~~Introduction~~
We recently went to Stratford upon Avon on holiday and spent 5 days in the area, it was a really lovely holiday and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

We aren't big drinkers, pub visiters or clubbers - we're not nght owls so to speak. So if this is what you are after in a holiday I'm not really able to comment. We very much enjoy looking at historical properties, visiting tea rooms and such like - for us Stratford upon Avon met all expectations and we really made the most of our days there.

~~History~~
A market town in south Warwickshire. This town is located on the river Avon (hence the name). It is a popular tourist destination due to its heritage and that it is the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

~~General~~
It is located 22 miles from Birmingham, or 8 miles from Warwick.
In general the town is very clean, there was no litter and little chewing gum etc which was very pleasant. It felt well cared for. The people were all friendly, well spoken, polite and keen to help.

The town seemed well sign posted for generl driving around, not nly to tourist places but for villages and other places to go.

There are plenty of places to sit down - there s lots of seating next to the river which was very pleasant in the warm weather.

There are lots of tudor style buildings and cobbled streets.

Parking was fairly pricey - I checked around and they all seem to be the same prices. There was plenty of parking we never had to pootle around space hunting but we were not visitng at a busy time of year so this may vary. Prices for parking started at 80p for 1 hour and £4 for 4 hours or £6 for 6 hours. There is a park and ride which we used and it was definately worth the money £1.50 return per adult, buses were regular and actually the parking site only a 10 minute bus ride from the town so quite convenient actually.

There is a beautiful old stone bridge accross the river which gives some beautiful views and there is a little wildlife preservation area which is swarming with geese and swans which is very picturesque.

~~Shopping~~
There were lots of shops in the centre. Your usual high street places boots, superdrug, costa, next, M&S, BHS etc and it also had many little shops, art galleries, boutiques and curiosities.

~~Eating~~
There were lots of resteraunts around the town. We were self catering so I cannot recommend or comment on prices but there were a good range and choice. Your usual chains e.g. Strada, Pizza express mixed in with pubs and other individual eateries. There were also lots of cafes, tea rooms and coffee shops to choose from. We had a coffee in costa which was quite nice, as you would expect from them. We also had the best cream tea ever in a tiny coffee shop called 'The Bard's Kitchen' just up the road from Nash's place (Shakespeare property) - it was in little antique shop quite out of the way but the scone was very large, the jam and cream fresh. The scone was hot and you got a very generous serving of tea all for £3.50 - what a bargain - it was mouthwatering!!

~~Things to do~~
We only actually spent two days out of our week around the town.
Obviously the first attraction is the Shakespeare related heritge. 3 out of 5 of the Shakespeare properties are located in the town
Shakespeare's birthplace
Nash's Place
Hall's Croft
I have reviewed these properties seperately so won't duplicate here.
You can buy a pass to all 5 properties for about £15 if you take advantage of the online advance purchase 10% discount or you can just turn up and buy tickets at the door. I would recommend visitng these attractions, really interesting and worth the money. They an be done in one day.

We also hired a boat and rowed up the avon. There is a place on a lane called 'Swan's nest' it is quite obvious just accross the stone bridge and you can hire a row boat for £4 per person per hour. We had a two seater row boat for one hour and we managed to go quite far! It was a really enjoyable experience, not too busy and we got to see some beautiful scenery! Beware of crashing into the bridge (which we did) as I am not a brilliant boatsperson! :)

There is a butterfly farm which we did not have a chance to visit but by all accounts and recommendations is worth visiting and makes for a nice morning/afternoon out. This is in the town centre and does not have its own parking (except for disabled parking) so you would park in town and walk.

~~Conclusion~~
All in all it is a very lovely town with a lot of heritage and I would recommend a visit!