Stratford-upon-Avon

[[file:Stratford upon Avon banner Barges.JPG}} Shops, High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon - DSC09007 - |upright=1.5|High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Stratford-upon-Avon is an historic town on the River Avon in the English county of Warwickshire, best known as the home town of the great English playwright and poet, :wikipedia:William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare. Today, it is a major theatre-going destination as the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. As such, it represents one of the most popular tourist destinations in the nation.

Although it's often abbreviated to just "Stratford", when organising transport or accommodation always refer in full to "Stratford-upon-Avon". There's a large neighborhood of London called Stratford, plus a city in Ontario, where you don't want to go by mistake.

Stratford-upon-Avon Halal Travel Guide

Note: I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.

Stratford-upon-Avon has its origins in the Saxon culture of medieval England (the name "straet-ford" indicates that it was a river crossing). For many centuries it was little more than a small market town on the road to London; even today, it has only 24,000 permanent residents. Though it has developed some industrial capacity, Stratford is now known mostly for its association with Shakespeare. The town benefits tremendously from the resulting tourism and cultural activity, and has gone to great lengths to preserve those buildings that have survived since Shakespeare's time. As a result the centre of town is quaint and attractive, drawing many thousands of tourists each year to its cultural and historical amenities.

Travel to Stratford-upon-Avon

Note: Journeys end in lovers meeting.

Note: A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!

The town is compact and most sights are in easy walking distance. However Anne Hathaway's Cottage is in Shottery, a mile west from the centre, and Mary Arden's Farm is three miles west in Wilmcote. For these either use your own car, or take the open-top bus tour, or cycle. Cyclists will also enjoy Stratford Greenway, 5 miles of traffic-free track on the edge of town.

• Stratford Bike Hire | Seven Meadows Road CV37 6GR head for Stratford Greenway ☎ +44 7711 776340 | Opening Hours: Daily 09:30-17:00 . Cycle Hire and cafe located in refurbished railway carriages.

Those unable to walk can hire a mobility scooter from Shopmobility, located on the ground floor of the Bridgefoot multi-storey vehicle park.

What to see in Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's Birthplace - Shakespeare's Birthplace Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon - Holy Trinity Church

Note: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

There are five sites closely associated with Shakespeare, and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. A combi-ticket (called "The Full Story") is best value and they can all be seen in the course of an afternoon. Three are central: Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street is the obvious starting point. In later life he bought a house at New Place - it's long been demolished, but you visit to see the garden there, and the adjoining Nash's House where his grand-daughter Elizabeth lived. His daughter Susanna married Dr John Hall, and Hall's Croft was their house. A mile west in the hamlet of Shottery is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, where she grew up before marrying Shakespeare. Three miles west in Wilmcote is Mary Arden's Farm, childhood home of Shakespeare's mother.

• Shakespeare's Birthplace - Henley Street CV37 6QW 52.193913, -1.708007 Opening Hours: April - Aug 09:00-17:00, September - Oct 09:00-16:30, November - Mar 10:00-15:30 "Full story" adult £22.50, age 3-17 £14.50, conc £21; Birthplace only £17.50, £11.50, £16.50 Shakespeare's Birthplace Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon - Sept 2012 - Probably the location of Shakespeare's birth, and definitely the home of his early years. His father was a glove-maker and town magistrate, with a spell as mayor, so this is a fairly prosperous home of the 16th century. Restored with period decor and many authentic items, and small garden.
• New Place - 22 Chapel Street CV37 6EP 52.1911, -1.70739 Opening Hours: Same hours as Birthplace "Full story" prices as Birthplace; New Place only adult £12.50, age 3-17 £8, conc £11.50 New Place Knot Garden at New Place -Stratford-upon-Avon - Substantial mansion built in 1483 and bought by Shakespeare in 1602, but it owes its present appearance (ie totally invisible) to The Rev Francis Gastrell: he so loathed Shakespeare and pesky tourists that in 1759 he demolished it. A good start, but he was run out of town before he could set about the other properties. So the site is nowadays a charming garden in Elizabethan style. The adjoining building, Nash's House, was the home of Shakespeare's grand-daughter Elizabeth, and her first husband Thomas Nash.
• Hall's Croft - Old Town CV37 6BG 52.1886, -1.70866 Opening Hours: April - Aug 10:00-17:00, September - Oct 10:00-16:30, November - Mar 11:00-15:30 "Full story" prices as Birthplace; Hall's Croft only adult £8.50, age 3-17 £5.50, conc £8. Discounts for buying online Hall's Croft Halls Croft, Stratford-upon-Avon3 - Home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband Dr John Hall. In Jacobean style, with exhibition on medical & surgical training of those times: no wonder so many patients died young.
• Holy Trinity Church - @pon-avon.org Old Town, CV37 6BG 52.186667, -1.7075 ☎ +44 1789 266316 | Opening Hours: April - Sept Monday - Saturday 09:00-18:00, Sunday 12:30-17:00; Mar & Oct Monday - Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday 12:30-17:00; November - Feb Monday - Saturday 09:00-16:00, Sunday 12:30-17:00 Donation £3 Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon - The church itself is charming in its own right, but the main attraction is the burial place of Shakespeare and his immediate family within the chancel. So you can only view it when the church is open, and as a working church, services and other functions take precedence over tourism.
• Tudor World - 40 Sheep Street 52.19163, -1.70543 ☎ +44 870 350 2770 | Opening Hours: Daily 10:30-17:30 £6 - Independent museum re-enacting life in Tudor England, set in an authentic Tudor building.
• Butterfly Farm - Swans Nest Lane CV37 7LS 52.18957, -1.7003 Opening Hours: Daily from 10:00; October - Mar till 17:00, April - September till 18:00 Adults £7.25, children 3-15 £6.25 Stratford Butterfly Farm Stratford butterfly farm gate 14a07 - - Walk-through tropical rain-forest butterfly habitat. See their life-cycles in the Caterpillar Room. In Insect City find Stick Insects, Beetles, Leaf-cutting ants and many more strange bugs. Arachnoland hosts the world's largest spider, a scorpion colony and other creepy-crawlies.
• Mechanical Art and Design (MAD) Museum - 4-5 Henley Street CV37 6PT 52.1931055, -1.7069154 ☎ +44 1789 269356 | Opening Hours: April - Sept daily 10:00-17:00, October - Mar Monday to Friday 10:30-16:30, Saturday Sunday 10:00-17:30 Adult £7.80, child 6-15 £5.20 - The MAD museum is a collection of machines incorporating gears, chains, pulleys and whirligig paraphernalia. The exhibits fall into three areas: kinetic art, automata, and steampunk. Lots of rolling balls, clanking and rattling. There are exhibits indoors and in the garden with wind and water powered features and sculptures.

Further afield

• Anne Hathaway's Cottage - 22 Cottage Lane Shottery, CV37 9HH 52.190746, -1.731924 One mile west of centre Opening Hours: Same hours as Birthplace "Full story" prices as for Birthplace; Cottage only adult £12.50, age 3-17 £8, conc £11.50Anne Hathaway's Cottage Anne Hathaways Cottage 1 (5662418953) - Thatched wattle & daub cottage, home of Anne Hathaway until she married Shakespeare. Restored with many family heirlooms on display (including their famous "second-best bed"), and surrounded with scenic gardens. Nearby vehicle park £2. Stratford city bus tour calls here.
• Mary Arden's Farm - Station Road Wilmcote CV37 6UN 52.225, -1.760 3 miles west of centre Opening Hours: April - Aug 10:00-17:00, September - Oct 10:00-16:30, closed November - Mar "Full story" prices as for Birthplace; Farm only adult £15, age 3-17 £10, conc £14 - Tudor farmstead, childhood home of Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother. Recreates farm life of the era. By bike or on foot and the lane from Stratford is busy and has no sidewalk: instead follow the canal towpath. Free parking. Stratford city bus tour calls here. Hourly slow trains between Birmingham Moor Street and Stratford-upon-Avon call at nearby Wilmcote station.
• Stratford Armouries - Gospel Oak Ln, CV37 0JA 52.2262, -1.732 ☎ +44 1789 262468 | Opening Hours: Daily 10:00-17:30 Free Stratford Armouries - - Miscellaneous collection of exhibits with a military theme.

What to Do

Royal Shakespeare Theatre 2011 - The Royal Shakespeare Theatre {{Cautionbox|All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players|author=As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7

• Royal Shakespeare Theatre - Waterside, CV37 6BB 52.190509, -1.703997 ☎ +44 1789 403493 - Royal Shakespeare Theatre - Do see a production of Shakespeare, if you possibly can. You may have had boring experiences in the past, at school or with second-rate productions, or reckon you've seen enough of it on TV. But what the Royal Shakespeare Company bring to the plays in live performance is on a whole higher dimension. They perform here and in London but don't tour very much, so this is the place to see them. They do other plays as well and muslim-friendly versions of Shakespeare, see the RSC programme. And book early! Tickets are in high demand.
• There are three RSC theatres in town, which can be toured. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre within the Waterside complex is the main space for performing Shakespeare; it has 1018 seats with a thrust stage. Also within the complex is Swan Theatre, used for performing Shakespeare's contemporaries, and Restoration and newer work. It has 426 seats around a deep thrust stage. Some 150 m south along the river is The Other Place. This has a 200-seat theatre (incorporating the former Courtyard Theatre) plus rehearsal and studio space.
• Magic Alley - Bell Court CV37 6JP off Rother Street ☎ +44 1789 290969 - £10 - Hoaky re-imagining of the "lost years of William Shakespeare" - he was a wizard, apparently - plus lots and lots of merchandising (but thankfully no Harry Potter).

• Hire a rowing boat and take a trip up and down the river.
• Stratford Town Walk is a guided sightseeing walk, daily at 11:00 plus Saturday Sunday at 14:00. The walk starts from the Swan fountain on Waterside, near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and opposite the junction of Sheep Street. The walk takes about two hours, adults £6, no booking. The same team also runs:

- Stratford Town Ghost Walk on Saturdays at 19:30 (90 mins), adults £7, book on 07855 760377 or 01789 292478.

- Cruises on the River Avon, with ghostly stories and, uh, mind-reading.

• Bannatyne Health Club & Spa - Alcester Road, Wildmoor CV37 9RJ 52.200126, -1.753709 3 kilometers west of centre on A46 ☎ +44 1789 299666 | Opening Hours: Daily 07:00-20:00 or longer - Day membership may be available.

Muslim Friendly Shopping in Stratford-upon-Avon

Note: If money go before, all ways do lie open.

Stratford sounds like an ideal place to stock up on Shakespeare... but is it? A book of the complete works of Shakespeare can be purchased online for less than £4 plus postage, a Kindle version for less than £1, and a simple text download for free. That's because the works are deemed to belong to the common legacy of the English-speaking peoples, with no copyright restrictions, and there are innumerable print editions and e-sources out there. So Old Bill could be adding class to your bookshelves long before your trip.

On most summer Sundays there is a craft-market on the Waterside. The produce isn't particularly local though.

Halal Restaurants in Stratford-upon-Avon

Note: 'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.

Stratford eating places are well geared to theatre-goers. Usually there's a pre-theatre rush at 5 pm and then it all goes quiet between 6 and 7 pm before the evening crowd starts coming in. But there's not much of a late night scene, as you'd find in London's West End or in Edinburgh.

• Kingfisher - 13 Ely Street CV37 6LW Opening from Monday to Saturday 11:30-13:45 & 17:00-22:00 - Delicious fish and chips, take-away, cash only.

• The One Elm 1 Guild Street CV37 6QZ, just off High Street (daily 11:00-23:00). Great food all day & lovely back courtyard.
• Barnabys 25 Sheep Street CV37 6EF, across the road from RSC (daily 11:00-20:00). Good affordable fish & chips and other fast food.

• Deli Cafe - 13-14 Meer Street CV37 6QB ☎ +44 1789 295 705 - Opening from Monday to Saturday 08:00-17:00 - Fast & friendly cafe serving traditional English cafe food. Low prices considering the tourist-trap surroundings. Frantic at lunch-time, but somehow they still manage to serve quickly. Chicken, leek & ham pie recommended.
• Dirty Duck / Black Swan - Waterside CV37 6BA 100 m south of RSC ☎ +44 1789 297312 +44 1789 269424 Opening Hours: Daily 10:00-00:00, food to 22:00 £14-18 - Pub with affordable food and lively thesp atmosphere: try the rhubarb pie. Part of the Greene King franchise. The sign reads "Dirty Duck" as you approach from town, "Black Swan" as you go into town from Holy Trinity Church. Note there was also a "Black Swan" on Ely St, but it's closed down.

• Baraset Barn Pimlico Lane, Alveston CV37 6RJ, 2 miles northeast of Stratford off B4086 (Monday to Saturday 11:00-23:00, Sunday 12:00-17:00). Nice gastropub.

• Sorrento Restaurant - 8 Ely Street CV37 6LW ☎ +44 1789 297 999 | Opening Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11:30-13:45 & 17:00-21.30, Saturday to 22.30 - Smart Italian restaurant, family-run with good fresh home cooked food.
• Lambs - 12 Sheep Street CV37 6EF ☎ +44 1789 292 554 | Opening Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 12:00-14:00 & 17:00-21:00 (Su from 18:00), Monday 17:00-21:00 - First rate restaurant and the lamb is excellent.

Black Swan public house on Southern Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire - The Dirty Duck: but from this direction, it's the Black Swan {{Cautionbox|Now is the woodcock near the gin.|author=Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene 5

• The One Elm: see "Eat" listing.
• Dirty Duck / Black Swan: see "Eat" listing.

eHalal Group Launches Halal Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon - eHalal Travel Group, a leading provider of innovative Halal travel solutions for Muslim travelers to Stratford-upon-Avon, is thrilled to announce the official launch of its comprehensive Halal and Muslim-Friendly Travel Guide for Stratford-upon-Avon. This groundbreaking initiative aims to cater to the diverse needs of Muslim travelers, offering them a seamless and enriching travel experience in Stratford-upon-Avon and its surrounding regions.

With the steady growth of Muslim tourism worldwide, eHalal Travel Group recognizes the importance of providing Muslim travelers with accessible, accurate, and up-to-date information to support their travel aspirations to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Halal and Muslim-Friendly Travel Guide is designed to be a one-stop resource, offering an array of invaluable information on various travel aspects, all carefully curated to align with Islamic principles and values.

The Travel Guide encompasses a wide range of features that will undoubtedly enhance the travel experience for Muslim visitors to Stratford-upon-Avon. Key components include:

Halal-Friendly Accommodations inStratford-upon-Avon: A carefully selected list of hotels, lodges, and vacation rentals that cater to halal requirements, ensuring a comfortable and welcoming stay for Muslim travelers in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Halal Food, Restaurants and Dining in Stratford-upon-Avon: A comprehensive directory of restaurants, eateries, and food outlets offering halal-certified or halal-friendly options in Stratford-upon-Avon, allowing Muslim travelers to savor local cuisines without compromising their dietary preferences in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Prayer Facilities: Information on masjids, prayer rooms, and suitable locations for daily prayers in Stratford-upon-Avon, ensuring ease and convenience for Muslim visitors in fulfilling their religious obligations.

Local Attractions: An engaging compilation of Muslim-friendly attractions, cultural sites such as Museums, and points of interest in Stratford-upon-Avon, enabling travelers to explore the city's rich heritage while adhering to their values.

Transport and Logistics: Practical guidance on transportation options that accommodate Muslim travel needs, ensuring seamless movement within Stratford-upon-Avon and beyond.

Speaking about the launch, Irwan Shah, Chief Technology Officer of eHalal Travel Group in Stratford-upon-Avon, stated, "We are thrilled to introduce our Halal and Muslim-Friendly Travel Guide in Stratford-upon-Avon, a Muslim friendly destination known for its cultural richness and historical significance. Our goal is to empower Muslim travelers with accurate information and resources, enabling them to experience the wonders of Stratford-upon-Avon without any concerns about their faith-based requirements. This initiative reaffirms our commitment to creating inclusive and memorable travel experiences for all our clients."

The eHalal Travel Group's Halal and Muslim-Friendly Travel Guide for Stratford-upon-Avon is now accessible on this page. The guide will be regularly updated to ensure that Muslim travelers have access to the latest information, thus reinforcing its status as a reliable companion for Muslim travelers exploring Stratford-upon-Avon.

About eHalal Travel Group:

eHalal Travel Group Stratford-upon-Avon is a prominent name in the global Muslim travel industry, dedicated to providing innovative and all-inclusive travel solutions tailored to the needs of Muslim travelers worldwide. With a commitment to excellence and inclusivity, eHalal Travel Group aims to foster a seamless travel experience for its clients while respecting their religious and cultural values.

For Halal business inquiries in Stratford-upon-Avon, please contact:

eHalal Travel Group Stratford-upon-Avon Media: info@ehalal.io

Muslim Friendly Hotels

Note: Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed The dear repose for limbs with travel tired

Reliable mid-range chain hotels in Stratford-upon-Avon include Mercure, Premier Inn, Best Western and Crowne Plaza.

• Virginia Lodge, 12 Evesham Place CV37 6HT: a nice B&B about 5 minutes' walk to Stratford town centre.
• YHA Hostel Alveston has basic dorms in a grand Georgian villa, 2 miles northeast of Stratford off B4086 Wellesbourne Road in Alveston.

• Arden Hotel - Waterside CV37 6BA facing RSC Theatre B&B from £250 / night - Luxury at this boutique hotel with large elegant rooms and excellent restaurant. Free parking.
• Ettington Chase - Banbury Road, Ettington CV37 7NZ 52.133674, -1.600131 7 miles southeast from Stratford on A422 towards Banbury ☎ +44 1789 740000 Checkin - 2pm / Check-out: 11am From £52 per day - 4-star hotel in Victorian manor, often booked out to conferences.

Explore more Halal friendly Destinations from Stratford-upon-Avon

Note: There is a world elsewhere.

Map of places with articles nearby

• Warwick (England)|Warwick – One of Britain's most famous and best preserved castles.
• Wellesbourne – Large village known for its airfield and close to Charlecote Park, a manor house and deer park that William Shakespeare poached in.
• The hills to the south are the Cotswolds, with a series of charming villages.
• Cheltenham to the south of the Cotswolds, and Royal Leamington Spa on the railway line north of Stratford, are elegant spa towns.
• Oxford to the south-east is a must-see.
• Head for Birmingham for big city attractions.

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