The literary geek in me will never leave, and that became clear when I recently visited Stratford-upon-Avon in the United Kingdom with my best friend. We drove an hour from Birmingham, where we were based, and lucked out with the weather with non-stop sunshine and 65-degree weather all day.

I was quite surprised how big the town was when we arrived. For some reason, in my mind, I had chalked up the town to be a tiny medieval town where only Shakespeare’s house and a few other businesses were, but I was proven wrong soon enough as we struggled to find parking in the busy area. Of course, the town had those classic Tudor-style buildings with dark wood beams accenting white walls and ornate windows, but there was much more awaiting, as well.

There happened to be a market and fair the weekend we visited, as it was on a bank holiday weekend, meaning locals flocked to the area to join tourists for a day of sunshine. We first ventured to the Shakespeare center, where we bought tickets to Shakespeare’s birthplace. The building still stands, with original furniture and décor from the time period on display to show what the house would have looked like when Shakespeare lived there.

The house overlooks a beautiful garden with massive roses and other vibrant flowers. Throughout the house and gardens are plaques with quotes from various Shakespeare plays. There are even statues and sculptures of playwrights and writers from around the world who lived at the same time as Shakespeare to highlight the power of literature in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

After wandering through Shakespeare’s home and the gift shop (yes, I did buy a Hamlet ornament in which he’s holding the skull of Yorrick … a reference only fans of Shakespeare can appreciate), we grabbed lunch at a cute Thai restaurant before heading to the river to walk the bank and take in views of the landscape. You can even rent paddleboats to venture up and down the river, and each boat is named after a Shakespeare character, which I loved.

We walked the length of the river until we reached the 13th-century Church of the Holy Trinity, where Shakespeare was baptized, married Anne Hathaway and is now buried. Anne Hathaway and their daughter Susanna are buried alongside him. While the church is free to enter, you have to pay a small fee to enter where Shakespeare is buried.

My friend pointed out an even older tomb behind Shakespeare’s, dating to the 1400s, in which he said, “Isn’t it weird how Shakespeare also saw that tomb of the man buried there just as we are now?”

Before we left town, we couldn’t pass the chance to get ice cream on such a lovely day. We opted for Hooray’s Gelato Kitchen, which had a line out the door. We sat and enjoyed our ice cream before returning to Birmingham to rest before our next day’s adventures.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor