Stratford-upon-Avon

Laura,, I 'm with you. I thought it was pretty enough, but boring. We were in a car with friends who lived near there, and we had spent the day at Warwick Castle( my 14 yr old loved it) and we stopped there on way home.
It was just pretty little town making lots of money off of Shakespears' chocolates, tea towels, pot holders, fridge magnets,, etc etc.. .LOL

Take your mom is she really wants to go but other then shopping for Shakespeare themed items I am not much help ..

I do hope you do a daytrip to Bath, found the Baths themselves fasinating, and loved the Costume museum, and the town is also pretty , and pretty unique.. plus of course I love Jane Austen..

The biggest problem with Stratford is it's all about the tourist industry. I thought there were some very interesting things to see (I like Shakespeare) but it gets a bit overblown.

Stratford has some good shoping- especially on market day. There are nice short walks along the river and there is a butterfly preserve. We often do day trips to Stratford from London.

We were there for a couple days and I enjoyed it. We didn't even go into the Shakespeare houses. There's a really nice walking tour that departs from the Swan Fountain by the river. It was 5 pounds each and the guy was great. Learned a lot of the history and it included a trip into the church. Another day, we went to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds (and if you think Stratford sounds boring, i'm not sure what to say about the Cotswolds LOL).... But I guess if you're not at all into Shakespeare, not even the historical quirks and stuff, it wouldn't be worth the trip. It's a quaint little town, I found, and the scenery along the river is quite nice, but England is chock full of quaint little towns where you can relax and wander around and stay in a cute little B&B.

No, we won't have a car. But we're staying in Birmingham, not London, so Warwick Castle should only be a bus-ride away. Mom and I are planning to go see the castle while we're in town. We'll go to Stratford-upon-Avon too, and I'll take lots of pictures; it sounds like a quaint little town!

Unless you are going to attend a play I don't think Stratford-upon-Avon is worth a visit. It was not especially quaint or cute. Don't know for certain if SUA is considered to be within the Cotswolds but it does not compare to the towns and villages there as far as charm and quaintness.

Laura - What kind of transportation are you using? If you have a car, Warwick castle is a short drive away, and is very enjoyable.

Funny to see the word quaint,, I used it once on a travel forum( not this one as there aren't many Brits on here) and a bunch of British almost bit my head off, said it was a rather insulting term, to them it meant cheesy I think..

I thought quaint was a lovely word to describe a pretty little village or house, etc.

Speaking of which, I am very grateful to RS for warning us about the term "fanny pack". Don't want to make THAT mistake when I'm in England!

Oh Laura, the locals love it when you say that word, you're depriving them of their amusement.:)

Laura, My daugher and I really enjoyed Mary Arden's house when we visited Stratford in 2007. It's a whole farm complex with a number of buildings dating from the late 16th century [if my memory holds]. I had a great discussion with one of the guides about timber framing. We are big Shakespeare fans, but this house was interesting even without the Shakespeare connection. We also enjoyed the walking tour that has already been recommended. Have a great trip!

ooh yes, forgot about "fanny packs",, its about as shocking as when I yell out to my kids, " hey don't leave your thongs laying around by the front door" .... isn't language fun,, even those of us who apparently speak a common language can't agree on usage sometimes.

Laura, I went on a double decker tour bus (open top) at Stratford, doing the Shakespeare thing and it was terrific. Lots of funny stories on cures as written by William's son-in-law, a doctor. Watching the canal boats, meandering the main area with delightful buildings...I even chanced upon an antique jewellery fair and bought a nice little souvenier. Yes, it is touristy, but so a good part of Europe - that's their economy these days.