Start your Shakespeare quest at the house where the renowned playwright was born in 1564 and spent his childhood days. John Shakespeare owned the house for a period of 50 years. William, as the eldest surviving son, inherited it upon his father's death in 1601 and spent his first five years of marriage here. Behind a modern facade, the house has restored Tudor rooms, live presentations from famous Shakespearean characters and an engaging exhibition on Stratford's favourite son.
Shutterstock / gary718
Shakespeare's Birthplace
Top choice in Stratford-upon-Avon
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
7.82 MILES
Founded in 1068 by William the Conqueror, stunningly preserved Warwick Castle is Warwick's main attraction.
28.5 MILES
One of the greatest stately homes in Britain, and a Unesco World Heritage Site, Blenheim Palace is a monumental baroque fantasy, designed by Sir John…
-
26.13 MILES
Morgan has been handcrafting elegant sports cars since 1909. You can see the mechanics at work on two-hour guided tours of the unassuming shedlike…
17.1 MILES
The evocative ruins of St Michael's Cathedral, built around 1300 but destroyed by Nazi incendiary bombs in the Blitz, stand as a memorial to Coventry's…
21.5 MILES
Resembling a glittering stack of gift-wrapped presents, the Francine Houben–designed Library of Birmingham is an architectural triumph. The 2013-opened…
17.2 MILES
This stupendous museum has hundreds of vehicles, from horseless carriages to jet-powered, land-speed-record breakers. There's a brushed-stainless-steel…
0.2 MILES
When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Place, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616…
20.04 MILES
At the University of Birmingham, 3 miles south of the city centre, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts has an astonishing collection of Renaissance…
Nearby Stratford-upon-Avon attractions
0.08 MILES
Fun, hands-on exhibits at Stratford's Mechanical Art & Design Museum (aka MAD) make physics accessible for kids, who can build their own gravity-propelled…
0.1 MILES
Gifted by American publisher George W Childs in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and designed by Birmingham architect Jethro Cossins, this…
0.2 MILES
When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Place, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616…
0.22 MILES
The Guild Chapel was founded in 1269 and is painted with motivational frescoes showing the fate of the damned in the 15th and early 16th centuries…
0.23 MILES
Shakespeare's alma mater, King Edward VI School (still a prestigious grammar school today), incorporates a vast black-and-white timbered building, dating…
0.26 MILES
Aristocratic sculptor Lord Ronald Gower is the master behind this multisculpture homage to Shakespeare, which features the characters of Hamlet …
0.35 MILES
The handsome Jacobean town house belonging to Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband, respected doctor John Hall, stands south of Stratford's…
0.5 MILES
The final resting place of the Bard, where he was also baptised and where he worshipped, is said to be the most visited parish church in England. Inside…