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Visiting Stonehenge
A Logistical Guide To Your Visit to Stonehenge





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The world famous Stonehenge is situated around 90 miles west from Central London and is well within a comfortable day trip, either by organised tour or independent means.

The nearest town with good public transport and facilities is Salisbury, a medieval cathedral city. Worth a visit in its own right.

About 24 miles north of Stonehenge is Avebury, another World Heritage Site with even larger stone rings to Stonehenge and unlike Stonehenge with free access to the stones themselves.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge Official Web Site
(including opening times and entrance fees)
Stonehenge itself is pretty remote on Salisbury Plain, but independent visits can be made using public transport from Salisbury all year round. We have a detailed page on getting to Stonehenge by public transport.
The easiest way to get to Stonehenge is by guided tour, there are many from London on a daily basis. Visiting by guided tour is no more expensive than travelling independently. Again, we have a detailed page on Stonehenge Guided Tours.
Stonehenge
Visiting
Stonehenge
Neolithic
Stonehenge History
Getting There
Independently
Special Access
Visits
Tours From
London
Accommodation
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Within 1 Hour
Salisbury
Avebury
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The Stonehenge Experience
Stonehenge stands on its own in the middle of open countryside, you see its unmissable form from quite a distance. You get a clue that you are approaching Stonehenge when you start noticing small hillocks in the fields, old Neolithic burial mounds.
The visitor area has been landscaped so that it is largely hidden from the landscape. Perhaps surprisingly for such a world famous icon, facilities are pretty basic. There is no museum or extensive briefing area. There is just toilets, a kiosk selling coffees and snacks and a gift shop, all in portakabin style buildings.
There is a grass area in front of the car/coach park and footpaths that lead off to burial mounds in the distance.

The coach/car park is free most of the time. At peak periods a deposit is sometimes collected in the car park, refundable when you pay for your Stonehenge entrance.
Stonehenge itself is separated from the road just by a standard wire mesh fence. A minority of people will skip the entrance fee and just stick their camera through the mesh fence before moving on elsewhere.

Logistics of Stonehenge Access
Most people take around 45 minutes at Stonehenge including a trip to the gift shop. After you have paid your entrance fee, you are offered an audio tour (free) with hearing loop in a choice of nine languages.

If you have arrived on a guided tour your guide will have briefed you with much of its content - but it is still very worthwhile to use the audio device, after all it is 'free'.
You pass under the road through a tunnel and come up at Stonehenge itself. The route circles Stonehenge at a distance of about 50 metres. The path is a mixture of pavement and grass. One of the benefits of having the monument roped off is that there are no other people in your photos.
Using the audio guide, the average visitor will take around 30 minutes to hear the commentary and take the necessary photographs.

Stonehenge Heel Stone
Note, Stonehenge is on an open plain, it can get very windy and cold. There is no cover, apart from the gift shop and toilets in the whole attraction.

Special Access to Stonehenge
You are not allowed up to the stones themselves during normal opening hours, but it is possible to gain access to the stones with 'special access entry' outside of normal visiting hours.
Special access visits are severely restricted, for much of the Autumn no such visits are allowed at all. A typical morning 'slot' will be 08:00 to 09:00 before opening at 09:30. No more than 25 visitors are allowed on the monument during one of these slots. Toilets are the only facilities that are open, note no audio guides or literature from the gift shop. In other words you really need a guide as well prearranged independently. There is just a security guard who will let you onto the monument and make sure you don't get up to any mischief.
There is an application form on the official web site (see top of page) for obtaining special access tickets.

Premium Tours provide Stonehenge special access tours from London (see bottom of the page).

Avebury, a similar Neolithic monument about 20 miles north of Stonehenge gives free access to its stones all of the time, a good combination visit.

Stonehenge Special Access Tours
Premium Tours have arranged with English Heritage for you to experience a unique visit to this ancient sacred site - beyond the fences & after the crowds have gone home.

Walk amongst the stones and touch the stones and experience the magical atmosphere within the inner circle.
Mystical Stonehenge & Avebury Personalised Tour From London
Guided tour with 5 hours in field - touch the stones, track ley lines - unbeatable price
If you really want to understand Stonehenge and the Neolithic culture it is a symbol of, this tour is for you. Peter Knight is a leading speaker and author specialising in earth mysteries, earth energies. ley lines and astronomical alignments and lives locally from Stonehenge.
Peter is an enthusiastic guide who will immerse you in the subject, not bombard you with a monologue of facts. You will be encouraged to touch and feel the stones, experience natural energy forces and ley lines and really get into the mindset of our ancestors who over 3,000 years ago were creating this astounding environment.
This is an experience you will not forget, and astoundingly you can have a personalised hands on tour with such an enthusiastic local authority for much less than a standard packaged tour. Travel from London by train and be met at Salisbury Station by Peter or if you are a group we will arrange a bus with pickup from your hotel.
Mystical Sonehenge & Avebury Tour - More Details and Reservations

Private Tours - Price Menu & Terms
Passenger
Capacity
Part Day*
Short Range
7-9 Hours
Full Day*
Long Range
10-11 Hours
Main Booking Conditions
Mini Van With Driver/Guide
3
£245 £320 $US 100 Deposit
Full refund up to 60 days before day.
Price not inclusive of admissions
5
£295 £370
Mini Bus With Driver/Guide
8
£350 £390 No deposit, credit card secures day.
Pay on day.
Price not inclusive of admissions
16
£390+£20 Each Passenger Over 8
(e.g. 12 passengers = £470)
* A short day is 7-9 hours, enough time to visit locations like Windsor or Hampton Court relatively close to London at leisure or a visit to Stonehenge/Salisbury or Stratford Upon Avon a couple hours travel from London.
A long day 10-11 hours enables you to visit places like Bath or Glastonbury or combine popular destinations like Stonehenge, Cotswolds & Bath or Oxford with Stratford Upon Avon and Warwick Castle. (See example tours for guidance)