54403NOR
Anne Hathaway’s cottage visit
Shakespeare’s birthplace visit
· All entrances are paid by voucher
· Confirm visits in advance & ask about special events, closed areas of sites etc. Especially opening times of Stratford sites (if in reverse).
Stratford
Ensure group is aware that having left the sites, they cannot 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, located next to shop by the 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 in position. Shop at the Birthplace stocks the 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 into gardens, the house and shop. 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.).
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 have a card machine to process payment.
Theatre (if included on itinerary)
If hotel is in Stratford, walk back after theatre. This will remove any restrictions due to driver’s hours on the following day. Ensure group is aware of meeting point after the play. There are several places coaches can wait along Waterside. Make sure you have your driver’s mobile number to liaise for the pick-up point after the play. Drivers will swap over during the course of this day.
Tourist Information: www.visitstratforduponavon.co.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.
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE & SWAN THEATRE Stratford home of the RSC. Waterside. Backstage tours, www.rsc.org.uk/theatretours
GRAMMAR SCHOOL EXHIBIT ON ELIZABETHAN SCHOOL LIFE. 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
Overnight in Stratford:
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.
Grasmere (if in reverse)
On approaching the village of Grasmere (A591) point out Dove Cottage on the right, behind a group of cottages, but visible, opposite Grasmere Lake and the Hotel. Turn left for the village.
Coach Park
On right, toilets (fee) and telephone.
Facilities in the village
CASHPOINTS – Currently only one is available in the Post Office.
Various places for lunching & shopping
Sites
St Oswald’s Church (Wordsworth Family Plot in graveyard)
Sarah Nelson Gingerbread Shop (through churchyard follow aroma!)
Dove Cottage (warn group to take care when crossing the busy A591)