A Day Out At Shakespaw Cat Cafe!

A few weekends ago, my husband and I spent a sporadically sunny Sunday in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Primarily to visit Shakespaw Cat Café. We'd made our reservations online a few days before and made sure we turned up in plenty of time. And we had the best ninety minutes in this quaint little cat café. I took so many pictures, so it seemed only fitting really that I share them here in a new blog post. Plus, I wanted to make more people aware of this wonderful little place to, hopefully, encourage more visitors!

The security and welfare of the cats is of the utmost importance to Shakespaw Cat Café. Upon arrival, you have to enter through one door into a little vestibule and close the door behind you. Then you ring a bell and wait to be let into the café. The cats have access to an enclosed, cat-safe outdoor area. And there are so many toys, beds, scratching posts and more scattered throughout the café. These cats are as spoilt as mine!

Food and drink is served from behind a hatch, and if you have a cat pestering you at your table the staff will come and move them. Because one of the rules is to not feed the cats. There's a variety of food on offer, from mac and cheese to pancakes in a sweet or savoury option. Hubby and I went for a plain scone and fruit scone respectively and shared a large pot of tea, which was refillable. 

Everything in the café is quaint and almost antique like. And, as you can see, some of the cats are more camera friendly than others! All the cats are named after Shakespeare characters, appropriate given they're residing in the Bard's hometown. This very handsome Persian, with his funny/fluffy tail, was called Horatio. Other names were Hamlet and Bottom. 

It wasn't always easy to take photos, as the cats were moving around so fast most of the time and weren't obliging enough to sit still for just a moment! But everywhere you looked around the café, there were cats. And, of course, you were surrounded by fellow cat lovers; all of you cooing over the kittens and older cats alike. A fantastic experience, and I'm definitely going to be returning. For just £5 each admission and, on our visit, around £6 each on food and drink it's not a visit that's going to break the bank either!

Other rules of the cat café include: No under 10's, no large groups, respect the cats (don't wake them when they're sleeping etc). It's highly advisable to book your visit, but they do take walk-ins if they have the space. You can find out more about the café and how to book your visit here.

Have you ever visited a cat café before? Do you want to?