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Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
4.5
Historic SitesArchitectural BuildingsTheaters
About
Founded by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe is a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work and the playhouse for which he wrote, through the connected means of performance and education.Together, the Globe Theatre Company, Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition and Globe Education seek to further the experience and international understanding of Shakespeare in performance.
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The area

Address
Neighborhood: Southwark
Even before the arrival of the instantly iconic Shard, the riverside scene in Southwark had moved well beyond any up-and-coming phase of development. For quite some time, locals and out-of-towners alike have loved browsing the boutiques of Bermondsey High Street, foraging through the bounteous stalls at centuries old foodie haven Borough Market, and flocking to the banks of the Thames to enjoy some of Britain's biggest attractions such as Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe. Despite Southwark's many popular draws, instant calm can be achieved easily by turning down almost any side street. For more urban buzz, a quick stroll across famed bridges like the pedestrianized Millennium Bridge or the ever photogenic Tower Bridge yields access to the very core of Central London. And with London Bridge Station as this neighborhood's main transportation hub, getting across town (or to anywhere in England for that matter) is a relative breeze.
How to get there
  • Mansion House • 7 min walk
  • Blackfriars • 7 min walk
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See what travelers are saying

  • hjr2022016
    Port d'Andratx, Spain4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide
    We booked the one hour pre-lunch Macbeth tour before watching the afternoon performance. Tyler, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic so we were really pleased with our choice as it really helped us follow aspects of the play. I would highly recommend it.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written October 4, 2023
  • homexplorer85
    Indiana4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Theatrical History!
    Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is like stepping back in time. It looks and feels just like old London. I watched "A Midsummer Night's Dream" there and the actors were amazing. It's really cool to stand close to the stage, just like people did long ago. I also took a tour and learned lots about Shakespeare and the theatre's past. If you like plays, you should definitely go here.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 4, 2023
  • emilyjjohnson2017
    Austin, Texas94 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent show
    Had a great time seeing Macbeth. The play was wonderful and we picked excellent seats (Middle Gallery, Bay J). One note - since the Globe is authentic to the time period, there's no back support except for the top row so be prepared it's not the most comfortable situation (even with a seat cushion).
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 7, 2023
  • Lucy L
    Hagley, United Kingdom134 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Macbeth tour and performance
    It was great to pair the Macbeth tour and performance together - the former giving us (three adults and three children studying Macbeth for GCSE English) a great insight to the theatre and Macbeth. Tyler, our guide, worked hard to engage the teenagers (no mean feat!) and they all had a good, positive experience. It was great to see the theatre and hear about how theatre-going was in Shakespeare's day. We were lucky to have a warm, sunny day and had great seats in Bay L in the middle gallery. The play itself was fantastic. Modern dress/concept throughout worked well. Some good moments of comedy, I loved the witches 'cauldron!' I liked the way each death was portrayed (I'm trying not to create any spoilers here!,) going round the stage. A great day out. I find it odd that the Globe don't seem to have any understudies for each role, although that said, the actress who stood in for the role of Ross did an amazing job and although she did have the script with her, she clearly knew most of it and often looked away, closing the book. I think it would have been frustrating if the role of a more major character had been 'read.'
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written October 9, 2023
  • pauldakiwi
    Silver Spring, Maryland57 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must see if you like Shakespeare
    I visited many years ago when the Globe was still under construction. It was great to return more than 20 years later and see a performance. We sat in the middle level. Sight lines and acoustics were fine. The queer interpretation of As You Like It was entertaining.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 14, 2023
  • 616AdamC
    London, United Kingdom13 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    What an intro to Shakespeare
    We visited the globe last Monday ,I wasn’t keen but my wife wanted to go, we went on a tour with “cockney mick” .He was brilliant, very knowledgable and full of humour. He made the whole experience very enjoyable, so much so that we booked to see Macbeth ,a couple of nights later. We would thoroughly recommend this tour! And it was a great introduction to Shakespeare
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 15, 2023
  • K'Elle Thor
    San Diego, California53 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Dream come true
    Visiting the Globe has been a life long dream. I was completely ecstatic to be able to visit this place. I only took the tour, which lasted about an hour. I do wish I could have seen an actual play but I didn't have the time in my schedule. We learned a lot about the theater and Shakespeare himself. Things you wouldn't learn in school. It was an amazing visit.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 17, 2023
  • mary regina
    97 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    MacBeth was a Shakespearean delight!
    Loved MacBeth’s matinee performance! I gave the actors a standing O because they were amazing! TAS right down the street is a fabulous restaurant with amazing hummus, lentil soup and feta cheese salad!
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 22, 2023
  • Cardigankate
    Wareham, United Kingdom237 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant experience!
    Before arriving, the reviews weren’t great so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Well, we should have ignored the bad reviews as Thursday afternoon’s performance of Macbeth was absolutely brilliant! We watched a professional, hard working team who connected with the audience really well. The child actors were an asset to the play; well done to all of them. We were in the middle gallery (a cushion is a must) and we’re glad we weren’t standing (I’m not sure how they all coped!) Why complain when all I could see were teenagers thoroughly engaged in the play. Modern Shakespeare at its best! What an experience in this wonderful theatre!
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written October 26, 2023
  • Kat C
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Get a Standing Ticket If You Can!
    I've been wanting to go to the Globe for ages and it definitely lived up to the hype! I purchased a ÂŁ5 standing ticket to see their production of As You Like It, and my friends (who are not diehard Shakespeare fans like me) sat in the balcony. I got to lean on the stage and interact with the cast. If you have the stamina to stand, I HIGHLY recommend it! The production was really well done. They did a great job of adding some modern elements (like pop songs) to the production to make the show feel fresh, and it satisfied even my friends who are new to Shakespeare.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written October 27, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles9,223 reviews
Excellent
6,078
Very good
2,145
Average
589
Poor
218
Terrible
193

Tabeus
Newport, RI127 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
For all the effort that went into creating this spectacular replica, it is disappointing that you don't get much time to appreciate it. The only way to get in (other than to see a performance) is to take a tour, although I'm not sure you can call it a tour when there is only 1 stop. You meet your tour guide in the basement waiting area for an orientation of London in Shakespeare's time, then follow the guide into the Globe and sit in the gallery. Some Q&As and you're done. You get to stand briefly in the yard in front of the stage, and then you are ushered off to the gift shop. If there are actors rehearsing (as there were on this day) you are not permitted to take photos.

The "tour" is essentially just a way to control people in the theater, which I get, but it's a shame because as a result you get very little opportunity to really look around and no opportunity to explore. Still, it is very cool to see what the Globe was probably like, especially if you already have a connection to it. I think it would be a great experience to see a show here. For a visit, though, your best bet is really to disregard the tour guide and take in everything you see while you're there, because it won't be for long.
Written March 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris H
25 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Informative tour of The Globe Theatre made interesting by our leader, Mike. He kept us enthralled with stories of how performances were put on in Shakespeare's time. Most of the group had no idea of the origins of The Globe, or its restoration by the American actor, Sam Wanamaker. One North American visitor, who had not heard of Sam Wanamaker or other "famous" actors who had belonged to the Company, asked whether any had gone on to "become mainstream actors", to general groans from the rest of the party.
Would have been good to have seen some of the costumes, props etc.
Written January 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bron-bird
Kitchener, Canada14 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019
We purchased tickets for a Shakespeare production months before the show. The weather was "iffy" with rain falling at the beginning of the production. Before the end of the show the ushers were providing sun visors. The quality of the production is worth the price of admission. Highly recommended.
Written January 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Redkitewatcher64
Andover, UK2,126 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Friends
Have visited the Globe on many occasions to watch plays so on this London visit we decided to take part on a tour to see behind the scenes. It didn't start very well by a very jobsworth man at the entrance saying we didn't have tickets just a voucher. After telling him several times this is what we had been sent and that we had been told we just had to show the email, he eventually checked to see our names on the booking list and let us in. It was quite a big tour group, maybe 30 people, and we were all given earphones so we could hear the guide. Actors were rehearsing on the stage and we were advised that we had to be quiet whilst walking around the building and could not take photos if the actors were there . We started the tour outside with a little of the history of the theatre and Shakespeare before moving to the groundlings section of the Globe before making our way up into the seating area. There were a lot of other groups on tours that day, maybe too many , and sometimes with all the guides and guests talking it was hard to hear the guide even with headphones. It felt like they were crowding in as many groups as possible as it was Easter holiday, However the information was very interesting and I learnt lots of new things about the theatre. Its not really a behind the scenes tour as you only visit where you would go as a ticket holder to a play, I had thought we might go behind the stage and see the costumes , props or even pay a visit to see the new indoor theatre. It is advertised as a 2hr immersive tour, but the actual tour itself is just 50 minutes . The last part is next to the gift shop after you have handed in your earphones so the poor guide has to shout over the noise of the theatre shop and other theatre visitors. We were then told that our tickets allowed us to go into the exhibition at any time on that day. We went straight away and had the exhibition to ourselves. For us there was too much writing/information on the walls , after reading a couple of paragraphs you wanted to move on, it seems a bit old hat in exhibitions nowadays. The best part of the exhibition was the hands on interactive displays, we loved trying on costumes ,and working out the sounds and smells from the props department . The cost of the tour which last year was ÂŁ17 for just the 50 minute tour , has now gone up to ÂŁ25 per person to include the museum tour . I am not sure its worth the increase and would have expected more behinds the scenes and seeing things that you would not normally see when visiting the Globe. Although we enjoyed it I was a little disappointed
Written April 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ben F
Auckland Central, New Zealand16 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
For the price tag of the tour, the experience was underwhelming. Our guide shared interesting stories and was able to answer several obscure questions from our group but tended towards promotion of the attractions creator too regularly.

It would have been good to see more of the theatre and particularly the inner workings and backstage area or have the opportunity to explore it independently.
Written January 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Wander & Wonder
Singapore, Singapore1,698 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Family
We turned left after crossing the Millennium Bridge and saw the Shakespeare Globe Theatre which is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays in the London. The modern Globe Theatre is an academic approximation based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 buildings. It is considered quite realistic, though contemporary safety requirements mean that it accommodates only 1,400 spectators compared to the original theatre's 3,000. We did not go in as you have to buy tickets to get in.
Written January 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andrew
Baltimore, MD640 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2019
Pay extra for a good seat. I recommend the front row on the upper levels so you can lean against the railing. There aren't seat backs, so be aware that you'll have to sit up straight without any support like you did when you were a kid in school.

The stage is very barren and the plays performed here capture the spirit I imagine they had 400 years ago when they were being performed in Shakespeare's time. It's just actors on a stage, feeding on the reactions of the audience. No microphones, no screens. It's very cool.
Written March 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

montgomerieburns1
Petts Wood, UK74 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
A family day out with kids lead us back in time to Shakespeares Globe Theatre. After watching a demonstration of sword fighting we took the tour. Our guide was extremely informative and conveyed his knowledge with good humour. He took questions from the audience even when in mid stream and nothing phased him. A fantastically well built new version of what probably stood on the bank of the Thames.
Totally enthralled by the whole experience so much so that we are going back to watch a play in the open air theatre in April and can’t wait
Written February 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lilly S
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
The tour began on time, and the tour guide, Michael, was very fun, energetic and informative. It was a great experience! Afterwards, we went to a play at the Sam Wanamaker indoor theater and saw the play Swive. It was worth the price. The actors did a splendid job and the staff was always courteous and patient with theater goers.
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

richard m
Whitchurch, UK117 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
Unique theatre in this day and age, marvellous that this building can be operated in the centre of London with London city centre costs. Nevertheless Shakespeare will always be an attraction and it should continue for a long time. Our guide was an actor himself and loved to express himself in a theatrical way whilst describing about the building and its history. Worth the money and a unique experience, only need an hour at the most.
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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