Shrewsbury's most distinctive feature is its medieval street pattern, which has survived remarkably intact. The town is full of "shuts" — narrow passageways that thread between buildings, sometimes only a few feet wide — connecting the main streets to hidden courtyards and back lanes. Names like Grope Lane, Peacock Passage, and Fish Street preserve the memory of medieval trades that were conducted here.
Walking the shuts and lanes is the best way to experience Shrewsbury. Bear Steps, a covered passage near St Alkmund's Church, is a particularly good example: a medieval timber-framed structure leading to a small square with some of the oldest buildings in the town. Butcher Row and Fish Street are short pedestrianised lanes packed with some of the most impressive black-and-white timbered buildings in the county.
The town has more listed buildings per square metre than almost anywhere in England, and most of them are simply part of the street rather than cordoned off as museums. The best approach is to simply walk without a fixed plan — the town is small enough that getting "lost" is impossible, and the discovery of unexpected buildings and alleys is the point.