Shakespeare's Birthplace

Shakespeare's Birthplace was a cool tourist spot to visit! Since I'm studying Shakespeare, it was really nice to walk through his birthplace. The gardens outside were gorgeous. The gift shop was also fantastic (One thing about me, I love a good gift shop).

Did you ever think about visiting Shakespeare's Birthplace? You might want to!
I had a chance of experiencing this little British town when I took a day trip from London to the countryside.
The town is small but beautiful, and full of historical buildings.
The house where Shakespeare was born, not so much like anything you might think, but very simple little house.

Great stop to visit and tour. We were there on a day where there weren't huge crowds, so very enjoyable.

It's well done up. There are tour experts located in each room of the house to help you understand context. It's pretty amazing that this has survived through the years in such good shape.

Once you tour the house, the courtyard has actors who will recite parts of whatever Shakespeare play you name. If your tongue is tied, you can sit and be entertained by their choice.

My hubs and I visited this site as a part of a small group tour from London on our last day in Europe.

It is maintained as part of a trust and functions as a museum with staff/volunteers who work inside and share information about the property and history and times of the place. The staff were friendly and provided loads of intimate details about the life of the Shakespeare family as this was the home of William Shakespeare's parents and the one he grew up in and lived in with his wife when they first got married.

There was an actor outside who would perform the lines of some of the plays for those who came outside and sat in the garden out back. He seemed to know most everything and would perform for you upon request from your favorite play.

The garden is small, but very quaint and cute. The on-site gift shop was well-stocked and had some very cute little items inside.

One of the things I liked most was visiting the open-air market a few blocks down that featured a bunch of local artists with things like paper crafts, macaroons, cards, soaps, art, etc.

We're here because we are part of a tour group of Great Britain, and seeing Shakespeare's Birthplace was part of that package.

We've been walking around the city after our meal, now we're here and I needed so bad to use the restroom. While our Tour Director, gets in line for our ticket, I asked a man standing by the door, that I'm part of a group . . . and could I go in to use the restroom. I was told, there are two, one inside and the other in the garden. Our group just entered, and I start to look for the restroom, even our Tour Director came by to tell them, but they all pointed to 'use the one in the garden'. The group was about to sit down to watch a film, while I rushed outside, & find the restroom in the garden, which took a long good walk (in the rain), and back. By the time I got back, the film was done, and now they're walking TO THE GARDEN, and I've already been there. Right now, I'm tired & just want to sit down, but instead they're heading inside to his birthplace for a self-guided tour after a few mins. of explanation about the room, or you can ask questions. This is why I'm giving them 1 star less. The film, if I was there to watch, would have made me understand more about the house. I absolutely learned very little!

After the tour inside, there are seats in the courtyard where 3 actors performed several scenes from Shakepeare's plays.

I have to confess - this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. To enter Shakespeare's house - you have to go into a more modern building that has you go through a series of video presentations -- which I skipped because I had to go to the bathroom and when I came out, my mother was NOT waiting for me and I soon had 20 year olds getting on radios looking for my "lost mother" like I was a five year old. Actually, it was pretty funny - especially since my mother blends in quite well with all the other short, grey haired ladies of a certain age in this part of England -- go figure, she's half English.

The actual Shakespeare house was really nicely done -- lots of period artifacts and the rooms set up like the residents were just there or about to return. The garden is quite nice and there are people doing monologues by request -- I was very impressed with them (what a great summer job for an acting buff!).

Overall - Stratford-Upon-Avon is basically Shakespeare Disneyland -- the whole area around Shakespeare's birthplace is set up as a pedestrian mall with shopping, shopping, shopping everywhere.

We did the tour of some of the other houses -- and then ended up at the cemetery. I thought that the best part of our visit to Stratford was sitting on a bench next to my mom, gravestones behind us, watching the boats go by on the river, while we enjoyed a picnic. That was really relaxing and nice.

Shakespeare's compositions are considered the greatest body of work in the history of the English language.
His home is a 16th century structure that has been restored.
There are guides available to educate you, and the garden is done very well.

What a brilliant place to visit!
The entry fee is a bit steep at almost £17, but the ticket is good for entry to three buildings from Shakespeare's time and is valid for a full year, so it's definitely worth it. Though I do have to say that you have to be interested in the subject to make it worth it, information isn't just handed to you, you'll need to work for it!

The whole thing starts off with an exhibition in the newer building that gives you lots of information about Shakespeare's life, family, work and cultural significance.
I especially liked the cultural significance exhibit which featured a lot of modern media, including modern musicians, films, even clips from the Simpsons, to show how wide spread and inspirational his works are.

Inside the house itself there are several guides/actors in costume, here's where you have to put some work in. They'll give you little speeches about the room, architecture, time period, people who lived here etc, but you'll have to ask questions if you want some really interesting tid bits. Everyone I talked to was super knowledgeable and friendly and open to any and all questions regarding the house and times. While a lot of things aren't in their original state, great care was taken to use materials and techniques of the time to recreate what it would most likely have looked like.
The costumed actors/guides really make this place and seem eager to engage in conversation. Several of them offered to act out scenes from the plays as well, which is fantastic.

There's also a beautiful garden out back and a nice little gift shop with mostly reasonable prices.

There's not a lot to see when it comes to his birthplace town. Most of his best work came when he moved to London and started the legendary Globe Theater . Still, a nice little town filled with memories of the Bard. Best seen on a day Tour...you'll really see all you need in a few hours.

This was a cute museum though it was a bit confusing to locate with all of the different "Shakespeare" places. We went to his "new place" first thinking it was the birthplace.......there aren't signs and google maps led us astray. We only were able to have 45 minutes to go through the museum due to this detour. We rushed through the first bit, some props of Shakespeare's day. The highlight of the attraction was the actors who performed for us. And just us. It was a little awkward because we were in the garden when someone yelled, "hey, you don't want to miss the show! It's just about to start!" We scurried inside to a room of empty plastic chairs and two phenomenal actors who greeted us and said they'd perform whatever we wanted. It was quite impressive! They knew anything from all the plays though they were new. I just didn't know when or if to applaud! At one point, I thought the actor was talking to me but she was acting. Awkward....
Next, we went through Shaksey P's actual home. It was nice; we learned a lot. We walked into the children's bedroom and I started to say something only to be cut off by a lady eerily sitting in the corner. I swear she wasn't there before. (haunted??) We learned about why a nightmare is called a nightmare and where the saying "the right side of the bed" came from. I won't spoil that for you...go see for yourself! ;)