My Traveling Twenties

DESCRIPTION:

Easily recognizable due to your history classes, or its use in popular culture, Stonehange is one of the most famous sites in the UK. Its purpose is still debated today, as scientists and archeologists believe that it could have been a calendar, an ancient ritual location, or even a burial ground due to the large amounts of bones found at the site. A trip to this location is rather far from London and involves use of a bus or car.

Regardless of the fact that they aren't sure what it was for, you aren't allowed to walk in it, and it is in the middle of nowhere next to a highway, Stonehenge is one of the most iconic tourist destinations in the UK!

GETTING THERE & TICKETS:

The only way to get to Stonehenge is by car or bus. Stonehenge is not close to any trains (I know how inconvenient of those people). The closest is Salisbury and you have to take a bus from there.

Option A: Bus Tour:

What I did was sign up for a bus tour, this way they booked the tickets to Stonehenge, did the transportation, AND took me to Bath for a few hours in addition to returning me home. Wherever you are in the UK, you should be able to find one of these tours quite easily. These day tours go for around 30 pounds, just plug 'Stonehenge bus tours (with whatever city you are in)', into your search engine. Not a bad deal considering that Stonehenge is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and your transportation costs alone would probably cost that much.

Option B: Your Own Transportation: However, you can actually see Stonehenge from the road. If you just want to see it and check it off your list, you can drive by it, take a picture, and move on with your life. If you want to officially stand around it (you don't get to walk through it, unfortunately), you have to purchase time stamped tickets and you can do so here on the website.

MUSEUM AND NEOLITHIC VILLAGE:

Included with your ticket to go walk around Stonehenge is museum admission and a replica of an ancient village.

The museum itself is interesting as it offers different perspectives about Stonehenge (provides more detailed information than the audio tour as you walked around the structure). Also the visuals provided of the sun rising and setting around Stonehenge are pretty cool. If you want to learn a lot about Stonehenge you could definitely spend a half hour here, OR you could just buy the book in the giftshop and read it on the bus while drinking elderflower wine from the cafeteria...up to you.

The village for the most part reminds you of the Wizard of Oz with the munchkin village, the little huts have little fake artifacts, and there will sometimes be people there grinding grain or making nets if you're into watching that. Everything is a replica, and everything is a reanactment, here in this village of lies.

DINING:

If you are hungry while at Stonehenge you have only the option of the cafeteria (because again, there is nothing there), but they serve alcohol there so it's not horrible. Try the Elderflower wine, I even saved the bottle I liked it that much.

ROCK AND ROLL:

If I am being completely honest, I don't understand why I was so excited to see Stonehenge. Just keep in mind, you will be far around the rocks (as you can see from the pictures). This is because 'of the risk of the underground parts of Stonehenge collapsing.' Its not really interactive, you circle around it once and that's pretty much it.

OVERALL, I was glad to check Stonehenge it off my UK tourism list, the rocks are definitely impressive, and the audio tour and museum add some depth to them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it if you only have a few days in the UK. However, if you couple Stonehenge with the trip to Bath, the bus tour is worth it and nice to do on a sunny day (I couldn't imagine standing around those rocks in the rain). If I was to provide my own transportation.... I  think it would have been enough to drive by it slowly and lower the window.