SHAKESPEARE put Warwickshire on the global tourism map but despite a hop, skip and a jump from the Black Country it is a county I have rarely ventured.

With this in mind, I leapt at the chance of a romantic weekend in the verdant tranquillity of the Warwickshire countryside.

Our first port of call was Walton Hall, a vaguely gothic looking building in a secluded spot just outside the village of Wellesbourne - the home of Chedham’s Yard which is a fascinating place to wander round as it includes a wheelwrights and blacksmiths.

Walton Hall was previously a barracks, a girls boarding school and the country pile of celebrity transvestite Danny Le Rue, it's now a four-star hotel popular with wedding crowds and luxury seekers of all stripes.

On arrival we were greeted with their signature afternoon tea: a platter of cake, some geometrically precise sandwiches and scones with jam and cream.

I assume we were expected to gingerly nibble our way through it whilst making genteel light conversation, but it was delicious and so demolished almost immediately; only a nasty miniature fork duel over the last wedge of banana cake did anything to mar my general enjoyment.

Afternoon tea has made a comeback after years in the culinary wilderness due to the ever more hectic pace of our lives but the delightful spread amid the tranquillity of Walton Hall I totally understood why the Victorians and Edwardians raved about this forgotten hinterland between lunch and dinner.

Our room had all anyone could ask from a romantic bolthole – high ceilings, a four poster bed and a view across the grounds.

We padded around it in awe for a while and then decided to take a stroll around said grounds and into Wellesbourne, which turned out to be further away than we'd anticipated. A lot further away. However, with dusk settling over the fields and male pheasants darting back and forth across our path it was idyllic and strangely otherworldly.

Due to the morning sun streaming into our room leaving Walton Hall was a real wrench, but after a handsome breakfast we moved on towards the town of Stratford.

History is never a far away in Stratford-upon-Avon and there are so many attractions, both big and small, all walking distance from one another in the town.

Shakespeare’s birthplace, Ann Hathaway’s cottage, Mary Arden’s farm and a beautiful butterfly sanctuary which is a great place to get away from the bard if one is feeling a bit Shakespeared out.

The river Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Company dominate the town, and you feel if you are never far away from either. The Avon is the perfect place for a romantic stroll or even boat ride and despite so many other couples having the same idea there is something sweet partaking in a ritual that generations down the centuries have enjoyed. All you need is the time.

We were staying at the Welcombe Hotel, a spa/golf resort a gentle 20-minute walk from the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon.

We dropped our bags in the Anne Hathaway Suite, which turned out to be approximately the size of my house and many times more impressive, and then I was gently coaxed into taking advantage of the facilities.

Normally I'm a spa-sceptic, but an afternoon spent swimming leisurely laps in the pool, misusing jets of water in the jacuzzi and lounging in the various saunas and steam rooms was nothing if not refreshing.

The 125 acre grounds were just the perfect setting for a secluded walk in the late afternoon sun, we really felt civilisation was a different world away.

I'm not known for being a culture vulture – I recently went to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and was disappointed to discover they didn't have the big painting of dogs playing poker – but perhaps the highlight of the trip was an ecstatically received performance of 'As You Like It'.

The recently refurbished RSC Theatre was a perfect backdrop for Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, its unstuffy minimalism seeming to encourage audience participation, and although the play itself is slightly odd it's also deeply romantic.

The RSC really is a world class attraction on our doorstep and its programme of forthcoming plays is impressive as you would expect.

As the final ovation began to fade, I remember thinking to myself “How can I move to Stratford?”

Which I suppose is the biggest compliment anyone can pay about a town.

Factbox: Walton Hall is a luxury four star hotel in historic 16th century building with 56 rooms set in 65 acres of grounds with a health spa. For more information visit www.pumahotels.co.uk/hotels/walton-hall-warwickshire.

The Menzies Welcombe Hotel Spa and Golf Club stands in 157 acres of beautiful grounds and was originally built in 1866, it is a luxury four star hotel. For more information visit www.menzieshotels.co.uk/hotels/midlands/stratford-upon-avon-welcombe-hotel-spa-and-golf-club.