The Bard’s Hometown: Stratford-Upon-Avon

Falling asleep on the bus from Oxford to Stratford-Upon-Avon is ill advised: you will miss your stop and, in your drowsiness, be too polite to ask the bus driver (who has just dropped you on the side of a snowy road) to repeat the directions he barked in a regional English accent.

Whether you make your way to Stratford-Upon-Avon from London (the National Express makes frequent stops) or another English shire, you’re in for a day of Shakespeare. His literary contribution cannot be overstated; he coined most of our modern language, many of our lasting metaphors, and inspired hundreds, hundreds of novels and movies. If you’re scarred from high school English, today is a day for forgiveness and healing. If you worship the Bard, today will only reinforce your fandom.

First stop: Shakespeare’s house. See the cramped stone kitchen in which he cooked porridge, his bed, which prompts a guide to explain the origin of the expression “sleep tight.” Thankfully, the tour features no creepy dioramas, no baby teeth behind glass—instead, it’s the home of The First Folio, the 1623 printing of all but two of Shakespeare’s plays, kept like a grail. Given the lamentable fire safety of the 16th and 17th centuries, it is nothing short of a miracle that this text was preserved.

Next, take a scenic stroll to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. Lime trees line the entry, while inside, stained glass windows illuminate the church. Can you believe that this is someone’s local church? Here, the unfathomable talent who gave us many of our cherished stories occupies the same modest space as anyone else. His epitaph (which he wrote himself) offers a warning: “Blessed be the man that spares these stones, / And cursed be he that moves my bones.”

Skip the other half-dozen Shakespeare highlights and settle instead by the River Avon, straight across the church. Forego the themed restaurants and grab a bite to go. Some trips ask us to squeeze in every last sight, but this one asks for reflection: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream can all be traced back to this place, these ancient banks in Warwickshire.

Finally, if you’re ambitious, try to catch a production at the Royal Shakespeare Theater Company. Should you decide to skip it in favor of rest, remember Prospero’s words from The Tempest: “We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep.”