Is the trip to Stonehenge worth it?

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dave

If you don't go to see it, you will spend the rest of your days wishing you had.
It is a bit of a disappointment but if you are staying in the Cotswolds, you should incorporate a trip to Avebury. The circle at Avebury is bigger than Stonehenge and totally accessible. Its almost on-route to Stonehenge. http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/
Check out the white horses which are dotted all around the place too.

CLIVE H

A trip to Stonehenge is always worth it, even in the rain.

Try to see Stonehenge as part of your ancestral past and you'll have more feeling for it. Don't think of it as some alien remote past which has nothing to do with us, because the descendants of the folk who built it are living right here in UK in Cornwall and Wales - the Celts. All this comes from DNA research being carried out by Oxford Uni; who are and where from etc.

Here's one American who thinks he may have cracked the secret of how we built Stonehenge : -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRRDzFROMx0

Summer Solstice at Stone Henge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj0AsYjg_0E&feature=related

This next vid-clip shows briefly, Stonehenge then on to Woodhenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MQ-s8ToDik

The Stonehenge site also includes Woodhenge - originally a massive wooden structure with walls and ramparts and massive ditches with the only surviving stone-age/bronze-age road in Europe.

Back then folk turned up for regular feasts, particularly the mid-Winter fest which we now call Christmas. They ate pork in vast quantities at the site, lots of pig bones and flint arrow heads found at Woodhenge, suggesting that the pigs were shot with bows and arrows like they were wild game.

So, when you sit down to your Christmas dinner and there's that pork crackling, you'll know why!

Lots and lots of Stonehenge info on this next link : -

Stonehenge Videos - Watch Video about Stonehenge on Mefeedia
Also, a rebuilt calendar known as Woodhenge, is every bit as puzzling and ...
Watch the sunrise on Stonehenge in this time lapse film by Doc Edgerton. ...
http://www.mefeedia.com/tags/stonehenge/

Gorsedd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzwqEryew58

David S

You can get fairly close and they do charge an admission charge for this.. North of Stonehenge in the village of Avebury, Wiltshire, where there are further sets of ancient stones, not as spectacular as those at Stonehenge, but with completely open and free access. Near Avebury is Silbury Hill, an ancient and weird shaped man made hill that was probably
constructed as a fortification. Whether you go to Stonehenge or not a visit to the wonderful and unique Wiltshire landscape
is definitely worthwhile; other beautiful places close to Avebury are Martinsell Hill, near Clench and Marlborough and Oare Hill, close to the village of Oare on the Marlborough to Pewsey Road; as a general rule I think, places off the standard tourist intinerary, are often much quieter, and more beautiful

justme

It depends on whether you will be impressed by the incredible engineering feats of a primitive society, and the sheer awesomeness of the structure. In any case, you will regret it if you don't go when you have the chance.

phoenix2frequent

I'm with the answerers who say 'go'. =)
But don't do it as a 'been there done that' standard day-trip: a World Heritage Site is worth better treatment than that.

Stonehenge is unique. And the landscape and the way it connects to the other prehistoric sites around it (Avebury etc) is really awe inspiring.

Yes, it's smaller in reality than everybody thinks. And yes, it's hard to feel the mystery or majesty of the site when there are always so many visitors. But you could argue that for so many places worldwide (the pyramids, the Sistine Chapel, a lot of sites on the Barrier Reef...)

But you *can* get access to and inside the Centre Circle, and there the mystery just breathes out of the stones. Like the Tardis, it feels 'bigger on the inside'! And being there in the early dawn light in summer is ... breathtaking.
There are special sessions for Centre Circle access (the circle is roped off during regular visiting hours to protect it -- an archaeologist who's worked there in the past commented that it's suffered more erosion from visitors' hands in the last hundred years than it did in the previous three thousand.)

Here are the dates for this year's Centre Circle openings: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.878
I really hope one of them coincides with your visit. =)

Whether or not you can join one of those special openings, here is a fantastic walking route that brings you to Stonehenge through a Bronze Age landscape (including Woodhenge and other monuments). There's a point on the walk when you first see Stonehenge, and it feels like some axis of the whole panorama. It's worlds away from the frank disappointment you get if you glimpse it from the road as you arrive by car.
Here's the info for the walk (click on 'trail details' for the full route): http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.10805

If you do go, I'd be fascinated to hear your thoughts afterwards.
Enjoy your visit to the UK.
=D

Stephanie C

its like a huge landmark, i couldnt image going to the UK and not seeing it! you have got to go! soak it up!

carina

I'm not sure I'd recommend a special trip to see it ... you have to pay to go inside the perimeter fence but you can see it very well from the road which is free

Stonehenge is one of those things you don't want to miss but which you don't need to spend too much time seeing ... so I'd say incorporate it into a trip ... you don't say whether you're hiring a vehicle for your stay but if you are I'd say plan a day trip where you go past it and pull off into the car park and walk down the road to have a look ... if you really want to walk right round it then you're going to have to pay to get inside ... you're not allowed close enough to touch the stones though

I've stopped to look at it a few times when I've been driving down that way and although it's not impressive in a skyscraper kind of way, when you think about how old it is, and where the stones came from, it's incredible that it was constructed without all the technology we rely on these days

Ada

Try looking at Stonehenge on Google Earth and you may be able to see how close visitors can get.
I think Stonehenge is part National Trust so if you are a member of the National Trust of Australia you may be allowed in free through the reciprocal membership arrangements.
National Trust properties in the Cotswolds include Snowshill and Hidcote which are worth a visit.

you can get pretty close to it. About 10 yards away. It is absolutely not worth it though. The story and meaning behind it is fascinating but the actual site is pretty boring and uninspiring

SOC JO! A capite ad calcem

ItÂ´s the history behind it what is really important.YouÂ´ll see it but you canÂ´t get too close to it.When I went we took a tourist bus,canÂ´t remember how much it was,but anyway it has changed as it was 10 years ago aprox when we went.So at the same time we had the explanations.You can get there with a car,but I do not know if you have to pay then.
But yes,I would say itÂ´s nice to see it,even from the distance,but just if you think about the meaning of it and how they put it there without crates!!!!

http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/

Nat

I guess it's one of those things you just have to do, but when you're there it's hardly worth it. Firstly, it's smaller than you'd think and you cant get that near to the stones... plus you have to pay to get into the perimeter fence, but you can see it just as well from outside!

The only reason I went to see it was to be able to say 'I've seen Stonehenge' and then I got back in my car and carried on with my trip 5 minutes later!

brother_in_magic

Definitely go. You pay to go in (unless an EH or NT member)but receive a free audio tour and there are custodians who can answer any questions. It is actually roped off inside the site (not fenced off except around the perimeter which is farmland in care of the NT) so there are NO fences spoiling your view.At closest you are approx 10 yards from the stones.
Better yet would be a special access trip to go inside the stones. The dates are on the EH site. That way you can really appreciate the size of the stones, and get a good view of the Welsh bluestones,crushed altar stone,and the ancient carvings of axes and daggers.
Incidentally archaeologists have been digging in the inner circle for the last few weeks & I believe they have found some things that are going to change our perception of the monument a fair bit!!
I would advise seeing Avebury as well esp as it's only about 20 mi away-similar date but very different in structure and appearance. whereas Stonehenge is quite closed in at the centre (and looks like a circular building from a distance), the stones at Avebury are farther apart but encompass a whole village and have banks and ditches that still stand up to 20 feet high!

Angel

Yes.

caspar

no its just a pile of rocks and really not that impressive.

John H

You could always see the replica of Stonehenge outside of Goldbar, Wa. It is on a bluff above the Columbia River. Well worth the trip just for the view of the Columbia and Mt. Hood.

foxy lady

used to be but theyve put big fence around it now so you cant get near it

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