The cottage from outside
The thatch, the leaning walls and the flower beds in front are the most photographed view in Stratford; shoot it from the front garden early, before the crowds.
Richard Peat — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Edmund F. Arras — Public domain · SGDWN — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom — CC BY 2.0
The picture on every Stratford postcard is not Shakespeare's house but his wife's. Anne Hathaway's Cottage sits in the village of Shottery, a mile west of the town centre: a thatched, crooked-walled former farmhouse that the Hathaway family occupied without a break from 1542 until 1911, before the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which had bought it in 1892 while they were still living there, turned it into what you see today. The oldest part dates from 1463, roughly a century before Shakespeare was born; the upper floor was added by Anne's brother Bartholomew between 1610 and 1624. Inside are twelve small, low-ceilinged rooms with a vast hearth, a wooden settle on which the young William is said to have sat while courting Anne, and a family bed that survived the centuries. Be honest with yourself about the house: the tour takes about twenty minutes, and the stair to the upper floor is narrow and steep, so it is no place for pushchairs or anyone unsteady on their feet. The gardens are the real reason to come. Laid out in 1920 on the advice of the horticulturist Ellen Willmott, with flowers and herbs named in Shakespeare's plays, they spread into an orchard, a giant willow sculpture, a sculpture trail drawn from his works and a short woodland walk that children love. All of which means: pick a dry day. In the rain the place loses half its charm. A standalone adult ticket is £17 at the door, or £15 booked online; children aged 3 to 17 pay half and under-threes go free. Better value, if you are also seeing Shakespeare's Birthplace in town, is to add the cottage to that ticket for just £5 per adult, and tickets booked online are valid for twelve months. Pre-booking is recommended rather than compulsory, but it spares you the queue in July and August. Getting here is straightforward: a signed footpath from central Stratford takes about twenty-five minutes across the fields, or use the hop-on hop-off bus, or drive to the paid car park on Cottage Lane beside the cottage. It opens daily from 16 March to 1 November, 10:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, then from 2 November to 23 December, 10:00 to 16:00, and closes after that until 16 March. If you are passing through Stratford for a few hours, the Birthplace in town is enough; if you have half a day and children who need grass to run on, this is the place.
The thatch, the leaning walls and the flower beds in front are the most photographed view in Stratford; shoot it from the front garden early, before the crowds.
Flowers and herbs named in his plays, planted since 1920, alongside an orchard, a giant willow sculpture and a sculpture trail drawn from his works.
The wooden bench beside the hearth where the young William is said to have sat wooing Anne, the best-known object in the house.
22 Cottage Lane, Shottery, CV37 9HH
Shakespeare's Schoolroom & GuildhallThis building does not admit visitors before eleven in the morning on any day of20 minutes walk4.8
Guild ChapelIn the Stratford corporation accounts for 1563-64 there is a small entry paying 20 minutes walk4.8
Shakespeare's BirthplaceIn 1847 the American showman P. T. Barnum threatened to buy this house, take it 21 minutes walk4.6
Shakespeare's New PlaceThere is no house. Know that before you walk down Chapel Street: the home Shakes21 minutes walk4.4
Holy Trinity ChurchUnder a plain stone slab at the east end of this church, William Shakespeare has21 minutes walk4.5If you only have a few hours in Stratford, the Birthplace is enough; the interior here is small and the tour takes about twenty minutes. With half a day and dry weather, though, the gardens, sculpture trail and woodland walk make it a genuinely pleasant family outing, and adding it to the Birthplace ticket costs just £5.
The gardens, absolutely: there is grass to run on, a giant willow sculpture and a sculpture trail to follow. Expect to leave the pushchair outside the cottage, though, as the doorways are narrow and the stair to the upper floor is steep. Avoid wet days, when the paths turn muddy and all the fun is outdoors anyway.