48 Hours In Stratford-upon-Avon

Brush up your Shakespeare and enjoy a winter's trail in the Bard's birthplace

Why go now?

It's a long time until Midsummer's Night, but meanwhile The Merry Wives of Windsor are alive and well and living at the Swan Theatre in Stratford. And Adrian Noble's interpretation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe runs until 9 February at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (0870 609 1110, www.rsc.org.uk, for both theatres). As the RSC's outgoing chief executive, Adrian Noble recently risked banishment to Narnia over his plans to knock down the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and create a Shakespeare village on the banks of the Avon. Get there while the original Sixties theatre is still standing. A winter visit means lower prices and fewer crowds.

Beam down

Stratford-upon-Avon is south of Warwick and the M40. Trains arrive at the town's station from Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street (£7.40 return, 50 minutes), with some through trains from London Paddington (£23.30 return, 2 hours 10 mins). Otherwise, you are likely to have to change at Leamington Spa. From the station it's a 10-minute walk into the town centre.

Get your bearings

The town grew up as an important river crossing from the forest of Arden to the north to the rich arable lands to the south. Today, Stratford is an odd mix of high-brow theatre and low-brow theme park. It won't take you long to familiarise yourself with its main streets. The tourist information centre (01789 293127, www.thisisstratford-upon-avon.co.uk, open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm) is set apart from the centre of town.

Check in

You can book an all-inclusive package with RSC Short Breaks (020-8758 4799), which provides two nights accommodation and theatre tickets for as little as £108 per person. Winter bargains are to be found at the four-star Shakespeare Hotelon Chapel Street (0870 400 8182). It has quasi-Elizabethan furnishings, and is a five-minute stroll to the theatre. Double rooms cost £90 for one night, £140 for two nights, including breakfast. Ask at the tourist information office about the many B&Bs. One of the more inviting is Parkfieldat 2 Broad Walk (01789 293313). A double room costs £48. The excellent youth hostel (0870 770 6052, stratford@yha.org.uk) occupies a Georgian mansion two miles out of town in Alveston. A bed in a dorm costs £16.

Take a hike

Start at the tourist information centre and head away from town to the magnificent 15th-century Clopton Bridge. Double back and cross another bridge into the town proper. Turn left and into Bancroft Gardens, fringing the Avon and containing the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre . Continue to Holy Trinity Church. Head back along Trinity Street, turn left into Old Town. A right turn at Rother Street will take you into the Market Place. From here, follow the crowds to Shakespeare's Birthplace on Henley Street (01789 204016). Henley Street is where Shakespeare's father, John, announced his arrival in town by being fined for illegal fly-tipping – one of the facts you'll discover at the Birthplace museum before entering the Birthplace itself. It opens 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday, and 10.30am-5pm on Sundays. This is the natural place to begin your tour of the five properties owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. A ticket for the three "in-town" houses (Nash's House, Hall's Croft and the Birthplace) costs £6.50; for £12 you'll also gain entrance to Ann Hathaway's Cottage and Mary Arden's House outside town.

Window shopping

The official Shakespeare Bookshop (01789 292176) is opposite the Shakespeare Birthplace at 39 Henley Street. This is the place to buy a copy of tonight's play and brush up on your iambic pentameter.

Lunch on the run

Though music may be the food of love, those who love food should head for Sheep Street and Ely Street. Besides the usual pasta and pizza chains, there's a handful of more culinary establishments, including Opposition at 13 Sheep Street (01789 269980). Main courses such as smoked haddock or fillet steak cost around £8.

Cultural afternoon

After lunch, head to where Chapel Street, Church Street and Chapel Lane meet, and admire the medieval set-piece of the Guild Chapel, Nash's House and King Edward VI school. The Guild Chapel is the jewel of the piece, boasting a set of fragmented frescos including "the Doom", a judgement scene dating from around 1500. Admission is free. Next door, in the grounds of Nash's House, are the remains of the grand retirement home the Bard bought for himself in 1597 while still in London. Legend has it that the house was demolished in 1759 by a subsequent owner who just couldn't bear the Stratford tourists. It opens 10am-4pm daily, and is covered by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust ticket.

An aperitif

Shakespeare liked a good English ale, but drink was the death of him. During a reunion bash with the poet Drayton and fellow dramatist Ben Jonson, he "had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted". The Garrick Inn, at 25 High Street , may not be the pub in which Jonson drank his rival under the table, but it's a pleasant place to ponder the seven ages of man. A wonderfully ornate timber building, it's named after the actor who in 1769 organised the very first Shakespearean festival (which was a flop). Or join the actors steadying their nerves with a swift one at the Dirty Duck on Waterside.

Dinner with the locals

Eat like Falstaff and drink a bottle of sack at Lamb's Café Bistro at 12 Sheep Street (01789 292554). The current pre-theatre set menu offers soup of the day, aubergine and mozzarella roulade or chicken and liver parfait for starters, filo pastry goat's cheese, cold poached salmon or lamb steak for mains, and chocolate mousse for dessert. Two courses cost £11.50, all three £14.50. After that, head for a show at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre , The Swan or The Other Place.

Sunday morning: take a ride

Take a red City Sightseeing bus from outside the tourist information office for a ride in the country. Even in midwinter, they depart every half-hour from 9.30am until 3pm. The £7.50 ticket allows you to hop on and off at any of the Shakespeare properties. It heads out to the village of Wilmcote and the house of Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother. This is one of the least visited of the five houses, and possibly the most rewarding – the guides are less eager to process you through the building. Two years ago, fresh evidence surfaced showing Mary's family lived not in the medieval hall that sits nearest to the entrance, but in an adjacent cottage that was almost demolished before it fell into the hands of the Shakespeare Trust. It opens 10am-4pm daily in winter (from 10.30am on Sundays).

Out to brunch

The bus will drop you off in town outside the spacious Hall's Croft , the home of the physician Dr John Hall, a son-in-law of Shakespeare. It is perhaps the grandest of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's houses. The downstairs boasts some chunky, age-stained furniture and some stern Dutch family portraiture. Upstairs is a small medical museum, creaky floors and an atmospheric bedroom of stark whitewashed walls and vaulted ceiling. Apart from a manicured lawn out back, there's also a homely tea-room in which to brunch at your leisure. The house opens 11am-4pm daily.

A walk with the wordsmiths

Who better to guide you through this literary theme park than a pair of Shakespearean luvvies? On most Saturdays and Sundays at 11.30am, the actor-writers Jonathan Milton and Stan Pretty will take you on a two-hour tour that attempts to "bring Shakespeare back to life". The walk (£4) begins and ends at the RSC Tours Desk in the foyer of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre . Call in advance (01789 403405) to check it is running.

Sunday afternoon: go to church

Few biographical details of the Bard have survived, but we know he was christened and buried in the Holy Trinity Church, a spired marvel on the banks of the Avon. Shakespeare was wealthy enough to guarantee a plum burial spot in the chancel, and had the foresight – like many people of the time – to place a curse on his grave to deter anyone in the future pinching his spot. An effigy of Shakespeare, erected within seven years of his death, is located on the north wall. The church is open to visitors from 2-5pm on Sundays, and 8.30am-6pm the rest of the week; Sunday services are at 8am, 10.30am and 6pm.

Write a postcard

It's a mile from the centre of town to Shotteryand the charm of Ann Hathaway's thatched cottage. Shakespeare left his wife Ann his "second best bed" in his will. The guides try to explain away this posthumous slap in the face, but given the playwright's urban antics involving women and young male courtiers, they're not entirely convincing. The gardens behind the house are pleasing on a bright winter's day. Where better to pen a sonnet? Open 10am-4pm daily.