At Market Cross you will see one of the original Market Halls - dating back to 1500AD and the place that John Shakespeare often used to trade his artisan gloves. Across the road is Judith Shakespeare's house - and there lies another torrid tale!
This is our third stop and here we showcase the living conditions of the very fortunate young William Shakespeare, born as he was into a prosperous Tudor family. The house dates from the early 1500's and is now a living museum.
At the top of Sheep Street is a junction we call History Corner - as within sight are buildings that span five centuries. These include the birthplace of John Harvard, the founding father of Harvard University, as well as another Tudor era pub, now called The Garrick Inn.
Originally built in 1483, Shakespeare bought his huge retirement pad in 1597. The largest house in town with a history almost as colourful as that of William's father, John.
Nearing the end of our tour you will visit the Guild Chapel - part of the towns original seat of power which dates back to 1269. The Guild Chapel is Free to enter and has its own absolutely fascinating history. Shakespeare's schoolroom is right next door and we'll see that too!
The Guild, itself founded in 1269, started a school in 1295 that exists to this day. William Shakespeare attended it in the late 1500's, gaining a superb education. It is now a living museum.
See the amazing C13th church in which William Shakespeare was both christened and then 52 years later buried. A beautiful setting above the river and a lovely stroll back to the theatres.
We finish back at our our original starting point, the RST. Your Guide will be happy any questions you may have to help you to optimise your visit to our wonderful town.
Our guide Peter was very good. He was knowledgeable and thorough without being boring(!) and my friend and I enjoyed the walk despite the drizzly weather conditions. We learnt a lot about William Shakespeare and pleasantly surprised to hear about the RSC theatre’s viewing tower which we used immediately after the tour!!
We really enjoyed our walking tour. Peter was a fabulous guide, friendly, knowledgeable and engaging, sharing lots of interesting information without ever overwhelming us. We covered a lot of ground and came away feeling we'd learned so much about Stratford-upon-Avon. A brilliant way to explore the town and we would highly recommend it!
Peter was on time,friendly and knowledgeable and provided an engaging and interesting tour and talk.
My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour of Stratford with Rachel! She was knowledgeable, friendly, and fun to listen to. We had a lot of questions, which she answered while working in even more information. Five stars!
Great tour at an easy pace. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. Covered all the main sites and more
Peter was a great guide. He was very pleasant and had wonderful insight and stories along the tour. Well worth it.
Very nice tour. Gave you a sense of the town. Learned about town and Shakespeare and his family. Easy walk.
Very informative and fun tour covering all the major sites and history relating to Shakespeare and Stratford. Rachel was very personable and had an amazing depth of knowledge. She also had some good recommendations of places to visit after the tour.
An excellent trip with a helpful guide who knew lots of information about Shakespeare. We had a leisurely walk around Stratford upon Avon experiencing all the history of the streets, and the beauty of the historic market town.
I recently took the 90-minute guided walking tour of Stratford-upon-Avon with Peter, and it was a real highlight of my visit. Peter gave us a fantastic potted history of the town, weaving in fascinating details about what life was like here in Shakespeare's time. As we walked, he pointed out the different buildings we passed and brought their stories to life. The tour struck a lovely balance between being informative and entertaining — even including an obligatory (and suitably spooky) ghost story! The pace was just right too, giving us enough time to properly take in the scenery and soak up the atmosphere of the town without ever feeling rushed. Highly recommend this tour if you want a genuinely engaging introduction to Stratford-upon-Avon, with a knowledgeable and personable guide in Peter. Would happily recommend to anyone visiting the town.
Peter, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. Well worth the money. I would recommend this tour.
Peter is a really excellent guide. He has a great knowledge of the history of Stratford upon Avon and William Shakespeare. From his birth place to the church where he is buried. We were shown all the oldest historical sites in the town plus the theatres We spent a really pleasant 1 hour and a half with Peter We recommend this tour
Very knowledgeable guide really enjoyed the walk and the insights to Stratford Upon Avon, we have visited here for 30+ but still learnt things we didn’t don’t know
You have to walk n listen, walk some more n walk again n walk n listen until you have 100 characters at least
Excellent tour of Stratford Upon Avon. Our guide, Rachel was an extremely knowledgeable and very friendly and pointed out many fascinating sights which we would never have noticed by ourselves.
Had a wonderful tour with Peter who was very knowledgeable, found us plenty of shade on the hottest day of the year, would highly recommend
A really interesting and useful walking tour around Stratford Upon Avon. I would definitely recommend this company and our guide, Peter was really knowledgeable and entertaining as well.
The tour was cancelled last minute during to staff sickness. I understand that these things happen, however, at such sort notice with no other option offered this left me and my 98 year old father having to sort something ourselves. Rather disappointed 😞
Glenda met us at the start point. She was a very knowledgeable woman the walk talk tour was very enjoyable and kept it very interesting and informative. Would highly recommend this tour Glenda was a very nice friendly lady
Excellent, amusing history walking tour of Stratford. Stories of the buildings, the people and the atmosphere from 800 AD to the present. Glenda was an excellent guide who made sure that I in my mobility scooter was included and comfortable. Thanks.
Excellent informative walking tour with a small group. Our tour guide Kate was interesting and very knowledgeable.
The tour is excellent, loads of facts and interesting details of Stratford on Avon town and its old buildings. The walking pace suited the group with particular attention to individual needs.
We loved this tour with Richard! He was knowledgeable and engaging and we learnt so much about Stratford and its history. We loved hearing about how the town had evolved and why the streets got their names. Fascinating from start to finish - an afternoon well spent and very good value. Would recommend to anyone!
Excellent knowledge and delivery. Our guide, Christa, was very quick to assess the level of interest in our small group, to meet our expectations and to respond to all our questions. It was excellent value and I would highly recommend the tour and Christa.
Lots of informative chat and lots of walking. Our guide certainly knew her stuff and clearly enjoyed her work.
The tour is extremely informative regarding the history of the town as well as an overview of its present day layout.Christa, the tour guide is excellent. She is both informative and charming. She readily answers all questions by her guest. I really appreciate her ability to weave in her personal experiences into her narrative highly recommend this tour. It will provide insights into Stratford-upon-Avon beyond Shakespeare.
We had the pleasure of having Kate as our tour guide and she was brilliant from start to finish. She was prompt and organised which immediately put us at ease and her knowledge of the town's history was both impressive and engaging. What really stood out to us was the attention to detail - she didn't just give the big picture of Shakespeare's life and town's heritage, but also included lots of small, fascinating details which really brought the history to life. On top of that she also sprinkled in lots of quirky and fun facts along the way which made the experience more memorable. If you're visiting I'd highly recommend booking a tour with her - you'll come out not just informed but also smiling!! ☺️
Glynda was a very knowledgeable and engaging guide. She answered all our questions fully and brought the subject to life with a good sense of humour. We especially enjoyed her insights into how the origins of many everyday words and phrases go back to Shakespeare’s time. Her deep knowledge and passion for the subject made the tour both informative and entertaining.
We loved our guided tour led by Glinda. She was such an enthusiastic and engaging lady, who brought the history of Stratford to life. We learned so much about the market town, its buildings and of course William Shakespeare. We thoroughly recommend it.
Kate is a delightful and informative tour guide. She was engaging and knowledgeable. My husband rates her tour of Stratford as one of the highlights of our trip to England. We highly recommend!
Walking around Stratford with Kate was a great experience. She impressed us with her knowledge and told many very interesting anecdotes about Shakespeare’s life.
Kate was very friendly and knowledgeable She spoke of William and her town with great passion we really enjoyed the experience. Thank you
Absolutely amazing! Highly talented cast. Unique and enterprising script. Certainly not to be missed whether you’re 6 or 60 years old! Well done Attic Theatre! Another memorable show!
Marcus was superb - he shared his thorough knowledge of the town and although we have visited many times he pointed out many aspects we were unaware of . We enjoyed a very interesting couple of hours and would wholeheartedly recommend this tour . Thank you Marcus !
Our tour guide, unfortunately, I don’t remember her name, was wonderful. Very personable and very detailed on the history of Stratford-upon-Avon. She gave us quite a bit of history of the town along with history of William Shakespeare, of course. I enjoyed that she had a great sense of humor along with being very patient with her guests. I would highly recommend this walking tour if you ever come to this town. It gives you a very good full overview in a couple of hours.
Krista was an incredible tour guide. She weaved in Stratford-upon-Avon history, architecture, and Shakespeare all in a 1.5-hour tour. I learned so much and highly recommend the experience!
Kate was very informative and knowledgeable and made the talk and walk enjoyable with a good mix of humour and information. Would definitely recommend to others, thank you
Christa was very knowledgeable and made the your come to life. Really pleased we decided to do the tour - makes sense of the journey of Stratford Upon Avon
Really informative and enjoyable. Guide knew lots of information and was friendly and welcoming. Gave an excellent overview of the area and lots of tips of other things to do and see.
Super tour of the centre of Stratford upon Avon with all the key places relating to Shakespeare. Kate was our guide and she was very knowledgeable about the history. Really good introduction to the town. Would highly recommend.
A wonderful tour with Christa! We enjoyed all of the details and historical anecdotes. She brought Stratford upon Avon alive for us and gave us a good orientation to set out on our own for the day. (A note for Harvard alums—make sure to stop by the John Harvard House. They will welcome you in and have you sign the historic guest book.)
Christa was a super informative, entertaining and passionate guide. We got a great overview of Stratford Upon Avon that we supplemented with a guided tour inside Shakespeare’s school.
This tour was great for providing historical context for all of the sites we visited. I was only in town for a day trip, and this tour made me want to come back to visit all of the Shakespeare spots I missed.
Great introduction to Stratford Upon Avon. Our guide was fabulous from start to finish. She was informative, with interesting facts.
It was amazing and me and friend both fell in love with the town. The Guide was fantastic (please don't let her retire). It was as if she living back in that time when Shakespeare was alive and even we felt it too. I am so glad I booked this tour. Thank you ever so much and please stay on as an amazing tour guide xx 💕
A wonderful guided tour by someone who is truly knowledgeable! It was all fascinating and has enriched my visit to Stratford-upon- Avon. Thank you Christa!
We had an excellent tour today and our guide had lots of history and tidbits on the area. She paid attention to everyone including a 2 1/2 year old.
Excellent walking tour with our guide, Kate. She was so knowledgeable and answered numerous questions from everyone. We also got a few little anecdotes that you won't see in the guidebooks, and restaurant recommendations. Such good value for money, I can't recommend this walk enough.
A great tour, Kate was very knowledgeable and gave great information about the history of the town and district right up to present day. It felt like a stroll with your favourite aunt!
Wonderful informative tour. We enjoyed learning about the history of Stratford Upon Avon. We were able to get to know the area quickly and appreciate it more thoroughly.
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