The Swan Fountain in the Bancroft Gardens on Waterside is the meeting place for the Stratford Town Walk. Look out for the guide (wearing a flash of yellow), standing by a lamppost with a yellow sign our company name. The route of the Town Walk may vary. Please ask the guide if you need to know the ending place of the tour.
A beautiful 16th century half-timbered building in Henley Street. It was the family home of John and Mary Shakespeare and where their son William Shakespeare was born in 1564. It was in this building where John Shakespeare established his glove-making business, where William grew up and after his marriage, lived with his wife Anne Hathaway. Hear stories of his childhood years and family life in Tudor times. (note - if you would like to visit Shakespeare's Birthplace before or after the tour, a discount is offered to Stratford Town Walk customers)
William Shakespeare purchased New Place when he was 33 years old and where he lived with his family until he died, ages 52. As you stand outside the magnificent gates, imagine the largest house in the town and find out why it was demolished in 1759.
Hall's Croft was the home of John Hall, physician who married William Shakespeare's eldest daughter Susanna. As you admire the impressive Jacobean residence, hear fascinating stories of medieval medical cures.
Holy Trinity Church, on the banks of the River Avon is one of England’s most visited Parish Churches. It is where William Shakespeare was baptised, worshipped and subsequently buried within the Chancel. As you approach along an avenue of Lime trees enjoy the magnificent building dating back to 1210.
The Guild Chapel is one of Stratford’s most iconic and important historic buildings. Dating back to 1269, it was the home of the Guild of the Holy Cross, a prominent social and religious organisation. The building contains one of the rarest series of medieval wall paintings in Europe.
William Shakespeare’s Schoolroom is a fine example of a half-timbered building dating back to the 1400’s Discover where William Shakespeare was educated and inspired to become the world’s greatest playwright. It was known as The King’s New School but is now King Edward VI Grammar School (K.E.S). Below the schoolroom is the Guildhall and in 1553 the headquarters of Stratford Borough Council. It remained the heart of civic life for over 400 years.
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre dates back to 1932. It was designed by British Architect, Elisabeth Scott who won a competition with her design. The theatre was a replacement for the 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, destroyed by fire in 1926. It is the home of the world-class Royal Shakespeare Company who perform Shakespeare’s plays to visitors from all over the world.
The Swan Theatre stands on the site of the 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, most of which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Only the library and art gallery were saved. In 1986, thanks to fundraising and generous benefactors the Swan Theatre opened within the original red-brick gothic facade.
In the 1970’s, The Other Place was a corrugated tin shed rehearsal room and studio space dedicated to new work and experimental theatre. Re-developed over the years it re-opened in 2006 as The Courtyard Theatre. It seated 1000 people and was used as a temporary theatre during the transformation of the RST and Swan Theatres. The Other Place is now a flexible and adaptable 200 seat theatre space with rehearsal rooms and costume storage.
The Town Hall, a Grade II listed building, dates back to the mid 1700’s. It stands on the site of the Market House which during the English Civil War was used as a munitions store. Unfortunately, the building was badly damaged following a gunpowder explosion. The current building was completed in 1767 and officially opened in 1769 by actor, David Garrick. Standing proudly in a niche on the front of the building is a statue of William Shakespeare, presented by David Garrick at the official opening and during the Shakespeare Jubilee.
It was in this area, in the 1400’s a High Cross was sited at the junction of High Street and Bridge Street to signify the location of a market. In the corner if High Street and Bridge Street is a small building, sometimes referred to as ‘The Cage’. The town’s jail was located beneath the building. It was also the home of William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter Judith and her husband Thomas Quiney, a vintner.
The Almshouses, known as The Guild Cottages were built by the Guild of the Holy Cross in the 1500’s for the aged and infirm of their members. The Municipal Charities of Stratford upon Avon manage the properties.
Harvard House, built in 1596 by Thomas Rogers has an elaborately carved facade, the richest in town and is testimony to Rogers’s wealth and standing. His daughter Katherine, married into the Harvard family and it was her son, John Harvard who emigrated to America and established the library around which Harvard University was built.
Once the home of Marie Corelli, famous Victorian novelist, 'Shakespeare's Champion', Stratford resident and Conservationist.
Created in 1888 by Lord Ronald Gower, the Gower Memorial sits alongside the main road into town, close to the Clopton Bridge with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre visible behind. It can be seen from the Bancroft Gardens. It comprises a statue of William Shakespeare and features the characters of Hamlet, Prince Hal, Lady Macbeth and Falstaff.
The Birmingham to Stratford Canal opened in 1816. The canal was used for transporting goods, eg coal and wood. The canal terminates in the basin where a lock can be operated to access the River Avon. These days the canal is mostly used by holiday makers.
Rother Market is the site for the weekly market held on Fridays and Saturdays.
An excellent tour and guide. Very knowledgeable about the town and its history and residents, not just Shakespeare. We would thoroughly recommend history for anyone visiting Stratford for the first time, or any time!
Great way to see the town. Josh was super knowledgeable and great fun.
The two hour walk with Kate was amazing! Informative and entertaining at the same time. Kate brought the history alive in your imagination. Highly recommended!
Kate was a wonderful guude for our walking tour on Saturday 31st Oct. She briught the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to life with the knowledge she had and stories. Thank you! The Galway couple.
Kate was a great guide, giving easy to understand explanations with enthusiasm. The route was very manageable and we learned knew and interesting facts at every stop. I would highly recommend Kate as a guide. Thank you Kate.
Great experience. Margot was fantastic. Very helpful and friendly. Would highly recommend.
Despite the rain, it was a really interesting hour. Only 5 people on the tour so it was pretty good.
Even though the weather was terrible we had a great walking tour thanks to our guide Owen. His knowledge was fantastic and was delivered with a good sense of humour, highly recommended.
Despite the awful wet weather Owen was enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
We were staying in Stratford upon Avon and booked a town walking tour. It was for 2 hours. The guide called Josh who was very welcoming. He was so knowledgeable and informative on the town and Shakespeare and his family. He made the tour very interesting, bringing in humour and relevant facts. The time just flew by and we went away knowing more than we would have done if we had done a self guided walk. It was well worth the money. Thank you Josh!
Very informative and delivered in a fun way. Thanks Georginna
I booked directly with Stratford Town Walk and received a confirmation with all the information immediately. I really enjoyed the town walk with Helen & John! We walked through different parts of town and got lots of explanations about buildings (Shakespeare related or not) and the history of the city. If I remember correctly we were 16 people, according to John the maximum number is 25.
We booked online on the day to join a tour starting at 11 am. We received prompt confirmation and joining instructions. There were 14 in total who joined the tour - a mix of UK and overseas (US) visitors. Josh our guide was welcoming, knowledgeable, eloquent with great diction and he shared his knowledge with humour. He clearly has a great love for the theatre. His knowledge is vast and his enthusiasm genuine and infectious. Joining a walking tour is a very useful introduction to a city Like Stratford upon Avon, with so much history, important buildings and anecdotes. The tour length (just under two hours) was ideal and the information we learned has given us another reason to revisit Stratford upon Avon. Thank you Josh.
There were about 10/12 people in our party and Georgina was our guide. The tour lasted for two hours and we walked round Stratford and she showed us various sights and gave useful facts and information about everything from eating and drinking, the shops, the restaurants, pubs, the flooding, to the historical sights and regarding bookings and useful tips too. The tour was of great interest and we learnt many interesting things we would never have picked up on our own, from the curious lamp posts, to owls hidden in ivy on the walls, to the twelve trees that line the Church, and we covered Stratford's old town, the new town, the obvious sites of interest relating to Shakespeare, the river and the theatre. You also get a discount to various shops/restaurants/pubs or tours. Georgina made the tour very interesting indeed, it was light hearted and still very informative. Well done Georgina !
Georgina is an excellent guide and would recommend this tour to anyone who visits Stratford for the 1st or 20th time.
Georgina was an excellent guide. Highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Stratford for the first time or for the 20th time.
Excellent small group tour with a knowledgeable guide. Very detailed and friendly. Just the right length of time
Josh was a terrific guide who kept a wonderful balance of history, humor, and leading through the town. It was a bustling saturday and we walked through dogs, singers, and even the middle of a wedding at the church! Josh soldiered through and gave the most wonderful tour - it was fascinating- and he was so knowledgeable. He cared for the group.
Excellent guide, who was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. Would recommend.
Excellent tour with a very knowledgeable guide Josh.Would definitely recommend
Owen was our guide - what a font of knowledge! Lots of interesting facts and historical information, delivered with enthusiasm for his subject and great pace. We were totally absorbed for 2 hours. Highly recommended. Fascinating!
Josh was a fantastic guide- very entertaining, knowledgeable, easy to understand and enthusiastic. The two hours flew by. The pace was alittle fast uphill in the very beginning but leveled off and there were plenty of rests while explanations were given. We always knew the route and progression so you could jump out, buy a water and reconnect. I should have brought my own water in preparation because at 69 yrs , 2 hrs is a push for me. I was so glad we chose this option though because there was nothing I would have wanted to skip. The props were worthy and added to the overall stories being told. Stratford has so much to appreciate and this was a fun, efficient way to get acclimated.
Owen led a fantastic walking tour - really fun, informative and engaging from start to end! Thanks again for making everyone feel so welcome (babies and all) and giving us a real insight into the history (and the pubs) of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Thoroughly enjoyable walk round the town with John. He is a fount of knowledge and a wonderful ambassador for the town!
Kate was a great guide, very informative but also very passionate about the history and culture of Stratford upon Avon. The pace was good for all.
We had a fantastic walking tour of Stratford upon Avon with Josh. He started on the right note with a thorough briefing on how he planned to conduct the tour, the route, the various sights to be covered and he did it all with such genuine empathy and interest. Once the tour started he kept us fully immersed with all the right details and trivia, delivered with the right passion and enthusiasm to keep us hooked. Overall a 5 on 5 kinda experience.
Very friendly and informative guides with lots of interesting facts about Stratford that I can't imagine that you'd be able to easily source elsewhere. Definitely worth 2 hours of your time!
Strongly recommended. Margot is a great and interesting guide who will make the tour very enjoyable. Go for it
Margot gave the most fantastic tour. Sbe was wonderfully knowledgeable about Shakespeare’s life and his family and the history of the town. And she brought it all marvellously to life a very accessible way. She was also very attentive to the group’s needs and although we were quite a large group there was opportunity to ask questions which she always responded to very informatively. Altogether really top-rate. We enjoyed it immensely. Highly recommended if you are curious about Stratford and Shakespeare. Thank you
The guide was knowledgeable but there are three major items I expected to see and/or tour: Shakespeare's birthplace/home, Shakespeare's Theater & Anne Hathaway's home. The theater was just pointed out, we didn't tour or stop by, we never saw Anne Hathaway's home & we finished to the tour at Shakespeare's home not touring it & unfortunately too late to buy additional tickets to tour it.
This is the second time I'm doing this. The last attempt was not saved. I would prefer that this is not posted. Just know, guide Josh was great.
We had a wonderful two hour amble around Stratford with our charming tour guide Margot and 12 others. It was a last minute decision, one of our best choices that weekend and very reasonable priced. Margot was so knowledgeable and the group had many varied questions which she answered in detail with lots of interesting anecdotes thrown in as well. We learnt so much more than we expected about the architecture, Shakespeare and his family, sanitation, earlier industries, the theatre and education. The walking pace was perfect and the walk wasn’t too lengthy as we had lots of information stops. My husband recently had a hip replacement and was able to complete the 2 hours easily. As it was almost a circular walk we could have peeled off at any time and still have learnt more than we expected! Many thanks Margot!
Margot was very knowledgeable with lots of interesting information and answers to questions along the way.
Margot was an excellent guide. Knowledgeable and entertaining, she made the tour very enjoyable.
Margot was a lovely guide and the consummate professional. She was informative and helpful, extremely well spoken and knowledgeable.
Our guide Josh was excellent, attentive to the needs of the group, very knowledgeable as well as very personable.
Excellent in every way with brilliant guide, Kate who was informative, knowledgeable and with good sense of humour.
This tour is not to miss! Our guide Kate was very knowledgeable and nice! You walk around so much of Stratford and I learned so much about the town and Shakespeare’s family! It’s about 2 hours long but it goes by in a flash it’s such a fun time filled with so much information as well as recommendations on where to visit later. I’ve definitely rearranged some plans to visit places recommended on this walk and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is visiting Stratford upon Avon
A fantastic, entertaining and fascinating walk on Saturday with Luke… an engaging and exuberant tour guide..historic facts about the town as well as all the Shakespeare bits..Fist class 10/10… Thank you.
Owen was a great guide, very knowledgeable and full of enthusiasm he clearly loves his job
We had a wonderful walk with Owen. Lots of stories, we walked past all the main sights and had an impromptu stop at the Town Hall. Definitely recommended.
Great walking tour. The guide was knowledgeable and interesting and led the tour well. We learned alot despite having visited before. Good value - would recommend.
Our guide, Georgina, made this 2-hours-plus walking tour of Stratford-upon-Avon an educational & fun event. I never heard her say anything about her background, but I suspect she's a theatre artist. She's enlightening as well as funny, speaks clearly & audibly, knows well the history of the town and its most celebrated inhabitants, and takes care to bring everyone into the conversation. For the price, this tour is an exceptional bargain. My advice is to sign up for it early in your visit to Stratford, because you'll learn about many of the important sites that you can afterwards visit at length. Entering such sites — for example, that which is known as Shakespeare's Birthplace Home — is not part of this tour. But it covers many such places from the sidewalks.
Very informative, enjoyable 2 hour tour with an extremely knowledgeable guide. Would highly recommend.
A brilliant and fact-tastic walk. Margot was entertaining, hugely knowledgeable and open to any questions as we went along. Highly recommend
Excellent value for price. Our guide Bobby was fantastic. He managed a group of 9 tourists while making the tour feel like a conversation among friends. Everything felt relaxed and much care was given to safety. I highly recommend the tour for any first time visitor to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Even if you are not passionate about Shakespeare or history it is a perfect way to get your bearings to explore the town later on your own. If you are a fan you will be treated to highlights of the towns history and fun obscure facts. If you are unsure whether to book the tour, do it!
This was an excellent tour. A full 2 hours of informative tales from Owen, with a humourous touch. Highly recommended.
Our tour guide Kate was excellent. Knowledgeable, friendly, caring and funny. We learned so much about Stratford's development over the centuries. 2 hours was about right length of time. Kate made sure the tour was accessible for my wife and we really appreciated that. Highly recommended.
Kate was a highly informative guide with strong knowledge of Shakespeare and sharing stories. It was a large group (18) and there was time for questions.
Grace was an amazing guide! Would recommend everyone do this walking tour if they are visiting Stratford Town
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