54401NOR
Warwick Castle visit & lunch
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. Check times for the Archery & other displays.
- Ring castle with an E.T.A. The tickets will be waiting for you.
- 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.
Castle Donnington Services. Exit the M1 at junction 24 and follow the A453 for about 1 mile, parallel to the M1. You rejoin the M1 at junction 23A, after your rest stop.
Warwick Castle
This is a superb visit. So much to see and do. Try to maximize your time here.
Set down in coach park. Arrange time/place for departure. Assemble group in group-holding area outside the courtyard whilst you pay, collect individual tickets and maps. Once through the turn-styles, walk group down the hill and into the main courtyard. Point out the various exhibitions and attractions.
Currently the attractions within the castle are:
1. The Time Tower
2. The Castle Dungeon (£9 optional extra)
3. Tower and Ramperts
4. Grounds and Gardens
5. Secrets and Scandals of the Royal Weekend Party
6. The Princess Tower (free but timed ticket aimed at 3-8 years)
7. The Grand Interiors
8. The Kingmaker
Add-on tickets can be purchased, if so inclined, from a tent in the central courtyard. It is best to check all these details before the beginning of your tour so that group leader can be informed. www.warwick-castle.com
Dungeon ticket is timed admission. If purchasing on the day be aware there may not be slots available that suit you visit time. Also Warwick website states Dungeon walk through takes 50 minutes.
Restaurants are opposite ticket desk and in the undercroft – nice food, but pricey.
Sandwich and BBQ stalls in castle grounds during summer.
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 (now 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 move. Shop at the Birthplace stocks exactly the same merchandise as at Cottage.
Shakespeare Centre and Birthplace
Set down in Birthplace Coach Park (Windsor St.). Walk group to Centre and Birthplace (Henley St.). Warn them to take care when crossing Windsor Street. Pay with voucher in the centre. Small exhibition, then through gardens and into the house and shop. At height of season can become crowded and there is often a queue for the house. Remind groups tha once they exit the gift shop they can’t return.
Ensure group is aware of meeting points/times for dinner before they disperse for free time. A good place to meet after the visit is the Jester statue (top of Henley St.).
Holy Trinity
Entrance fee – Groups must be pre-booked in.
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.
Facilities/places of interest in Stratford
Tourist Information Office, Bridgefoot
www.discover-stratford.com – A great resource for info, ideas, booking etc.
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
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 (opposite Barclays bank).
Cash-points – All major High Street Banks.
Ghost Tours – https://stratfordtownwalk.co.uk/ghost-walk/
For groups staying in central Stratford, dinner will be at the hotel.
Warwick Castle
This is a superb visit. So much to see and do. Try to maximize your time here.
Set down in coach park. Arrange time/place for departure. Assemble group in group-holding area outside the courtyard whilst you pay, collect individual tickets and maps. Once through the turn-styles, walk group down the hill and into the main courtyard. Point out the various exhibitions and attractions.
Currently the attractions within the castle are:
1. The Time Tower
2. The Castle Dungeon (£9 optional extra)
3. Tower and Ramperts
4. Grounds and Gardens
5. Secrets and Scandals of the Royal Weekend Party
6. The Princess Tower (free but timed ticket aimed at 3-8 years)
7. The Grand Interiors
8. The Kingmaker
Add-on tickets can be purchased, if so inclined, from a tent in the central courtyard. It is best to check all these details before the beginning of your tour so that group leader can be informed. www.warwick-castle.com
Dungeon ticket is timed admission. If purchasing on the day be aware there may not be slots available that suit you visit time. Also Warwick website states Dungeon walk through takes 50 minutes.
Restaurants are opposite ticket desk and in the undercroft – nice food, but pricey.
Sandwich and BBQ stalls in castle grounds during summer.
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 (now 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 move. Shop at the Birthplace stocks exactly the same merchandise as at Cottage.
For groups staying a little way out of town, dinner will be also at the hotel, and will include transfers back to the hotel after theatre, if included.
For groups staying out of town (e.g. in Warwick), dinner will be at a restaurant in Stratford. Hotel check-in will most likely be at the end of the
Evening.
