54401LNO

Oxford                                                walking tour with TM

Christ Church College and Cathedral      visit

Anne Hathaway’s cottage                      visit

Shakespeare’s birthplace                       visit

• Entrances are paid by voucher for all visits

• Check in advance for special events, closed areas of sites etc. Especially, Christchurch cathedral. Booking Time MUST be adhered to.

• Lunch in Oxford. If in reverse, in Stratford.

• On Sundays Christchurch is closed until 2pm and no theatre in Stratford. 

• If no theatre in Stratford, group will see a Shakespeare play in London.

• In reverse, theatre will be the day before.  Visit Anne Hathaway’s first.  After birthplace, the group has time to explore the town and have lunch.

• Dinner is in Stratford. After the play, transfer to Warwick. Hotel check in will be late.

 

Oxford

Set down and pick up in Beaumont St. and arrange time/place for departure. If you decide on the Martyrs Memorial impress on group that they will be making their own way back to the coach from Christchurch so to pay attention to route and find bearings, and they need to be on time. The city does not like coaches parking in this area.

Conduct your walking tour, starting at the Martyrs Memorial and finishing at Christchurch.  Point out Canterbury Gate (the back gate to Christchurch College in Oriel Sq) as you pass en route to Christchurch to help with bearings.  This is where group will exit after their visit, after which they will have free time to explore the city and have lunch.  Make sure they know the location of the meeting point. (If Martyr’s Memorial – down High Street to Carfax, then turning right up Cornmarket. The Martyrs memorial is at the far end on the right. 

Oxford – Facilities/places of interest/shopping

Oxford Tourist Office, Broad Street, 01865 656430

www.oxfordcity.co.uk

Toilets At the back of the Covered Market on Cornmarket & within Christchurch College.

Covered market (closed Sundays) places to eat, craft, souvenir shops, toilets at back of building.

St Mary’s Church:  Worth climbing the tower for a fee. 360 degree views of the dreaming spires. The café is also excellent.

En Route to Stratford

Take A44 northbound out of Oxford.  8 miles on, you drive through Woodstock.  (Royal Associations since Saxon times) and the entrance (the Triumphal Arch) to Blenheim Palace (on the left). Architect – Sir John Vanburgh.  Built for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. A gift from Queen Anne and a grateful nation after the Battle of Blenheim. The only Palace in England to be built specifically for non-Royal use.  Landscape Park – Launcelot ‘Capability’ Brown.

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 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 be ready to move. Shop at the Birthplace stocks virtually the same merchandise as at Birthplace 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. They have a card machine to process payment.

Theatre

Ensure group is aware of meeting point after the play.  There are several places coach can pull in along Waterside. Make sure you have your driver’s mobile number to liaise for the pick-up point after the play. During the course of this day there will no doubt be a driver swap.

Facilities/places of interest in Stratford

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 info 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