With a child in Secondary school we are discovering new learning opportunities all the time! A few months ago my son started studying Shakespeare, which inspired a trip to visit some of the houses connected with William Shakespeare. We had already been to The Globe to watch a retelling of Twelfth Night at The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London which was an amazing experience.

I pre-booked our tickets online, buying a Shakespeare’s Story family ticket enabling us to visit three houses associated with William Shakespeare –  Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Shakespeare’s New Place and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. All three properties were around Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. The drive to Warwickshire was just over an hour from London, which made it a great day trip.

Exploring Shakespeare’s houses

The weather was beautiful for our day trip to Warwickshire, we parked our car and walked to our first stop, Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street. The house is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house where it is believed that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years. There is a small museum giving context to the house, a gorgeous garden, shop, toilets, as well as the house itself.

The house has been changed a lot over time, with an extension at the back, but it’s still quite an experience to walk through it.

We spent about an hour at Shakespeare’s Birthplace and we were glad we visited it first when it was quite quiet. We were able to take our dog with us and he loved sniffing around the garden. After a short sit in the garden we walked to the next property, Shakespeare’s New Place.

Shakespeare’s New Place on Chapel Street was his family home from 1597 until he died in the house in 1616. The house was demolished in 1759, and today you can visit the site of the house which has been turned into a beautiful garden. You can follow the outline of the house, explore the gardens and artworks, as well as the museum. There was also a small gift shop and toilets.

Shakespeare’s New Place was also dog friendly and he loved exploring the gardens. The kids enjoyed all the displays, including these beautiful replica clothes from Shakespeare’s time.

We spent about an hour at Shakespeare’s New Place before wandering back through Stratford-upon-Avon to our car. Then it was a short drive to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Shottery, about a 5 minute drive away. I think Anne Hathaway’s Cottage was our favourite place of the day. Like the previous two places, there was a small visitor centre, shop, toilets and little cafe (which had unfortunately shut by the time we arrived). Thankfully you could buy drinks from the visitor centre.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is a twelve-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of Shakespeare, lived as a child.  As well as the farmhouse there was wonderful orchards to walk through, a cottage garden and sculpture trail inspired by Shakespeare’s plays. It’s all dog friendly (apart from inside the farmhouse). We loved this willow sculpture which was perfect for taking a photograph.

Anne Hathaway’s cottage garden was perfect, but probably nothing like it was when Anne Hathaway grew up there! The kids loved exploring the farmhouse and there were plenty of guides around who were full of interesting facts.

We bought a Shakespeare’s Story Ticket which gave us access to all three properties and was really good value for our day out. We had to pre-book our time slot for Shakespeare’s Birthplace only. All three properties were dog-friendly which was amazing and we were really glad we were able to take our little pup. It was a great learning experience for all.