The time I had Shakespeare’s House all to myself and how you (maybe) can too

  • Terumi
  • March 16, 2018
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Shakespeare’s House and other Historical Shakespeare sites in England with kids in the summer
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A long time ago when I was a headstrong college student I decided that I would become an English major and that was that. Shakespeare in Love had come out around that time as well as the first of the Harry Potter novels and being able to read and write and get credit for doing almost solely that in college just seemed like an absolute romantic dream.  And I did a lot of dreaming.  So much dreaming that it took me forever to realize that despite all my studying and reading about amazing things people wrote about, I actually hadn’t been to a lot of the places that I read about and I needed to fix that.  So when we took our kids to England a few summers ago, I wanted to see the Globe Theatre and I wanted to visit Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-Upon-Avon and his birthplace and as much as it would be their first time seeing these incredible historical sites, it would be my first time too.

Visiting the Globe Theatre in London with kids  Actors at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre make history feel very real for kids

Visiting Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with kids

When you travel with kids things don’t always go as planned.  The day we visited the Globe Theatre I realized that my family was really tired and wouldn’t actually survive a real tour of the theatre even though I would totally love it.  I snapped some pictures and someone let me peek in and see a little more.  A few actors were actually heading into part of the theatre and this made everything really perfect.  We spent some time in the gift shop and picked up a few kids’ versions of some popular Shakespeare plays but that was all my family really needed to see.  We ended up eating lunch in the cute little Swan Restaurant where the food and decor was incredibly cozy and delightful and eating together so close to the theatre while we chatted about who William Shakespeare was ended up being one of my favorite London memories.  The theatre has been here forever and I know I’ll be back one day so I wasn’t too depressed about missing the tour.  (If I did this again I would also check to see if there were any family friendly plays going on when we visited too!)

Decor in the Swan Restaurant at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre where we ate with kids in London Eating with kids at the Globe Theatre Swan Restaurant London

Finding the site of Shakespeare’s Original Globe Theatre

But because of the kids, we took a shortcut near Borough market when we were trying to catch our bus and somehow we ended up  near the site of the original Globe Theatre. I didn’t really think about this place existing (just like the “original” Starbucks is not really on its “original” site but that’s where we think it is in Seattle now) so this was such a bonus.  We always notice signs and placards on buildings a little more when we travel with kids and I’m glad we kept our eyes open here.

Site of Shakespear’s original Globe theatre near Borough Market Waiting for the bus near Shakespeare’s Original Globe Theatre

Visiting Shakespeare’s House in England

Staying in the Queen’s Head pub with the family at Stratford Upon Avon  Shakespear history sites and staying in a pub in Stratford Upon Avon

We rented a car so we could continue our drive around England and that was a brave adventure in itself but because we had a car we found things like a monkey village and the mill where JR Tolkien grew up.  I’m glad I couldn’t use the manual steering and that my husband could because driving through the Cotswolds seemed more of a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride than a slow, leisurely jaunt through the countryside.  We stayed a night over a pub in Stratford upon Avon at the Queens’ Head Pub so we could really feel the area where Shakespeare was born.  Once again we ended up at this Shakespeare site just before closing and my guys were all a little tired so I thought it would be good enough just to get a few pictures of Shakespeare’s House.

 When is the best time of day to visit Shakespeare’s house a family travel storyVisiting Shakespeare’s House just before closing in the summer

Instead my husband bought me a ticket and told me not to give up on one of dreams even though we had to pay full price for a really short time.  He and the boys dropped me off and I went in alone.

Somehow I ended up being the only person in the museum.  I had it all to myself.  It was so close to the end of the day that I could just wander through Shakespeare’s house and the grounds and talk to the docents for about 20 minutes, but it ended up being a far better visit than if I had dragged my family through this place on a hot crowded busy day as I imagine it gets in the summer sometimes.  I thought it would be a waste to spend a full-price ticket to only see things for a short while.  But if I hadn’t seen anything at all, I think I really would have missed out.  I didn’t take a ton of pictures and just took in this once in a lifetime experience and thoroughly enjoyed fulfilling one of my dreams.

A visit to Shakespeare's House in Stratford-upon-Avon with and without kids

Has this happened to you when you travel? And if you are traveling with kids-are you seeing places you’ve dreamed about for the first time or do you tend to travel to places that you’ve already been?  Do you have a favorite memory of a place you almost missed?  Have you been to Shakespeare’s house too?