Strumpets & Crumpets: Shakespearean Women

The woods will be full of bluebells, and the tearooms full of coze. We’ll time travel to Shakespeare’s England, and spend a week in the footsteps of Tudor women.

April 11-17, 2027

 

 

 

Did you know?

Katie’s PhD was in Tudor history! She lived in Warwickshire for three years while at the University of Warwick. This is one of her favorite places on earth.

$2180 per person with a roommate. For your own room, add $590.

The River Avon & Spire of Holy Trinity Church

Price Includes:

  • Hotel in historic Stratford-upon-Avon, six nights April 11-17
  • Breakfasts
  • Katie & Olivia as your guides
  • Tickets to everything on the itinerary:
    • Ophelia’s Revenge: Powerful Tudor Women! –Katie’s Walking Tour of historic Stratford-upon-Avon 
      • Hamnet and Shakespeare’s women: what can we know?
      • Was Shakespeare really a woman? Fun conspiracy theories
      • Stories from Stratford’s long and colorful history
    • A poignant visit to beautiful riverside Holy Trinity Church, with the grave of Shakespeare and his wife Anne
    • At least TWO world-class Royal Shakespeare Company productions in the famed riverside theaters
      • Specific plays TBA (the RSC announces their program late 2026 or early 2027)
      • Katie’s note: I went to every production the RSC staged, in the three years I lived in Warwickshire. You will laugh, cry, be astonished, and understand first-hand why good Shakespeare is good for the soul. 
    • Shakespeare’s Birthplace
    • Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (gorgeous Tudor country cottage of Shakespeare’s wife Anne)
    • New Place and a wild story of Victorian tourists
    • Hall’s Croft Conservation Tour (if possible, opening TBA) – home of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna currently under preservation works
    • Costume Tour, or Backstage Tour of Royal Shakespeare Theatre (tour depends on RSC calendar)
    • The Play’s the Thing exhibition — 400 years of Shakespeare theatre
    • Day trip to Historic Warwick!  Katie’s Walking Tour
      • Includes charming streets and town square, tearooms, a prehistoric giant Irish deer, old cemeteries
      • Mill Garden on the river below Warwick Castle (Katie’s favorite hidden gem)
      • Warwick Castle – medieval icon that owns (and launches!) the largest trebuchet in Europe, plus live falconry shows
        • This is the site of the famed Victorian parties in JULIET GORDON LOW and URUSLA BLOOM episodes
    • Day trip to Historic Kenilworth (Katie’s old “home”town)!
      • The first potato in England!
      • 1,000-year-old monastery and abbey fields
      • A very historic field
      • A bunker from the Blitz
      • Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden – romantic ruin and site of the most famous party in Elizabethan history
        • Katie’s note: The ruins of Kenilworth Castle have been a famous since the Victorian era; they even inspired Sir Walter Scott to write Kenilworth. Robert Dudley wooed Queen Elizabeth here, despite the fact that he was already married. His wife then “fell” down the stairs and died…
  • All ground transportation (Stratford-upon-Avon, our home base, is very walkable)
  • All city tax and conservation fees
  • All gratuities for the group
  • A Smoothness Team to support your along the way
  • A happy tribe of fellow Nameiacs to explore with

Doesn’t include:

  • Flight/transportation to/from Stratford-upon-Avon at beginning and end of trip
  • Lunches and dinners (breakfast is included)
  • Shopping/optional activities
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,

Which we ascribe to Heaven.

-Helena, All’s Well That Ends Well

Iconic Warwick Castle

What to expect: 

After you register, you’ll get an invoice via email to pay your nonrefundable $500 deposit to secure your spot!

This is not your typical tourist tour…NOTHING like it, really! These tours are personally curated by us, and we’ll be by your side. We never use travel agents, instead making all the arrangements ourselves. That way we can ensure authentic, eco-friendly, whimsical travel that takes us off the beaten track and deep into women’s history! Time to soak up a place and to connect with real people is paramount.

What’sHerName Tours build welcoming tribes where you are free to be yourself! We all abide by Rule #1: Do What You Want. That means you can always opt out of anything without judgement. You can expect to do a lot of laughing, standing in awe, happy-crying, and tasting wonderful things.

April is a wonderful time of year to visit England. Bluebells, daffodils, tulips, and birds are all celebrating Spring, but the tourists haven’t arrived yet. Except…us. But we’re not tourists, we’re Nameiac Adventurers!

Most folks come solo, so GO FOT IT! This is the happy tribe you’ve been looking for. After all, they’re all Nameiacs too!

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

-Prospero, The Tempest

FAQs

OK, I’m searching flights. What info do I need to know?

You’ll want to arrive in Stratford-Upon-Avon by 4pm on April 11 (our first gathering will be at 4:30pm, to head out on our walk!). You can depart anytime on April 17. There are a number of cities with fairly straightforward connections to Stratford-upon-Avon. Birmingham Airport (BHX) is the closest (18 miles) and easiest. You can explore various options from your home airport HERE, using my favorite travel planning app, Rome2Rio. If you’ll be starting in London, THIS is a helpful guide.

Tell me more about the roomie situation. 

Most folks come solo, so go for it! We’ll match you with another Nameiac. When you fill out the registration form ,you can list your roomie preferences (gender etc) which we always do our best to meet. You’ll have separate beds, just share the same room and bathroom. Many a strong friendship has been forged this way! If you’d prefer your own room, just select that option at registration and pay the additional $590.

I live nearby. could i join in the fun without the hotel? 

Absolutely, we’d love to have you! You’d join in all the activities, and still be part of the Nameiac Travel Family, just meeting us at our hotel each morning. We’ve created this option on the registration form: “I’m local and want to commute.” The sans-hotel price is $1580. We can guarantee a glorious time, but do acknowledge that the price might feel a bit steep for what may feel like a Staycation. Consider adding the hotel and going all in!

I LIVE NEARBY. could i join for just one day, or part of a day?

Love that you’re wanting to join! These tours have some kind of magic. Somehow, groups of strangers turn into a tightly bonded travel family, and we want to honor that by keeping one steady group for the duration. We hope you’ll join for the whole thing!

How much should I budget for spending money and meals? 

It’s so hard to say. The range of options for meals can suit all budgets and tastes – from grocery stores to street food to fine dining. Same goes for shopping. You know you best! A typical business travel per diem is around $55/day, if that helps.

when will you have a more detailed itinerary?

We’re waiting for the Royal Shakespeare Company to announce their Spring program of shows, which we would expect to happen late 2026 or early 2027. Once we’ve got that info, we can slot all the other pieces into place! So you can expect a more detailed itinerary in early 2027. In the meantime, you can trust us: we pour immense effort, experience and heart into designing transformative travel experiences. Our Smoothness Team thinks of everything for you. We don’t like frenzied, check-list sight-seeing; we love slow travel adventure, with a happy band of women’s history geeks! You will have a fantastic time. Nameiacs who return again and again tell us that they don’t even worry about the details anymore; they simply trust that we’re going to deliver a wonderful, unexpected and soul-nourishing experience.

What if the trip gets canceled? 

If we cancel the trip, you’ll get a full refund. If you have to cancel, you’d forfeit your $500 deposit, to help cover the expenses we’ve already paid in your name. If you’re worried about having to cancel, you should request to pay the total in full, and then get travel insurance, using the invoice receipt.

How does payment work?

After you register, you’ll receive an invoice from our bank, Relay, via email to pay your $500 deposit with a card. You’ll pay the remainder in two more payments, evenly spaced out between your time of registration and April. You could also choose to pay in full anytime you want. The full amount must be paid before departure, of course.

Will we have free time? got suggestions if I want to extend?

Yes, it’s possible we’ll have a mostly-free day near the end of the trip (that’s our goal, anyway). Consider:

I want to go for it – but I’m a little nervous. Is this a crazy thing to do?

Hey, if an adventure called Strumpets & Crumpets sounds great to you, it’s FOR you! Go for it!

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

– Anais Nin