Nothing in England gets more historic than the stones at the site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, about ninety minutes drive south-west of the English capital of London. These stones which are located in the middle of a field overlooking the nearby road of the A303 has got people from all over the world talking about them. Why are they here? Who built them? There have been many theories but never an 100% answer. When I came here to show my children, we were not there to put our thoughts in, we were there like all the other visitors, to see what has been found out about them so far by historians and to gaze at the stones in all their glory.
As English Heritage members, this is one of their top sights which has to be checked out with the membership cards and avoids paying the huge fee at the entrance for non-members. (Being a member and using the membership a lot during one year, members will get their money back in no time. It took me three places to basically get my money back then any other site after that was free entry).
After parking up at the huge car park (please note that at busy periods like the weekends during the summer months, the car park is usually quite full), we presented ourselves at the nice modern building to collect our tickets (members of English Heritage still have to present their membership cards to gain access and can’t just stroll right in). In this building is a museum about the historic site, toilets, cafe and a gift shop.
Now, the stones are actually a distance from the car park. There is a shuttle bus taking visitors to the site but as an outdoor family, we prefer to walk. It is about 2 km (over 1.2 miles) which will take about twenty to twenty five minutes to walk the distance. With me however I like to do things the hard way, lug a trolley the whole distance and put two children in it just because they are ‘tired’! Also the walk isn’t flat, there is a nice steady sloping uphill, however at the top, it is a nice gentle downhill to the site (if following the tarmac road). There is also a nice walk across the field (all signposted) which takes in the nice surrounding rolling hills of Wiltshire.
The prehistoric monument has stood here for about 5000 years so it is believed construction started back in 3000 BC, making it one of the world's oldest man-made structures. Historians know that stones themselves were lugged across the country, first from Western parts of Wales but it is now believed the stones came from Northern Scotland. It is also known that after the stone circle was built, visitors arrived from Central Europe but no one knows why they came? Were they part of the Gaelic tribe which originated in Hallstatt, Austria and built camps around Cornwall, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Western France. Who knows?
Once at the UNESCO World Heritage site, we got to walk around the stones. The area is all roped off so the days of wandering amongst the stones are long gone. It was still nice to be up close and personal with them. Did I feel anything like special powers as this is one of the top sights in the world for druids? Did I have a lot of emotion flowing through me? To be honest, no. It was great to see these stones stacked up and wondering why the hell they are here, but personally and I am going to be frank, I got bored after a few minutes. I am not saying they should be skipped. They are still worth checking out but I wouldn’t make Stonehenge a sole purpose for a whole day trip. I would combine it with a nearby trip to Salisbury, Winchester, Windsor or Bath. I think after ten minutes myself and the family were having a picnic on a nearby field with the stones overlooking us before heading back to the car. I wasn’t disappointed, it is history and all that but I felt like coming away a bit meh. Maybe because no one knows the real reason why they are here, so at the moment, we just came to see a pile of stones in a field. Does anyone understand what I am trying to say? But it is still worth a visit guys. What are your views, please leave a comment below at the post.
Woodhenge: Stonehenge's little neighbour
Located close to Stonehenge, Woodhenge is yet another Neolithic site which dates back around 2,500 years and holds as much allure as it does mystery. Back in the day, the site consisted of six oval circles of timber pillars spanning an area of 40 metres long and 36 metres wide. The entire site was surrounded by a mound and a ditch which are still visible to this day. In total, there were 168 post holes. Over the millennia, the wood of the pillars has rotted away. The site was originally re-discovered in the 19th-century, and it was thought that the area was used as a Bronze Age disc barrow. The site was referred to as ‘Dough Cover’. Then in 1925 Squadron Leader, Gilbert Insall, flew over the site and took an aerial photo of the area where the true nature of the site was discovered. The aerial photo revealed that there were dark marks in the crop field, which led to further archaeological digs. During the digs, two people were found to have been buried at the site. One of the burials was of a child located at the centre of the ring. This is now marked by a flint and concrete cairn.
Woodhenge is also another site that is managed by English Heritage, however Woodhenge is completely free to visit unlike its neighbour located two miles away. The closest town is Durrington and there are several parking spaces close to the site, which are free to park at. The address of Woodhenge is Countess Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire, SP4 7AR.
Essential information on Stonehenge
How to get to Stonehenge: By car, the site is located just off the A303 near the small town of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. As mentioned, there is a car park and it takes about ninety minutes to drive from Central London (on a clear road).
If coming by public transport, it is best to take the train to Salisbury which is located about nine miles away from Stonehenge (15km). Trains depart from London Waterloo on the London to Exeter line via Basingstoke and Woking. Once at Salisbury there is a public bus which departs from the train and bus stations and is known as the Salisbury Tour Bus.
For flights, the nearest airports to Stonehenge are London’s main airports located at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, City. To the south there is Southampton airport and to the west, Bristol. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: England uses the British Pound Sterling currency. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations in London (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for the United Kingdom? Always check if you need a visa when coming to the United Kingdom, especially for those who come from outside Europe.
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