29 Nov England Road Trip from Birmingham – Stratford upon Avon and Travel Plan
My trip to England in 2016 was amazing. Not only did I love what I saw there, but it also sparked a series of trips that included Thessaloniki, Thasos, London, Barcelona, Bansko, Venice, Rome, Athens, Puglia, Ibiza and one or two still left for later days.
Being accommodated in Birmingham, I studied all the options beforehand for reaching the places I wanted to see and came to one simple conclusion: I needed a car.
Yes, I could have woken up at 5 in the morning, walked a few kilometers to the train station, caught a train, changed it, arrived in Bath and then joined an organized trip from there, but in my opinion I would have been tired before even starting the actual trip.
Now, I don’t know how you feel about England, but below I will list my itinerary and then go into details to explain why I chose to rent a car for two days and drive 800 kilometers during those 48 hours.
Day one and half of day two were spent in Coventry, where I attended a workshop. Then, on the evening of the second day, I moved to Birmingham, from where I departed on all my trips.
Day three was dedicated to Stratford upon Avon.
Day four was the first hard day: Stonehenge, Avebury, Cherhill White Horse, Silbury Hill, Castle Combe and Lacock, then back to Birmingham.
Day five, the second day of driving, was dedicated to the Cotswolds: Chipping Camden, Moreton in Marsh, Stow on the Wold, The Slaughters, Bibury.
Day six was for Shrewsbury and day seven was used to reach Warwick Castle and its surroundings.
Phew.
I don’t know what you think, but whenever I try to remember all the places, I sit down and count and I always feel like I am missing something.
Before starting, I must warn you that this kind of driving is pretty demanding. Never mind the fact that you’re driving on the other side of the road (England, remember?), but you must also keep in mind that the country is heavily regulated, with cameras and police everywhere, so you really need to respect all the rules and signs.
Add to that almost 400 kilometers per day and you can start to see the full picture.
However, once everything was done, I must confess I didn’t feel that tired at all. I actually found driving on the other side extremely easy, but that might be because I’m left-handed, so… great for me in England.
Maybe if you decide to rent a car you will split your route differently, but if you look at a map you will see that from Birmingham it is quite hard to organize it in another way. The distance between the city and the Cotswolds is significant and spending more days would only mean driving back and forth for hundreds of kilometers.
What I will try to do is write a few words about each day and let you decide, with the help of pictures, which places you want to visit.
I will start with day three for a simple reason. Days one and two were spent in Coventry at a workshop. While I had half of the first day free to visit Coventry, I must say that in my opinion this is not a must-see place. Yes, it is nice and clean, but you don’t need a whole day here. If you insist, a 2–3 hour visit will be enough.
Stratford upon Avon
Shakespeare’s birthplace. I got there by train and, upon arriving in Stratford, I simply walked around the town, letting my feet guide me from one place to another.
My main interest was Shakespeare’s House, which I visited, but I ended up buying a combined ticket that allowed entry to several other attractions, so I also visited Harvard House and Hall’s Croft.
Now, I don’t remember exactly which type of pass I selected (there are quite a few combinations available, as you can check online), but I had access to Shakespeare’s house and another two or three places, so if you manage to buy tickets online (where you can often get discounts), they are definitely worth it.
I saw many people just taking pictures outside without entering and I think that’s a shame.
The house is beautiful and very well maintained. It is a real pleasure to walk through the rooms, take your time and try to imagine the times in which Shakespeare lived.
There is no need to rush since this is not a palace, but rather a place where you can walk slowly and observe all the details without spending more than 30–40 minutes.
Combined with the access to the other houses, this becomes a small but meaningful piece of history that you should visit if you are in town, even if you are not a fan of Shakespeare’s work.
Later edit: When I first wrote this post I did not include Harvard House. But while going through my photos I remembered this special little place. It was included in my ticket and I visited it and really enjoyed it. It is small and delicate and my advice would be to see it for yourself. 20 minutes of your time is not much and the interior is really nice. Plus, it is already included if you bought a multi-site ticket.
Now, if your first stop in Stratford upon Avon was Shakespeare’s House, your next steps will probably take you to another lovely place, Hall’s Croft.
When buying a ticket online or at the entrance of Shakespeare’s House, you will also have access to this location and that is great because it really deserves a visit.
After leaving Shakespeare’s House, I walked slowly through the streets of Stratford until I reached this place.
Maybe because it was early in the morning, or maybe because it is located in a quieter part of Stratford, I enjoyed the place almost alone. This allowed me to walk slowly, explore each room, observe the objects inside and even sit for a while on a bench in the back courtyard.
In my opinion, Hall’s Croft would deserve a visit even if it wasn’t connected to Shakespeare.
The staff is very helpful and they offer maps at the entrance so you can follow along and understand each room. Even though it is not a large house, it is very pleasant to read the map while exploring.
Close to Hall’s Croft is the church where Shakespeare is buried, so if you want to see his resting place, you can easily walk there.
Many people believe that by visiting London they understand England, but that is far from the truth. London, when compared even to Birmingham (the 2nd largest city in England), feels like a completely different place. Almost like a different country.
What you need to do (and what I also plan to do) is go beyond London. See Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and more. See the real country.
I definitely plan to return for 3–4 special places (which I won’t list now) because I truly believe they deserve a visit.
That’s it for today. In the next post I will detail days 4–6 of my England trip. I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope that someday you will visit these beautiful places.
No Comments