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Visiting Stonehenge? Essential Tips, Tours & Planning Advice · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thinking about visiting Stonehenge.
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: In this episode, doug and I chat all about how to plan your trip, from how to get there and what to expect to the best tours, tips for visiting and whether it's really worth it.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: If Stonehenge is on your list, this one's for you.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, Tracey Collins.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: In this podcast, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the UK Travel Planner Podcast.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: This week, we've got a fun and informative episode all about visiting one of the UK's most iconic landmarks Stonehenge.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: But I'm not going to hello Doug's here too.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Hello, because he's also visited a few times, and so we thought this would be a good chance to have a natter and answer some of the most common questions we are asked about visiting Stonehenge.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about what Stonehenge is, why it's so significant, how to get there, the best ways to visit and some extra tips for first timers.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Plus, we're going to compare Stonehenge with Avebury, which is another stone circle we've both been to as well, so we thought we'd definitely want to talk about Avebury as well.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: So, whether you're visiting from London, bath or beyond, this episode has everything you need to know for a smooth and memorable Stonehenge experience.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: So the first thing we're going to talk about basically is what is Stonehenge and why is it significant?
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: So, doug, fill us in then.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: What is?
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Stonehenge.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Well, basically, it's a prehistoric stone circle located in the southern English county of Wiltshire in England yep and well then, it was constructed between 3000 BC and 1600 BC and is one of the most famous monuments in the world and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: I was going to say.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well, and I think it's probably one of the most popular destinations that we have questions about.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I think I read somewhere that they have nearly a million visitors a year, which is incredible, yeah, absolutely incredible.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: So it's really famous because of a number of things.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: So because it has alignment with the solstices, which we're going to talk about in a second.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Basically, there's a lot of mystery about how it was constructed and, of course, effort it took to bring the stones from so many miles, miles away, so they all make it hugely important.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: So what do we know about their alignment?
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: okay, yeah, well, the effort.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: Even in today's standards, it would be a big effort to actually put it together, so the stones align with the sun lies on the summer solstice, which is the 21st of June, and also on the winter solstice, the 21st of December, and considering when it was built, it's pretty remarkable.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: It's crazy and also I have to say that if you are planning to visit Stonehenge, this is not the time of year to plan your visit.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: So do not go there, or do not try and plan a visit on the solstices, because it is incredibly busy.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: It's a very popular time of year, obviously, to visit and it has quite significance for some people, so therefore, we would really recommend that you don't go.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Now, what is it about the stones?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Because there's two types of stones, aren't there?
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: that's right.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, there's sarsen stones, which are from the Marlborough Downs, which is about 25 miles away, and then there's the blue stones all the way from wales, which is about 150 miles away yeah, so it's incredible, isn't it, to think that people manage to move the stones that sort of distance, the size of them, and I think that's the thing when you see the size of them.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: You just get kind of blown away and quite a lot of people will kind of say oh.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: A lot of british people actually say oh, stonehenge, or whatever, whatever.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: But I just think there's such a mystique and a mystery around it the realist, and when you're actually standing nearby you can actually almost feel.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: You know there's something magical about them, I think yeah, no, I think absolutely true.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: So which is why?
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Because I'm going to answer, in fact, later about whether it's worth going, but I've been a number of times and I always enjoy going to Stonehenge.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I think it's a an incredible place to visit.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It is different.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: I'm actually just going to throw this in here, because I first went to Stonehenge probably about 35 years ago, and at that point you could walk right up to the stones.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: There was literally me.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I parked up, just walked across the road and the stones were there.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Now it's a completely different experience and that's what we're going to talk about next.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about what it's like when you actually arrive at Stonehenge and those were days before the visit centre was put in yeah, and that's what we're going to talk about how things have changed over the last few years.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: So what to know if you actually, when you arrive at Stonehenge itself?
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I've been to the stones three times in recent years and I've done it each time differently.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: So I've been by, by car, I've driven my own car there, I have been on the bus from Salisbury, which you and I did, and I've also been on a tour with the English bus, which I am going to talk to you a little bit more about later.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: So, but each of the time basically, which I am going to talk to you a little bit more about later, but each of the time basically, you have the same experience when you arrive, in that you arrive at the visitor centre.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, if you pre-bought your tickets and the presenter, you can get quite busy there, though.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, we arrived, and I think a couple of coaches had arrived at the same time, so it can be quite busy.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: It can be incredibly busy and I would recommend that you do buy your tickets ahead of time.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: If you're going to try and arrive and just buy your ticket, you may end up not being able to get a slot.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I would just say that.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: So I would say buy a ticket.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Especially at busy times of year like the summer, it's always busier at Stonehenge, it doesn't matter when you go, that's right.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: So when you arrive, there's a visitor centre, now the visitor centre.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: there's a cafe, there's public restrooms.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Well, the inevitable gift shop there as well.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a gift shop.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Actually, the gift shop has got some fantastic things in it.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: I will put some photos in the show notes because I took loads of photos of the cute things they've got in the gift shop.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: But depending on if you want to have a little drink before you go out, or depending on if you, if you know, if you have you want to have a little drink before you go out, or depend on the weather, or if you want to go straight out to the stones and you can walk them.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: So the visitor center is actually a mile and a half from the stones itself yeah, it is.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: We took the opportunity on that last visit to have a good look around the museum first, which I have to say, I think it's recommended to do, because I just think it fills.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: You, say I think it's recommended to do yeah.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, because I just think it fills you with awe.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: I think you know.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: Look at the size of these stones.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: How did they get them there?
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it talks about the whole area as well.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: It's not just literally about Stonehenge itself.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and its importance?
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and so you can look around the museum, and then outside there's some neolithic houses so you can go and inspect those as well, and there's a, there's a stone that you can have a try at pulling which but it gives you an example.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Like the size of it.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: The sheer size is incredible, um, and then from there, there's a shuttle service which will take you so you can walk, but there's a shuttle service that'll take you out to the stones.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Now, we've always taken the show.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: We've always taken the, but there's a shuttle service that'll take you out to the stones.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: Now, we've always taken the shuttle.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: We've always taken the shuttle.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's worth bearing in mind.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: You can't actually see Stonehenge from the visitor centre.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: No, that's a good point.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: You can't.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: So you jump into the car park, you see the visitor centre and don't expect you can be able to see Stonehenge straight away.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: No, you can't.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: No, that's true, that's a good point.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: So you can walk.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: It's about a mile and a half, I'd say.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: So it takes about 15, 20 minutes or so.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: As I say, we've not walked it, we've always taken the shuttle bus.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Don't worry if you miss a shuttle bus when you're standing, because they come every like 10 minutes.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: There's a shuttle bus so you can get up there and then, once you get up and off shuttle bus, you'll see stonehenge.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Then, yeah, and then you've got to.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: You walk through up a path and then you've got to keep within designated areas.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Um, you're not allowed to go inside the kind of roped off area unless you're doing a special tour, which are available.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Otherwise you can't do that and they're kind of early in the morning or later and later in the evening, those special tours where you can have the inner circle access.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: But generally, if you buy a general access ticket to Stonehenge, you can't go within that kind of inner area You're kept to the perimeter.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: It's all very clearly marked, isn't it?
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But you've got a good view, oh yeah, yeah, you have a really good view and you get very close to the heel stone actually, but you walk all the way around so you get all to see the the stones.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Really well, um, you can't touch them.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: And I'm just going to say this you cannot touch them.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Whether you do the inner circle access to or not, you're not allowed to touch the stones.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Um, that's very important you take as many photos and videos as you like.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Photos videos no drones are allowed.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: You can't take dogs except guide dogs aren't allowed in Stonehenge.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: The path is flat, isn't it as well?
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: It's a grass path, isn't it?
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Around the perimeter?
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's covered in like a plastic mesh type of stuff.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: But if it has been raining it does get muddy.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: That's one thing I will say about that path, because I was there in January, early January or late now, so late January, February, and it was, it was a little bit muddy so it's worth taking a few uh items of clothing, just in case the weather does change well I would.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: I would say that, and that's such a real good tip to share about.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: If you're visiting Stonehenge, it's you're exposed, it's out in the open.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: If it's raining, you're going to get wet.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: If it's windy, you're going to get.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: You know, you'll get blown away, which I did one time when I went before in fact there's pictures of me in january and it was very breezy.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: It was, it was raining and it was.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: It was a bit chilly, but we've been in summer I was just going to say the opposite is true.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: We're actually there in summer and take a hat and some sunblock yeah, because it, it can have a drink of water as well yeah, and take water.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: But I will say the weather can change quickly because I say I was there end of january, being in february, and it was raining and the next minute the sun came out and it was so you just don't know, but it was cold, it was very cold, and there's pictures of me looking like you know I'm right very wrapped up with my layers on and bring a waterproof jacket whatever time of year.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Actually, because I visit at different times of the year and always have my waterproof jacket with me and some shoes with some good tread on, then, if you say it can get a little bit slippery if it's wet, yeah, and a little bit muddy.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was definitely uh muddy, but um, but so all in all, really, you arrive at the visitor center, you can spend a bit of time there before you go out to the stones, or you can get, you can go see the stones and then go back to the visitor center, but I'd highly recommend that you do spend some time looking around the museum, having a look at the neolithic houses.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: You know, reading up about stonehenge, I would say give yourself two hours, would you say that's it.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: You're not rushed are there's nobody pushing you around, no, no you can walk.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: You can walk round and round and round if you want, you could just keep going round and round and round and looking at the stones, there's nobody kind of saying you can only be here for five minutes, 20 minutes, 20, half an hour, whatever, um, and you can jump on any shuttle bus back so to get to stonehenge yeah, so that's our next section that we're going to talk about so we've kind of talked about what they are and their significance.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: We've talked about what happens when you arrive.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: So now the next section we're talking about is actually how to get there yeah so we're going to talk about how to get there from london first.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: We are going to just cover how to get there from Bath as well, because I know a lot of you might be considering going to Stonehenge from Bath because it is pretty easy.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about a few options.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so the first one coming from London.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: You'll be coming out to London.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Waterloo is the the station from there, and so you'll about an hour hour and a half train from Waterloo to Salisbury.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Oh, so the first option is to take the train.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Well, these were me.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I was going to say you didn't mention, you just kind of went into Waterloo.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm a train man, so trains are always the first option I was going to say the first option is to take the train, kind of jumped in and told you how to do it.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: But yes, london, waterloo, salisbury, it doesn't take about an hour and a half, yeah, yeah.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And then, once you arrive in Salisbury, what you can do is you can take a taxi if you want to Stonehenge, or you can take there's a kind of shuttle tour bus, which we've done and we enjoyed that.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: It was actually quite good, wasn't it.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a double-decker bus and yeah, and there's commentary points as well can have um earphones.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: You can listen when they talk about parts.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: You know the trip on the way.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's also um, yeah, and so actually what it?
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: What's really interesting about that tour bus as well is that it's a loop, so, um, you can, it pulls into stonehenge.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: You can get off at stonehenge and then I can't.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I think I don't know how many every half an hour or so, I'm not 100, sure the time now, but it actually will come back to Stonehenge and you can jump on it and then go back to Salisbury to get the train.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Now, we did that a few years ago when we were actually travelling to Exeter from Winchester and Portsmouth and we decided to stop off at Stonehenge.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: So we had our luggage with us.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: So what did we do with our luggage?
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: So, just outside soulsby train station, there's a turning circle there and there's a hotel yeah um restaurant?
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I think yeah, seconds away from from the station and we left our luggage there yeah, yeah, I think it was a restaurant, but it was the bottom of the hill and we just left, we left our luggage there and we we was on the bottom of it about halfway.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: It was about halfway down I remember we bought tickets for stonehenge on the bus as well, and this was June, so we managed to get.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: We bought the Stonehenge tour bus and the entry tickets to Stonehenge.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I think you can have your own entry tickets to Stonehenge and just take the tour bus which will get you there.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: But that's what we did.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: We just booked it.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: We didn't, we kind of winged it, just decided to add it in and try it out and actually it worked out all right.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: But I would say, if you plan to do that, do check, because you might need to buy the tickets ahead of time.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: But I think you can always buy them on the bus.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: So that's what we did.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I think the whole route takes about an hour to do the loop and maybe about I don't know about half an hour to get to the range, or so I think it took us a bit longer because there was a road work.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but it's worth having a look around salisbury as well.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to throw this off itself.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the cathedral is yeah, oh yeah, absolutely so you could do that.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: You could do that on a day trip from london.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: We've talked about quite often about day trips that you can take by train, so you could go out to salisbury, go to stonehenge and then go back to salisbury and back to london.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: You could do.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: A coach is another possible possible way to do it, but honestly it takes, it takes over three hours just one way, so I wouldn't recommend it.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: That's probably my least.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: So yeah well, least recommended way to do it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Well, the other way you could do it is by car, because I know a lot of you will be considering adding in Stonehenge when you're a part of a road trip around the UK.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: So one thing I will just say to this if you plan to do this and I've actually got friends that live near Stonehenge is just be very careful with the roads, because they get very, very congested and very, very busy, particularly around weekends and public holiday times and school holidays.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: So just be really aware of that.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: There is free parking at Stonehenge.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: If you're an English Heritage or National Trust member.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: If you've got your ticket ahead of time, you don't have to pay.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: If you don't have a ticket and you plan to buy at Stonehenge and you've got a car, there is a fee.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: I think it's about five pound, but you can get a refund, uh, when you buy your ticket, um, but it will, they will charge you for parking if you haven't got your ticket before you arrive yeah, so driving is a flexible option.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: I mean, that gives you more time.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: You're not not not rushed yeah, that's it.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, and a lot of people will choose to do that and you know, I think it is it is a good option.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Another option from london is to take an organized tour.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Now, um, we have got uh partners that we work with who do this, so we've got my tailored tours.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: If you're thinking about a private tour from london, uh, we highly recommend with my tele tours and I will put a link in the show notes.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: And for a small group tour, um, I'm going to talk about the english bus in a moment, because I actually went out with them in january and had an absolutely amazing day, so I'm going to talk about, uh, about how good that was, but I do want to just throw throw this into this podcast because I think it's important.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of tour companies that will offer, um, larger tour companies that will offer stonehenge bath and windsor in a day, and really I'm going to say my opinion is that that is too rushed, trying to fit Windsor in with Stonehenge Bath and that's the feedback we've had from others as well it's just, you're just not going to get, you're going to really get a fine visit around Windsor, and that that's.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: And really Windsor deserves a bit more time.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: I mean obviously a rush visit may suit some, yeah absolutely, you know, I'm not I'm gonna say not do it at all, I'm just saying really consider it carefully and if you can and if you really want to do Bath and Stonehenge and Windsor, is to do Stonehenge and Bath on it, on it on a tour private to a small group tour, and then do Windsor as a half day tour from london, which is very or even just independently from london.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: It's easy enough to do yeah.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: So that's one thing that I would just say, that just to be a bit more careful about.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: If you're planning, like if you're really rushed and you have very little few days and you really want to do windsor, then and you know, and you don't want to pay for a private chair, then then you know, consider one of those larger coaches, but it would be my last option.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Um, one other option as well is that you could um raise of xfa cars could provide a driver for the day as well.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: So if you just want to drive it, take you out to stonehenge and avebury, which we're going to talk about in a minute.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, certainly he can give you a coat to take you from london um by car to stonehenge and avebury, and I will put links in the show notes to both my taylor tours and uh for xfr cars and just while I mentioned that, the um, I mentioned the trains from waterloo, equally easy.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: If you're coming from bath, from the west, it's easy yeah, well, I was going to talk about from bath as well, because, um, if you want to do it from bath, I would recommend again, you could um talk to daniel of bath insider tours and he could do a private tour.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: He's got options from bath that would take you from bath to get you to stone hand, but you can do it by train, which is what I want you to kind of talk about yeah, it's just as easy.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, there's no issues, it's a very straightforward train journey uh takes over an hour.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Just about an hour, not much more and so if you do the train from bath again, you could pick up the um stonehenge uh tour bus from outside the train station.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: That's where it stops I think I didn't say that before, but actually you can pick the two bus up.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: It waits outside salisbury train station there's like a car park turning circle in front of the station yeah, yeah so easy to find it parks literally outside the station building yeah.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So I'm just going to talk a little bit about um my experience with the english bus, because I did a tour with them ended january, february, um, which was lovely.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: They invited me to go out for a day.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: So they are partners and I have got a discount code, but you have to go through the link which I'll put in the show notes and put the code on, which, again, will be in the show notes.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: But that was a.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: It was a fantastic trip, small coach.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: We went out to Stonehenge first, then to Bath and then we went to a secret place which I'm not going to share with you because it's a secret, but that was fantastic.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: It was a really, really good day out.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: We had the advantage of a guide and you know, I, you if you get a stone, and you can have um earphones if you go, you know independently, um, but I, I want to know as much as I can about it, and having a guide is really great way to do it.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: And also, we had the advantage of being able to visit bath as well and enjoy a few hours of bath, which was fantastic.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: And then we went to the secret place on the way back to London.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: No stress, very easy picked up from Victoria just outside Victoria train station in the morning and dropped off back there later on in the day.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: So I would highly recommend that very, very good company.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: We only work with the best.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: So if you want more information about English Bus, please go through the link on the show notes, because they were amazing and they do do other tours from London as well that you can check out.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: But I really wanted to do a big shout out for them because they were.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: It was just a brilliant, brilliant day yeah, I remember you talking about that.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: You really enjoyed yeah it was.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: It was really really good.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: So we're just going to talk in the next section a little bit about Stonehenge versus Avebury, um so.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about what Avebury is.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: So Avebury are also, it's also stones, stone circles that's right.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Uh, with big one, big difference yeah to Stonehenge.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, go on then you can touch the stones you can.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: You can touch the stones.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: You can go right up to the stones.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: You can walk through the fields and there are.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: There are more stones.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: There just seem to the stones.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: You can go right up to the stones.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: You can walk through the fields and there are more stones.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: There just seem to be stones everywhere.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: When you go to Avebury, I would say that sometimes in the fields there's sheep, sheep, cows.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: And sheep dung Watch where you walk you have to watch where you walk.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: But Avebury is, I don't know.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: It's also a very special place to go to.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: You can actually combine it if you've got your own car or if you're doing a tour.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Some tours will combine Avebury and Stonehenge.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: They're not very far apart.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: I think it's about I don't even know a 25-minute drive between the two.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: You have to.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: There's parking at Avebury and you either have to have the exact cash or you can pay.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I think there's a reception in the old farm yard that you can pay by card for parking.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: There's a really nice pub as well that you can go to and have a pub lunch as well.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Actually it's about a 40-minute drive, I think, between the two of them, but I'd highly recommend it.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: There's so many stones at Avery there is.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: And they're huge.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: They are, and they're huge.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: They are in separate locations and you're walking through neither well, where's the circle?
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: And you step back and you go ah, now I see it.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Okay, now I can see it and also I think the thing about avery is like this the stones are all different sizes.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Um, they don't have the lintels that stonehenge have these are standing standards these are standing stones, um, but I'd highly recommend going and having a look at avebury as well, if you can.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: As I say you can, you can find chairs that will include both.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: If you've got a car, I, I would encourage you to do that, and I know um, actually, xfa cars riz from xfa cars has taken people out from london to stonehenge and then on to Avebury and then back to London.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah yeah, so some questions, because we get some.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Those are some of the frequently asked questions that we get in our Facebook group and via email, and the first one is really controversial.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, is Stonehenge worth it?
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: That's.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so I do too.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: I'm quite passionate about it and I get a little bit of a downer when I hear especially British people going, oh, it's just a pile of old rocks.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: I'm like it's just.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I have to say I'm an ex-history teacher, so I'm not going to say anything other than it's absolutely worth it.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I'm a little bit sad that over the last 30 years it has become so, so popular and so this is so busy and but it does protect the protected the stones.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Now English Heritage and National Trust it went out my head so English Heritage and National Trust share ownership of the some of the stones and then the land, I believe.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: So they actually look after the whole site.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: So if you are english heritage or national trust member, you do actually get a free entry, I believe, to stonehenge.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Yes, because we've had that.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: So what about the best time to visit?
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: uh well, I was just going to add on to that.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: First one is we've heard people a little bit doubtful about going, and then when they've been there, yeah they were wow yeah I'm so glad I went yeah, that's true so yeah, backtrack is on that one, no that's right.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I think the main thing really is you just have to be prepared.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Because you need to think about the weather, I think, and because if it's pouring down the rain, if you're not prepared, you know you've got to be prepared for the weather when you get there, because you're going to be out on the plane.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: So you know it's it, it's you need to just be aware of that, um, and if you're prepared, I think you'll enjoy it.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: And if you go to the museum, if you learn all about it, I think it's fascinating yeah, you've got.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: You've got to delve into exactly what it is.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, right, so go back to the next question.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Sorry because we get asked again when should I visit and and how long should I go for?
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Well, I would say early in the morning is best.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's spring and autumn, it's going to be slightly quiet and summer's busy, isn't it?
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: I mean summer's incredibly busy.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Don't go during the solstices, which is said, and give yourself about two hours.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think two hours is probably about fair.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Two to three hours it depends if you want to go and have some lunch there as well, because the food's actually nice in the cafe yeah, it is.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: So I know we've kind of touched on this before, but can I touch the stones?
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, categorically no even if you've booked a special inner city to inner city inner circle tour even then you can't touch them, right?
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: do I need to book ahead?
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Well, okay, don't do the mistake that doug and I did.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Well, it wasn't a mistake, because we did get tickets and we jumped on the the uh, the stonehenge tour bus and got tickets then.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: But, honestly, I would recommend in fact, you can book the bus I think you can book the bus online ahead of time anyway include the tickets in it.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: So I really would look at that because I don't want you to miss out, especially in the summer.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: It's less of an issue in the winter, except around solstice time.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: But, um, I would look at booking your tickets ahead of time and don't don't do.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: We winged it and I shouldn't be telling you that no, no, but that's what we did, but we were okay.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: We kind of added it in at the last minute, but, as I say, I would recommend that you do that.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Um, what about combining it with something else?
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: absolutely, yeah, yeah, that's right, that's a good idea I mean, you know it's easy enough to see salisbury.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Um, if you're taking a tour, you're probably going to see bath as well, and if you've got your own car, then definitely look at doing bath and and combining it with avebury as well.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, so let's end with the one question that we always answer at the end of it, which is the one tip that you would share with somebody visiting Stonehenge for the first time.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: So my tip I don't know if you're going to come up with a different one.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: My tip is actually to dress for the weather.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Honestly, dress.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Make sure that you've got a raincoat or umbrella raincoat and umbrella.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Make sure you check what the weather's going to be like um, and wear layers.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: If it's in the summer, take a hat and put sun cream on um, because you're out in the open and you're exposed, and they say they run out, and I don't know if you're a mile and a half from the visitor center, so you know you've got to be aware that you've got to be dressed correctly and think about your footwear too.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Have you got a different tip that you would share?
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: I'll just reinforce what we said before really to be really absorbed in the whole stone injects stonehenge experience is to go around the museum first and see what they have to say about how the stones got there and what the significance to believe of stonehenge it was to the people in that era yeah, I think that's really good.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Well, there's a two.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: You've got two for the price of one.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: There you've got two excellent tips about Stonehenge.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: So thanks for joining us again for this week.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: We will put links and photographs in the show notes.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping to also get some videos on YouTube and our Instagram.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: There's definitely photographs on Instagram of Stonehenge.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: The times that I visited didn't see what I was wearing can see, certainly in the end of January, when it was a bit when it was a bit blowy what it looked like.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: A few people have commented on a few of the photos, saying it looked it looked freezing and it wasn't very warm.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: But again, just mention about making sure that you dress correctly.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: So you can find information in the show notes at uktravelplan planningcom forward slash episode 153.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: But that just leaves me and doug to say until next week, happy uk travel planning.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the uk travel planning podcast.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: As always, show notes can be found at uk travel planningcom.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app?
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: We love to hear from you and you never know.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Happy UK travel planning.