Stratford-upon-Avon ranked sixth in the UK by TripAdvisor

Stratford–upon-Avon has made it into a Top Ten of the UK's best destinations by the world's largest travel website, TripAdvisor.

The town lined up alongside London, Edinburgh, Bath, Cambridge and Oxford in the poll on which over 1million people posted. Users were asked to state where they had visited and whether they had liked it.

Cllr Stephen Gray, Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council says: “This is a tremendous accolade for Stratford-upon-Avon making it officially the jewel in the crown in the Midlands.  This is a beautiful town steeped in history with beautiful buildings and home to the newly redeveloped Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  For Stratford to beat a lot of other famous and more obvious tourist destinations is a fantastic achievement, especially as the award has been voted by people who have actually visited Stratford.

“The District Council has worked diligently with partners on the redevelopment of Bancroft Gardens as well as a number of other schemes in the town including the Wayfinding signage project all to enhance the experience for tourists, daytrippers and residents alike.  Tourism is vital for the economic prosperity of the region and it is important that the District Council and partners continue to work with the Local Enterprise Partnership to make sure that this excellent progress continues and Stratford-upon-Avon remains high on tourists' itineries.

“TripAdvisor is one of the most popular travel websites in the world. As the reviews are written by real travellers making the accolade completely impartial and very much deserved for the town and it is also pleasing to have been chosen above some of Britain's other heritage cities such as York and Chester."

TripAdvisor unveiled the winners of its 2011 Travellers' Choice Destination Awards, based on the experiences of millions of travellers from around the world.  The winners were based on travellers' favourite and most visited destinations, as pinned on travel maps on TripAdvisor and their Facebook app.

TripAdvisor attracts 45 million monthly visitors and makes up the most popular and largest travel community in the world. Featuring real advice from real travellers, the TripAdvisor - branded sites cover hundreds of thousands of hotels and attractions all over the world.

The full list of the Uk's top 25 is as follows:

1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Bath
4. Cambridge
5. Oxford
6. Stratford-upon-Avon
7. York
8. Inverness
9. St Andrews
10. Liverpool
11. Glasgow
12. Brighton
13. Belfast
14. Canterbury
15. Manchester
16. St Ives
17. Cardiff
18. Windermere
19. Newcastle upon Tyne
20. Aberdeen
21. Windsor
22. Bournmouth
23. Salisbury
24. Chester
25. Oban