Shakespeare’s England with Dream Escapes

Day One: Arrive London Heathrow Airport

Upon arrival into London Heathrow Airport you will be welcomed by your own local chauffeur-guide, who will ensure a safe and comfortable transfer into the city centre and your home for three nights, the luxurious London Savoy. The Savoy has been a British icon since 1889. After £220m restoration in 2010, it offers an elegant English Edwardian and Art Deco interior, sparkling with timeless glamour. Enjoying an enviable central location, its views are stunning and unrivalled by central London hotels.

Famous connections abound. The American Bar, the oldest surviving cocktail bar in England, has attracted generations of stellar visitors from Hollywood to mix with the grand, gracious and notorious of London; Monet painted the Houses of Parliament from one of the hotel windows; The Savoy Grill, which offers a menu featuring classic Grill dishes, was a favourite of figures such as Sir Winston Churchill.

Last but not least, the gorgeous lobby was where Vivien Leigh fell in love with Laurence Olivier. His talent as a Shakespearean actor and director marked the 20th century and his tomb can be found in the Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Day Two: Shakespeare & The City

Spend the morning at leisure, relaxing and rejuvenating following your international flight. In the afternoon, meet your local guide and step back in time to discover Shakespeare’s London. Rather than focus on the better known stretch of the South Bank which is home to The Globe, your tour uncovers lesser-known monuments and locations in the City of London with connections to Shakespeare’s life, his friends, his loves and his work.

See a French plaque that marks the now vanished Silver Street, where Shakespeare lodged with a family of French Protestants in 1603 – during the ‘balmy’ regime-change, and the local church of St Olave’s where he persuaded two of his fellow lodgers to marry in 1604 – an incredible but true story! In 1607, his less successful Edmund – also an actor – probably also lived with him. Shakespeare’s nephew died in the summer of that year. His death is registered in another local church, St Gileswithout-Cripplegate.

In 1608 Shakespeare purchased a share in the upmarket Blackfriars Theatre – the theatre that revolutionised indoor drama. Five years later he purchased his one and only London property in Blackfriars, the mysterious gatehouse, a part of the ancient monastery. 

Throughout the ancient City, discover little known monuments and statues dedicated to Shakespeare, including a majestic bust of the playwright which stands in a church garden as a memorial to his fellow actors Henry Condell and John Hemmings, who were key figures in the printing of his First Folio. Both actors are buried in the church.

Day Three: All the world’s a stage

This morning, head to the South Bank of the River Thames, which in the Elizabethan era was riddled with inns, brothels and theatres – of which the 1599 Globe remains the most famous. Enjoy a private guided tour of the reconstructed theatre, which was built in the 1990s. Unable to build on the original site which is partially covered by listed Georgian buildings and Southwark Bridge Road, the original site is about 200 metres from today’s Globe, and is marked by a plaque and information panels.

The construction of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse was completed in 2014. Designed to replicate the indoor playhouses of the early 17th century with which Shakespeare and his contemporaries were familiar, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is based on the earliest known designs for an English theatre, but it is not a reconstruction of any one particular building. Based under the Globe Theatre, the engaging and informative Exhibition explores the life of Shakespeare, the London where he lived, and the theatre for which he wrote. Imagine the Globe as it would have been: the centre of what was once London’s most notorious entertainment district,
surrounded by raucous taverns and bawdy-houses.

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, 1616: A Momentous Year is a year-long series of events, talks, lectures and special performances, and the Exhibition will be packed with special displays and unique items from around the world, all celebrating the life of the world’s greatest playwright.

Days Four & Five: Stratford-upon-Avon

Travel to Stratford-upon-Avon, where England’s best-known playwright was born in 1564. On the banks of the River Avon, the traditional market town still holds its original charm. until the latter part of the 19th century, Stratford was considered as one of the main centres for the processing, marketing, and distribution of sheep’s wool produced in the Cotswolds, giving this town its unique country atmosphere.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, venue for regular RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) performances, stands on the riverbank. An historic hotel in beautiful Stratford-upon-Avon, your home for two nights dates back to the 15th
century. While a stunning renovation in 2012 has transformed the guest rooms to the highest of modern standards, the place retains a wonderful sense of its unique heritage. Once settled in, begin your exploration of the town. Perhaps start with a visit to the house where Shakespeare’s mother – Mary Arden – grew up and experience for yourself the daily routine, skills and crafts the young William would have known from visits to his grandparents in the 1570s.

Help with tasks like skep-making and basket- weaving and ‘earn your keep’ at Palmer’s Farm with traditional chores such as threshing, bread-making, gardening and animal-tending. See rare breed animals and explore the nature trails, discovering abundant wildlife including woodpeckers and rabbits along the way.

Spend two days exploring Shakespeare’s hometown. Trace his footsteps and explore the house where he was born. For Shakespeare enthusiasts, the house is a shrine. He ate meals in the hall and he slept and dreamt in these rooms. Shakespeare also spent the first five years of married life in this house with his new wife, Anne Hathaway. Discover the world that shaped the man and find out what other famous writers thought when they visited here.

Follow in the footsteps of not only Shakespeare, but other well-known visitors such as Charles Dickens, John Keats, Walter Scott and Thomas Hardy. Enjoy a new exhibition in the Shakespeare Centre focusing on Shakespeare’s circle of family and friends. William Shakespeare’s schoolroom, along with the town’s ancient 15th century Guildhall, is now open for the first time to the public following a major restoration project. Visitors can now experience the very room where Shakespeare was educated and inspired to become the world’s greatest playwright. They can also learn about the extraordinary history of the ancient Guildhall and its part in the civic history of the town.

Built in 1420, The Guildhall, described by historian and broadcaster, Michael Wood, as ‘one of the most atmospheric, magical and important buildings in the whole of Britain’, is one of only a dozen surviving examples of a late medieval provincial Guildhall. It is home to a series of extremely rare medieval wall paintings, showing the seal of the Guild of the Holy Cross.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the family home of Shakespeare’s bride-to-be, is the most romantic of the Shakespeare houses. Explore this 600-year old cottage and some of its original family furniture, including the Hathaway four-poster bed and take in the beauty and tranquillity of the charmin cottage gardens, heritage orchards, woodland walks and sculpture trail. Visit the newly opened New Place, the site of Shakespeare’s home for the last 19 years of his life. This unique site will be at the heart of the worldwide celebrations of 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy in 2016. Visitors will be able to walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps and connect with him in the
prime of his life, in a way that has not been possible until now.

Visitors can walk through a new entrance on the footprint of Shakespeare’s original gatehouse, while a contemporary landscape treatment will echo the known layout of the original Shakespeare family house. A new exhibition centre will feature rare and important artefacts relating to Shakespeare’s life, many of them on display for the first time.

Inside Holy Trinity Church, see the graves of William Shakespeare, his wife Anne Hathaway and other family members. Above the graves is the Shakespeare Memorial, which was erected some six years after the dramatist’s death, and is considered to be one of the most accurate likenesses available.

The original font in which the infant William is likely to have been christened is by his grave. Next to it are copies of the church registers in which the dates of Shakespeare’s christening and funeral are inscribed.

Day Six: Homeward Bound

Your chauffeur-guide will transfer you to London Heathrow Airport in time for your outbound flight.