Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of the greatest poet in the English language, William Shakespeare. Stratford-upon-Avon is always impossibly crowded with visitors—if crowds are not to your liking, give it a miss. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in a half-timbered house on Henley Street (Shakespeare’s Birthplace, now a museum), educated at the King’s New Grammar School and, in 1597, six years before his death, retired to New Place, one of the finest and largest houses in Stratford. Simply engraved stones in front of the altar of the Holy Trinity Church mark the burial spot of Shakespeare and some other members of his family. It is a fairly large town, with beautifully renovated timbered buildings and lovely shops. The town’s glory, however, is brought expertly to the stage at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and at its associate theatre, The Other Place.