Stratford-upon-Avon, GB

A modern British bistro tucked into one of the oldest buildings on Sheep Street, all low beams and uneven floors. The duck and the rotating market-led mains are what regulars come back for, and the pre-theatre menu makes it an easy walk to the RSC after. Good for a relaxed dinner that isn't a tourist canteen.

Live-fire British cooking in a rustic 1500s room on Chapel Street, where most of the menu touches the wood grill or open hearth. This is the town's serious-dinner option, leaning into game, beef and seasonal produce rather than fussy tasting menus. Good for a nicer night out that still feels like a proper meal.

A proper Neapolitan pizzeria run by an Italian crew, turning out blistered, soft-centred pizzas from a wood oven shipped over from Naples. It's the local consensus pick for pizza, and the gluten-free base is one people actually rave about rather than tolerate. Casual, quick, good for lunch or a low-key dinner.

A two-floor independent with exposed brick, an open fire and a wine list longer than the menu. The Sunday roast and steaks are the reliable orders, and it pulls a mix of locals and day-trippers without tipping into tourist-trap territory. Good for a long lunch when you want one extra glass.

An upmarket Indian-Bangladeshi kitchen just east of the centre in Tiddington, consistently named the town's best curry by locals rather than guidebooks. It's a sit-down dining room rather than a takeaway counter, with attentive service and a deep menu. Worth the short hop out of the tourist core.

A family-run Greek spot spread over two floors of a historic building above Market Square, doing meze, grilled meats and the usual taverna staples done properly. It's a change of pace from the wall-to-wall British and Italian options on the main drag. Good for a group that wants to share plates.

A small independent on Henley Street that locals point to for the best coffee in town. The double chocolate brownie is the namesake order, but the cheddar and chilli-jam sourdough toastie is the sleeper. Good for a caffeine reset between Shakespeare houses, since it's steps from the Birthplace.

An artisan sourdough bakery that doubles as the town's better brunch kitchen, doing organic loaves, proper pastries and savoury plates like sweet potato rosti and Spanish baked eggs. The bread is the foundation of everything, and the coffee comes from a local roaster. Where to go when you want a real breakfast, not a hotel buffet.

A 17th-century village inn with flagstone floors and open fires, out in thatched Welford-on-Avon. The Sunday roast is the reason to make the trip, and the kitchen has long been a county dining-pub fixture. This is the proper-English-pub day out, paired with a wander past the village maypole.

A small gelato kitchen making everything on site, with a rotating board of inventive British flavours beyond the standard tubs. It's the dessert stop after dinner or a riverside walk in summer. Good for kids and anyone who'd rather eat their pudding wandering the waterfront.

A flat, surfaced walking and cycling path along the old Honeybourne railway line, running about five miles out to Long Marston past the racecourse and over the Avon and Stour. It's traffic-free the whole way with a cafe roughly midway, which makes it the easy-distance option that doesn't involve mud or hills. Good on a bike if you'd rather cover ground.

An elevated country park just north of town with the best views back over Stratford and the Warwickshire countryside, crowned by the Victorian Obelisk. The climb is short but enough to feel like you've earned the panorama. The local choice for an evening walk that isn't the riverside again.

The towpath leaves right from the canal basin in the centre, where narrowboats meet the river, and heads out flat and quiet past a flight of locks into open countryside. It's the calmer, less-trafficked alternative to the riverside, with narrowboat-watching as the entertainment. Loop it back via the river for a town circular.

An easy, flat loop that strings together the riverside meadows by the Recreation Ground with a stretch of the Greenway, crossing the Avon on the old railway bridge. It's the gentle waterside walk for an unhurried hour, with swans, boats and the theatre in view from the town end. Good for all ages and no real elevation.

Beyond the house, Charlecote's grounds give you flat parkland and riverside walking among the free-roaming deer, with Capability Brown landscaping along the Avon. It's the gentlest of the country walks and the one where wildlife is the draw rather than distance. Good to pair a stroll with the half-day visit.

The RSC's main 1,000-plus-seat house on the riverside, with a thrust stage that puts you close to the action, and the reason a lot of people come to Stratford at all. Seeing Shakespeare performed in his own town is the evening that defines the trip. Even if theatre isn't your thing, the building, riverside terrace and rooftop restaurant are worth a look.

The RSC's smaller galleried theatre next to the main house, an intimate wooden space that stages Shakespeare's contemporaries and newer writing. The closeness to the stage is the whole appeal; it feels nothing like the big house. The one to pick if you want a more intimate, less spectacle-driven evening.

A small museum of kinetic art and automata on Henley Street, full of marble runs, mechanical birds and contraptions you trigger yourself with a wave of the hand. It's hands-on and genuinely clever, the best rainy-afternoon indoor option in town and a hit with kids and adults alike. A welcome break from the Tudor circuit.

A tropical glasshouse just across the river from the theatre where hundreds of free-flying butterflies drift around waterfalls and pools, plus a creepy-crawly hall of spiders and insects for the braver. It's warm, indoor and reliably good with kids whatever the weather. The easiest family stop on the far bank.

A small living-history museum inside a Grade II*-listed Tudor building, recreating the grimmer, grubbier side of daily life in Shakespeare's era: plague, punishment and superstition. It's atmospheric and a bit theatrical, with evening ghost tours for those who want the spookier version. A good counterweight to the polished heritage houses.

The river operator by the theatre running short Edwardian-style passenger cruises along the Avon, plus rowing boats, motorboats and punts to take out yourself. Getting on the water is the classic Stratford thing to do, and self-hire is more fun than the narrated cruise if you've got an hour. Best on a clear afternoon.

An independent small-batch distillery making Tudor-inspired gins and a British rum, with tours of the working still on the farm edge of town and a tasting room called Judith's in the centre. The guided tasting is the adult counterpoint to all the family attractions. Good for an evening that isn't theatre.

The half-timbered Henley Street house where Shakespeare was born and grew up, and the anchor of any visit. Costumed guides and the adjoining exhibition do the heavy lifting on context, which makes it the one house to do if you only do one. Central, so it bookends the rest of the town easily.

The thatched 15th-century farmhouse in Shottery where Anne Hathaway grew up, set in orchards and gardens that many rate above the house itself. The original Hathaway bed is the detail people remember. It's the prettiest of the Trust properties and the gardens make the short walk out from town worth it.

The riverside parish church where Shakespeare was baptised and is buried, his grave still marked by the famous warning against moving his bones. The avenue of limes leading up to it and the setting on the Avon are reason enough even apart from the grave. A short, atmospheric stop that closes the Shakespeare loop.

The site of the grand house where Shakespeare lived his last years and died, now a contemplative garden since the building was demolished in the 1700s. It leans on landscaping, sculpture and interpretation rather than rooms, which makes it a calmer, more reflective stop than the busy houses. Good for a pause mid-town.

A grand Tudor house and deer park on the Avon a short drive east, where free-roaming fallow deer graze almost at your feet, and where legend says a young Shakespeare poached and got caught. The grounds, riverside and Capability Brown landscaping carry the visit as much as the house. The best non-town site for a half-day with space to roam.

A genuinely impressive medieval castle on the Avon at Warwick, run as a full-day attraction with ramparts, towers, trebuchet shows and grounds. It's more theme-park than quiet heritage site, which makes it the family day out rather than a sombre history stop. The best non-Shakespeare anchor in the area, right at the edge of the radius.

A famous Arts-and-Crafts garden of outdoor rooms divided by hedges, each with its own character, on the southern edge of the radius. It's one of the most influential English gardens and a complete change of register from the Shakespeare circuit. For anyone who'd rather spend an afternoon in planting than in another Tudor parlour.