A Stratford-Upon-Avon Mini Break
As a surprise birthday gift for my partner, I planned a mini break to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. My partner had listened to this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OY1RDe8Yg which piqued his interest in the church where Shakespeare was buried (Holy Trinity Church). It’s been on his travel wishlist for a while, and what better time to tick it off than as a birthday present?
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| Shakespeare's birthplace |
Trip Details
It just so happened that there was a hotel offer on Voyage Prive for the Burnside Hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon, which cost around £80 in total for one night. It was within an easy walk into central (20 minutes), but was far out enough for a nice and quiet stay. The staff here were really friendly and helpful, giving us lots of suggestions, and one great perk was breakfast being brought up to the bedroom. The only downside was that our room was directly above the kitchen fans, so these were quite loud in the evening (until 10PM) and morning (starts at 6AM).
The train journey from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon and back was probably the most painful. In total, it was around two hours long and cost a lot more than we had expected (£110 in total for both of us). We set out from Marylebone, with one change at Leamington Spa, and then took an Uber from the train station to the hotel (10 minutes drive).
Weather station outside Burnside Hotel
Day 1
Due to the long train journey, we didn’t get into Stratford until 8PM. We took an Uber from the station to the hotel and checked in, unpacking some of our stuff in the room. We had a dinner reservation for a restaurant called Loxley’s Restaurant & Wine Bar, which had high praises from the hotel staff. Note that the dress code is business casual, definitely a good excuse to get nice and dressed up! The staff were excellent here, setting out a birthday card on the table and bringing us prosecco (pre-ordered via email) as soon as we sat down.
Food:
Starters - King scallops and duck liver pate
Main - Chateaubriand steak with double cooked chips, sweet potato fries, sprouting broccoli, peppercorn sauce
We decided to walk back to the hotel after dinner, which was nice but a little bit eerie due to the streets not being very lit up. Back in the room, they had Chrome cast which meant that we could unwind with some “The Americans”.
Duck liver pate at Loxleys
Day 2
As mentioned in the trip details, we had breakfast brought up to the room in the room which consisted of cereal, orange juice, fruit muffins, croissants, and fruit pots. After this, we checked out of the hotel (originally 10:30AM, but we paid for late check out at 11:30AM instead).
We got an Uber from the hotel to the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare’s grave stone was. I was very impressed with the way the church set up the free tour inside the church, with QR codes posted around all of the main attractions for you to scan on your phone and pull up additional information. There was also staff located in different sections of the church to tell you more about certain sections of the church. One interesting thing we learned was that the church wasn’t built straight, so if you look down the centre (near the main entrance of the church), you can see that Shakespeare’s grave section is at an angle.
Holy Trinity Church - Inside
One of our main motivations for visiting the church was to confirm Brian Moriarity’s observation of the King James Bible display. Unfortunately, this book is regularly used throughout the year, so the page that Moriarity’s talk referred to wasn’t on display when we went. However, the church itself was still a beautiful place to explore.
Holy Trinity Church - Outside
After the church, we took a walk alongside the river Avon and back into town to have a look at Shakespeare’s schoolroom and guildhall. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we weren’t able to have a look inside.
We had a small snack at The Cornish Bakery, before booking a ticket online for The MAD Museum (tickets only available online at the moment due to COVID-19) which worked out to be £15 for the both of us. We really enjoyed spending about an hour and a half in this museum, looking at all the mechanical art and designs. My favourite was the Patent Pooch Mood Meter, which features a dog on the toilet going from docile to berserk!
Finally to finish off our trip, we had all day breakfast at Boston Tea Party, grabbed a drink at the Old Thatch Tavern, and made our way to the train station.
The Boss Breakfast from Boston Tea Party
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