Stratford on Avon - Shakespeare's Home Town

According to my British friends, the best place to find Americans in the United Kingdom Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the right of everyone to be a little ironic. They are totally immersed in Shakespeare from an early age - when they still do not know.

For the rest of us who visit the birthplace of the man regarded by many as the greatest writer of the English language has produced, is a fantastic day, about two and a half hours - by train or car - in the North West London. Although you can take in:

  * Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the picture. Pre-marital home of Shakespeare's wife is actually about a mile outside of Stratford in Shottery.

  * Place of birth of Shakespeare, the most visited literary reference in the UK. You can see the room of the Bard was born in.

  * Nash House, the site of Shakespeare's nursing homes, a garden and now, in a nearby house, an exhibition about Shakespeare's later years.

 * House of Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother, the beautiful Tudor house.

* Croft Hall, home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter, Susannah, and her rich and successful doctor husband.

* Holy Trinity Church, burial place of Shakespeare and a beautiful medieval church in its own right.


Of course, Shakespeare is not about bricks and mortar, and a visit to Stratford is not complete without taking in a play or two at the Royal Shakespeare Theater. Even if you always wondered what all the fuss is about, it is imaginative and sometimes irreverent style open eyes.