Shakespeare Country

Stratford upon Avon's Visitor Information Centre moves to Bridgefoot

On 1st February the Stratford Visitor Information Centre moved from Henley Street to Bridgefoot.

The building at Bridgefoot has been re-furbished and the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) now includes a cafe, gift shop and bus booking service in addition to the provision of tourist information.

Bridgefoot is on the main walk from both the Riverside Coach Park and the main Bridgeway multi storey car park and the VIC manager expects visitors to the VIC to double compared to the location in Henley Street.

Romance & Half Term Fun in Shakespeare Country!

Celebrate Valentine's Day in Stratford upon Avon and Shakespeare Country and combine with a short break during half term (11 - 19 February). Romance your loved one by booking into a luxury country house hotel, enjoy champagne teas, sonnets and love scenes and romantic haunted pub walks or simply relax over a romantic candle-lit dinner in one of the areas many beautiful and historic buildings. As this is a Leap Year, Ladies can propose marriage at one of many romantic locations on 29 February.

Explore the Magic of Shakespeare Country in 2012

With a wealth of heritage, theatre, arts, festivals and glorious gardens plus it being the year of the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, there is so much happening in Shakespeare Country in 2012.

Experience the World Shakespeare Festival, watch the Olympic Torch Relay pass through, enjoy a more immersive experience at the Shakespeare Houses and experience witchcraft at Warwick Castle.

Whatever you do, make 2012 the year you experience the magic of Shakespeare Country.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre
One Year On...

The first year of the reopened Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre has been a great success with over 500,000 day visitors to the RSC campus in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The critically acclaimed 50th Birthday Season is only half way through and already over 400,000 people have seen a performance in either the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or Swan Theatre. Box Office expectations have been exceeded with audience capacity at over 90% and many performances selling out.

Over 24,000 people have taken the Theatre Tour and over 57,000 have enjoyed the views of Stratford upon Avon from the top of the 32m high Theatre Tower. The new Rooftop Restaurant has also proved a great success with over 50,000 people enjoying lunch, pre-theatre meals, dinner or Sunday Lunch. Diners have included Her Majesty The Queen and HRH Price Charles.

This bodes well for the rest of this season and for the World Shakespeare Festival which begins on 23rd April 2012.

The Olympic Torch Route Goes Through the Heart of Shakespeare Country on Sunday 1st July 2012

The Olympic torch relay will go right through the heart of Shakespeare Country and the northern edge of The Cotswolds. On Sunday 1st July on its way from Birmingham to Coventry it will visit all four of our main towns on a route through:

Alcester, Evesham, Wickhamford, Broadway, Chipping Campden, Newbold on Stour, Alderminster, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick, Royal Leamington Spa, Kenilworth before stopping overnight in Coventry.

The team will stay overnight in Coventry before heading on towards London on Monday 2nd July via Rugby.

Mysterious Portrait of Elizabeth I on Display at Kenilworth Castle

On the surface, the newest exhibit that went on display at Kenilworth Castle, on 4 October, is a painting of Elizabeth I holding a small bunch of roses, but the top layer of paint hides the image of a serpent, and the whole work of art sits on top of another portrait of a mystery female. The painting of Elizabeth I joins the exhibition in Leicester's Gatehouse at Kenilworth Castle on a three year loan from the National Portrait Gallery.

The portrait and accompanying interpretation presents visitors with the fascinating story of the painting, which has only come to light thanks to the latest xray and infra-red scanning technologies as part of the research project Making Art in Tudor Britain at the National Portrait Gallery.