24406BRI
opening days/times, entrance fees, etc. listed on yellow pages.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage visit
Shakespeare’s Birthplace visit
NB
- All entrances are paid by voucher
- Confirm visits in advance & ask about special events, closed areas of sites etc. Esp. opening times of Stratford sites.
- You could ask your driver to do a mini panoramic of the town to help the group get their bearings. Point out Shakespeare sites including school, alms houses, New Place remains and Holy Trinity church (NB you cannot take coach right up to church).
Visits
Ensure group is aware that once they have left the sites, they are not able to re-enter.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (Shottery)
Set down in Cottage coach park. Arrange time for departure. Re-group at the coach. Walk group to entrance (Now located next to shop just by coach park) & into gardens. Keep group together (they often disperse into toilets or to take photos of the beautiful gardens). As soon as cottage guides are ready, you have to move. Shop at the Birthplace stocks same merchandise as at Cottage.
Shakespeare Centre and Birthplace
Set down in the Birthplace coach park (Windsor St.). Walk group to Centre and Birthplace (Henley St.). Warn group to take care when crossing Windsor Street. Pay with voucher in the centre. You have a choice between brief audio visual or small exhibition, then entry into gardens, the house and shop. Remind the group that if they exit the gift shop they can’t re-enter. At height of season can become crowded. Ensure group is aware of meeting points/times before they disperse for free time. A good place to meet after the visit is the Jester statue (top of Henley St.).
COACH PARKING IN STRATFORD UPON AVON IS UNDER REVIEW AS OF JAN 24. CHECK WITH DRIVER.
Holy Trinity Church
Itineraries now often include entry to Holy Trinity Church to see the burial place of William Shakespeare. There is a fee to enter the chancel of the church where the burials are located, and they now have a card machine to process payments.
If overnight is in Stratford, the group will have free time after the visit. Adjust times accordingly. Ensure group is aware of meeting points/times for dinner/check in before they disperse.
Evening Theatre and Return to London:
Ensure group is aware of meeting point after the play. There are several places coaches can collect from on Waterside. Make sure you have your driver’s mobile number to liaise for the pick-up point after the play. If it is an Oxford-Stratford Day, there will be a swap of drivers.
Overnighting in Stratford area
For groups staying in central Stratford, dinner will be at the hotel or a local restaurant. For groups staying out of town (Warwick), dinner will be at a restaurant in Stratford so the Hotel check-in will most likely be at the end of the evening.
If staying without a theatre visit you could book a private Ghost Walk after dinner with Stratford Town Walks Tel: 07855 760377
Facilities/places of interest in Stratford
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk
Holy Trinity Church Trinity Street. Sanctuary doorknocker, lovely stained glass, Shakespeare buried in chancel (entrance fee to chancel). Weeping willows in graveyard, picturesque location by river.
Halls Croft Old Town Street. Home of Susanna Shakespeare (eldest daughter) and her doctor husband, John Hall. Fine exhibition of Elizabethan Medicine. (entrance fee)
New Place Chapel Street. Admission charge. New Place was Shakespeare’s last residence (closed in winter).
Royal Shakespeare Theatre & Swan Theatre Stratford home of the RSC. Waterside. Backstage tours. www.rsc.org.uk/theatretours
Grammar School Admission Charge.
Gower Memorial Bancroft Basin by Bridgefoot. Statue (1888) of Shakespeare surrounded by 4 figures from his plays.
Shopping Good mix of High Street and Shakespeare souvenirs.
Bureau de Change Post Office, Henley Street.
