London: Warwick Castle, Oxford & Stratford Shakespeare Day Trip
Four centuries, four towns, one coach, and you're moving the whole time
You visit four major sites (Warwick Castle, Shakespeare's Stratford, Oxford's university colleges, and a panoramic drive through the Cotswolds) all in one day from London. Entry to the castle and Shakespeare's birthplace are optional add-ons. The walking tour of Oxford is included. A coach with WiFi and a guide who knows the history of each place means you're not navigating or timing yourself. Just moving through the day on a fixed schedule.
Options for this experience
4 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Visit Warwick Castle and nearby towns
- Explore Warwick Castle grounds
- Tour State Rooms and Great Hall
- See 14th-century castle dungeon graffiti
- Visit Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon town
- Optional visit to Shakespeare's Birthplace
- Walk tour of Oxford city sights
- Drive through the Cotswolds countryside
- Warwick Castle 1h 30m
- Stratford-upon-Avon 1h 30m
- Shakespeare's Houses & Gardens 45m
- Oxford 1h
- Cotswolds passing by
What’s included
Your day includes a superior coach with WiFi and USB charging, an expert guide with a personal audio headset system so you hear clearly, a walking tour of Oxford, a panoramic drive through the Cotswolds, and optional entry to Warwick Castle and Shakespeare's birthplace if you add those when booking.
Times
- Every day 08:30
Information
Visit Warwick Castle, Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford, Oxford's colleges, and the Cotswolds from London. Coach with WiFi, expert guide, and optional entry fees included.
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The experience
You're on the coach by mid-morning, heading out of London toward Warwick Castle first. The drive takes you through the English countryside, and your guide starts talking about the 'Kingmaker': the Earl of Warwick who actually held power over kings in the 1400s. The castle sits on 64 acres along the River Avon, and when you walk in, you're standing in rooms that haven't changed much since the 17th century. The State Rooms are full of suits of armour and medieval weapons. There's a 14th-century gaol, the original dungeon, where prisoners carved their names into the stone hundreds of years ago. You can still read some of them. If you've added entry to your booking, you spend maybe ninety minutes here. If not, you stay on the coach and the guide points out what's visible from the gates.
Then it's on to Stratford-upon-Avon, the market town where Shakespeare was born in 1564. The half-timbered house where he grew up is still standing, and if you've paid for entry, you walk through rooms where his family actually lived. The Shakespeare Trust has kept rare artefacts: letters, documents, objects from his time. The town itself is small and walkable, and most people spend an hour or two here before heading back to the coach. After Stratford, you drive through the Cotswolds: almost 800 square miles of rolling countryside across five counties. It's the largest Area of Natural Beauty in the UK, and the coach just moves through it. There's no stop, but the guide points out the stone villages and the way the landscape changes. You're watching, not getting out.
Oxford is the last stop, and this is where you get a proper walking tour. The guide takes you through the cobbled streets past the Bridge of Sighs, Trinity College, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Sheldonian Theatre. Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the architecture goes back to Saxon times. Every period is represented somewhere in the stone. You've probably seen it in films: it's been used for Harry Potter, countless period dramas, and detective series. The walking tour is included, and you're on foot for about an hour, moving at a steady pace. By late afternoon, you're heading back to London, and the coach has WiFi and USB charging if you want to catch up on anything or just sit quiet and watch the motorway roll past.
Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English and Spanish.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 16 years); Infant (under 3): free.
How long is the coach journey from London?
Warwick Castle is roughly ninety minutes from central London. The full day runs from mid-morning departure to late afternoon return, typically ten to eleven hours total.
Is entry to Warwick Castle and Shakespeare's birthplace included?
No. Entry is optional and can be added when you book. The coach fare covers transport, the guide, and the walking tour of Oxford.
Do you stop in the Cotswolds?
No. The Cotswolds are included as a panoramic drive: the coach passes through the countryside, but there is no scheduled stop in any of the villages.
Is the Oxford walking tour included?
Yes. The guide leads a walking tour through Oxford's colleges, museums, and historic streets. It's part of the standard package.
What if I use a wheelchair?
The coach is wheelchair accessible. Contact the operator at least seven days before travel to arrange an accessible vehicle and confirm which stops work for your needs.
Is there WiFi on the coach?
Yes. The coach has WiFi and USB charging points on board.
Can the order of stops change?
Yes. The itinerary may vary for operational reasons, so the order in which you visit each site might differ from the standard sequence.
Operated by Evan Evans Tours. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
Prices and times updated today
London: Warwick Castle, Oxford & Stratford Shakespeare Day Trip
10h 30m · EN · ES
from £ 79 per person
≈ US$ 106 in your currency
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