really didn't have hospitals in…read morethe way that we have hospitals. Mind you, wandering through this house makes you realise how wealthy Shakespeare's family actually was. It's a pretty big house, and quite interesting to explore as well. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

The ancestral home of John Harvard, founder of America's most famous University - HARVARD! Actually…read morethis was his mother's home, built in 1596 it is a fine example of an Elizabethan town house. Harvard House is the home of the Museum of British Pewter. The Museum houses an extensive Neish Collection which illustrates the history of two thousand years of British pewter.The collection includes some rare and unique pieces including Roman items and medieval pilgrim badges. This is an interesting place and well maintained. A fun and educational place for kids.

The Harvard House spreads its exhibits over the three floors of the old building and seems to be…read moreaimed more at children or teenagers. It has several hands-on interactive exhibits and little note cards telling of customs of the olden days. It's quite interesting, but nothing much to rave about. It's part of the three-houses ticket of the Shakespeare houses, so if you're going to see the birthplace, you might as well check this one out too. I'm not sure if it's worth it in its own though.

Ok, if you are looking for the place where Anne Hathaway grew up, well, you are pretty much in the…read morewrong place, unless the Anne Hathaway you are looking for happens to be the wife of William Shakespeare, then you are in the right place. So, when you get a ticket to the Shakespeare house, you also get admission to this place as well. The thing is that it is a bit of a hike out of town, but it is pretty cool, especially considering that it is a tudor farmhouse.

I truly wish I could relay how beautiful this cottage is, however before I could even get up the…read moreramp, a most unfortunately assertive individual took it upon herself to run out and greet me with a welcome that only the truly emotionally inept could muster. Apparently my name is "you can't take cases in here", repeated twice in quick succession just on the off-chance I did not hear her on the first flat out rude and blustering attempt. As I looked down at my case, a carry-on size pulley, I thought to myself, c'est la vie, the rules are the rules after all. However, in Shakespeare's land, one might have hoped for just a pinch of emotional intelligence in how to verbally greet a guest about to fork out £23 to see an attraction after they'd already paid £10 in a taxi to get there and per chance deliver the blow with a degree more eloquence? Madam, whoever you are, the service industry requires training of which you are clearly woefully lacking. That, or you are yet another of those odious cretins who relishes in unleashing their one minute of power assertion over... a prospective customer? Bravo! Shakespeare wouldn't bother turning in his grave over this, he wrote of plenty an ass and a fool in his time.

Located immediately behind Nash's New Place, the Great Garden of New Place is a large open space…read morecontaining some interesting topiary, beautiful flowers, a large grass lawn and a number of Shakespeare-themed sculptures. It's another of the "don't miss" stops in your tour of Stratford-upon-Avon. There are sculptures for several of Shakespeare's famous plays. The key is to figure out which play is represented without looking at the plaque. Benches for reflection and while you're welcome to eat here, I didn't spot any rubbish bins for trash. Though with the large garden with many flowers, I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking to avoid an encounter with the bees.

Open on the first and third Saturday of every month this is definitely worth a visit…read more There are all sorts of goods on sale, from Buffalo cheese, to cakes, to bread, to sausages, basically everything that you could want. All of the stalls are from the local area, and the people are all so friendly and happy to chat. The goods may be more expensive than you could get in a supermarket, but you know that you are helping the local economy and for the quality it is well worth the extra few pennies you will spend. I do recommend that you get there quite early in the day though, as otherwise you may find that many of the stalls have sold the majority of their products.

This is a lovely, very English place to see. It has unique building decor that stands out. It is a…read moreShakespearian times Village style. It also has beautiful hanging baskets and flowers just ading that extra touch. It has very quaint and unique shops along with souvenir shops. There is also the river that runs through it making it a nice walk with various benches to sit down on and appreciate the view.

This is a great place for families especially. The staff are wonderful they dress in costumes of…read morethe period. It is really good place, you learn about the period in a fun way and you can play old games. They also arrange things like ghost walks which i have been told are also very good.

Touchstone, the Jester from Shakespeare's play "As You Like It" stands on Henley Street in…read moreStratford-Upon-Avon. It's the perfect statue for a town pretty much dedicated to The Bard. Best described, the jester in active holds a poll (a small head on a stick) with the mask of comedy balanced on his left, upraised hand. His right hand is hidden behind his back (as it holds the tragedy mask). The plaque has a Shakespeare line on each side: "OH NOBLE FOOL! A WORTHY FOOL!" (As You Like It) "THE FOOL DOTH THINK HE IS WISE, BUT THE WISE MAN KNOWS HIMSELF TO BE A FOOL. (As You Like It) "FOOLERY, SIR, DOES WALK ABOUT THE ORB LIKE THE SUN; IT SHINES EVERYWHERE" (Twelfth Night) "ALAS! POOR YORICK I KNEW HIM, HORATIO; A FELLOW OF INFINITE JEST." (Hamlet) The inscription reads: by james butler r.a. unveiled by the lord lieutenant of warwickshire the rt. hon. the viscount daventry on 22nd july 1994 a gift from anthony p. bird o.b.e. to stratford upon avon as a token of his esteem for the town in which he was born, lives and works and which has given him so much friendship, good fortune and pleasure. James Butter has explained his choice of the Jester as a subject: "The character of the Fool or Jester appears in many Shakespeare plays and I decided to portray him dancing- almost leaping off his plinth. He is holding two polls. One is smiling , one is grim. They represent the symbols of drama." Butler sees the Jester as symbolizing the precarious balance of life: "My point being that we dance through life finely balancing optimism above us, but tragedy lurks behind." The model for the Jester was the international mime artist John Mowat who danced and struck various poses to inspire Butler's final form.

Wonderful place to stop and spend some time. Got to see a…read moredemonstration with wool, discussion on different types of wool. Donkeys, horses, goats, falconry and gardens. The demonstration with Talia the eagle owl was delightful and fun. Friendly staff, very educational.

We walked to Mary Arden's Farm from Stratford-upon-Avon. Fair warning: it's a LONG walk. Don't do…read moreit if you're not prepared to walk 5 miles (or about 8 km) there and back. I suppose a bike ride would nice, though. It's along a river through really Englishy countryside with rolling hills and and pebbly roads. Once we got there, it was pretty meh. Admissions is covered in the Shakespeare Five House ticket, but not any of the other types of ticket packages. You just walk around and look at pigs and rooms. We saw some owls and falcons, a dovecove, some pigs, an old oven, old bedrooms with small beds.... It's not really educational - there wasn't much to learn about Shakespeare or Mary Arden. I didn't think they made much of an effort to make it tourist friendly either. It wasn't really worth it but still mildly interesting. I recommend saving some money and just purchasing the Four House ticket and forgo this house.

I have to admit, I haven't read all of Shakespeare's works, but I've read enough in high school to…read moreknow who he is and appreciate his relevancy. Not to mention all the movie adaptations over the years. When coming to England, this is one of the places that you should stop by. Stratford Upon Avon is a charming city. Heck, it's where William Shakespeare was born. Just walking around the streets is enough to know why people would come here. But let me get to why you should go to Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust. It's the house where he was born. After you pay your fare and make your way into the museum, you have to go through a small series of movie theaters. As you progress through each one you're given bits and pieces of facts and history about Shakespeare from early life and his impact on the world. This is particularly useful if there are big crowds waiting to get in. Once you're done with the movie presentations you go into the house. You see how things used to be during his time. With the "actors" in period dress, they explain to you the rooms you're in, stories about the house, his family, and idioms that originate from his time. Here's an interesting bit: I used to wonder why little boys looked like little girls in all these old paintings from the 1500's-1600s. When you come here you'll find out. Or where the expression "Good night, sleep tight" comes from. Once you're done, there are bookstores dedicated to him and lots of little cafes and shops to spend the rest of the day at. Oh yeah, you can even make your way to the church where he is entombed. OUT DAMNED SPOT!

Being a lover of Shakespeare since high school, this place represents a pilgrimage for me. I've…read morevisited twice. Maybe I'm just more cynical, but the restoration of the property and the "period-style" furniture and other household items put me off the second time. Maybe the house wouldn't be exhibitable otherwise, but I like to see real history rather than a historian's recreated best guess. At least they don't lie to you like other places. I can't discourage anyone from visiting though. I mean--this was actually Shakespeare's house! Quaint garden in the back.

Opening night of "Measure for Measure" was ultimately a success. Warning, they have chosen to…read morealienate more than half of Americans with their opening video montage and insinuations. I almost walked out before the play started. However, I wanted to give the actors a chance to overcome the distasteful display of hate and assumptions. When they have Prince Andrew and Mendelson to target, they target the President of the United States. Not every play goer is hateful and against Our President. That said, there are the typical opening night issues. Long pauses that indicated lines were forgotten or missed. The sound was also a bit off. About who showed anger or severe emotional pain by screaming, were hard to understand and sounds muffled and lost. Either the actors were not annunciating or the sound was too high on they're mics. There seemed to be a few missed cues, as well. So if that said, this okay was fantastic and the kinks will be worked out in time. I wasn't sure about the minimalistic staging and lack of scenery, but I couldn't have been more impressed with the way the actors worked the bare stage making my imagination take over and seeing an entirely different experience in my mind. The acting was superb! Luccio came in a little rough, but he really stole the show by the end of the post. Well done! I would recommend the theater, as it is a bucket list for many thespians and okay goers! What an incredible production. Unfortunately, I allowed the RSC website to pick my seats. I ended up in a straight high back chair where my legs dangled and I couldn't see the entire state and videos in the background. It probably helped me be distracted by the disrespect they were insinuating. I would never buy tickets with these seats again. Almost intolerable, so the acting and entire production overshadowed what I didn't care for. Next time, if I'm lucky enough to be back in Stratford Upon Avon, I would return. Tolerance and giving things a chance worked out for me. I also live Shakespeare and am a thespian at heart.

Several levels of seating. Upper seating has railing in front which obstructs view. Need to lean…read moreforward for clear view. The two performances I have been to have been entertaining. Most of cast do a good job. Ushers helpful. Need to open bags for security check. Recommend online ticket purchase.