Pros and Cons of Stonehenge on Your Vacation Itinerary

When we start planning our next UK trip, including a Stonehenge vacation itinerary, we tend to dive headfirst into YouTube videos and Google searches. We were mapping out everything from departure times to lunch stops and nearby sights. That process has led us to some of our most memorable travel experiences. But it can also introduce a fair amount of doubt. Mixed reviews and strong opinions online sometimes make us question whether a destination is worth including at all.

That was exactly the case with our visit to Stonehenge. The iconic prehistoric monument, set in the rolling countryside southwest of London, consistently draws a wide range of reactions. Some travelers describe it as awe-inspiring and deeply meaningful, while others dismiss it as underwhelming or not worth the trip.

Still, we decided to see it for ourselves and built a simple, well-paced itinerary around it that ended up being one of the highlights of our time in England.

Stonehenge is frequently found on lists of the worst destinations in the United Kingdom, as well as one of the most overrated and underwhelming destinations in the world. For instance, Island.com created a list of the most disappointing tourist attractions in the world, which prominently featured Stonehenge. In fairness, of the 15 attractions that made the list, we’ve visited four of them, which just shows you how subjective such lists can be. Yes, we’ve been to four of the destinations on this dubious list, but none of them would make our list of the worst places we’ve visited around the world.

Stonehenge Vacation Itinerary

You should visit Stonehenge, if for no other reason than the fact that it is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is on that elite list because of its internationally renowned prehistoric stone circles, placing this site high in importance among historic sites across the world. This historic site has a compelling story, way beyond some stones in a field. Stonehenge remains a mystery, and you will leave there wondering how in the world those boulders made it to this location. We certainly did.

The full story of these stones remains a mystery. A few weeks before our visit, a new study came out suggesting that some of the stones came from as far away as Scotland, nearly 500 miles away. Stonehenge is located in Salisbury which is South and West of London.

This site’s history is vast, spanning thousands of years. Experts estimate that Stonehenge’s first stone monument is over 5,000 years old. The famous stone circle at Stonehenge is the focal point of a visit, and is calculated to have been erected around 2500 BC. Archaeologists estimate that the last changes to the famous stone circles and artifacts occurred around 1500 BC. 

The Stonehenge Story

Stonehenge of today is very different than what it was even just a few years back. Our tour guide showed us the place along the highway where people used to pull their car over and just walk up to the site. You might hear of stories where the British Air Force used Stonehenge for target practice. While that is not likely true, the grounds around Stonehenge were often training facilities for both ground and air forces in the early 20th century.

The most recent visitor’s center at Stonehenge is relatively new, opening in 2013. On your arrival, you can walk through an exhibit area. They have special exhibits focusing on different aspects of Stonehenge and prehistoric life. One of the main attractions at the visitor’s center is the virtual stones experience. This immersive exhibit allows you the opportunity to experience Stonehenge at different times of the year, showing you how the sun interacts with the stones throughout the calendar year. WIth this virtual presentation, you also have the opportunity to see inside the stone circle. 

The virtual tour and museum do a good job of telling the story of Stonehenge. While we knew that the rocks were old and were positioned specifically in relation to the sun at the winter and summer solstice, we didn’t know much else. A few minutes inside the visitor’s center is well worth the time to get you better educated on the site and its purpose and importance. These exhibits are included in the price of admission.

Getting to the Stones

On your visit, when it is time to make your way out to the stone circle you have two options to get there. From the visitor’s center, you can take a tram which is also included in your admission price. The tram will drop you off a few hundred yards from the circle. If you’d like to skip the buses, you can also choose to walk along the path which leads you to Stonehenge. It is just over a quarter mile of a hike, if you desire. 

Stonehenge has been a tourist attraction for years, with the farmer that owned the land charging admission as far back as 1901. As recent as 1977, visitors had full access to the stones including the inner-circle. Most visitors who visit today will find themselves herded around the monument in between ropes which you cannot cross. This is a little disappointing, but it is also understandable. The ropes became necessary for many reasons, one of which is the number of people that would go and chip pieces of the stones to take as a souvenir of their own.

We paid for the standard admission tour, which did not go beyond the ropes. There are VIP tours available which do allow you up close time inside the inner circle at Stonehenge. For those special visits, a VIP tour is an hour long, either before or after the site is open to the general public. Costs will vary by day with a premium around the solstices. Prices are roughly three times more for the inner circle experience than the standard admission. Standard admission varies, but will generally set you back about £25 for an advance purchase ticket. 

It is worth noting that you receive a 15% discount for booking ahead online. And should you choose the VIP experience, you’ll want to purchase that well in advance. The website now is taking reservations for almost a year in advance due to high demand.

Getting to Stonehenge

Getting to Stonehenge is not easy on your own. Salisbury is away from metro London, so you’ll need to drive yourself, or pick up a tour. In our case, we added Stonehenge on our way back from Blenheim Palace, near the Cotswolds.  Tours that include Stonehenge are plentiful, which is the recommended approach. 

Pure Stonehenge planning guide would not recommend making this a stand alone, single day tour. It was a nice addition to our day trip, and a way to break up our travel back from Western England. Our visit to Stonehenge lasted about an hour, and we saw all the highlights we wanted to see. With all that there is to do in England, devoting an entire day to  seeing Stonehenge would have been a disappointment.

The visitor’s center has the exhibit area, but also as you might expect a large gift shop. One of the criticisms we heard was the commercialization of the site, and that’s largely because of the visitor’s center. It is a very modern looking structure which seemed odd since we are going to one of the oldest known man made structures.

Is Stonehenge Worth It?

Stonehenge is not an attraction that would be on our must visit list, and definitely not something that we’d go visit again. But it is also not something that we’d place on a list of the worst places we’ve visited.

Going to Stonehenge should be packaged with other sites on a day tour. You can search and find Stonehenge only tours, but that would not be our recommendation. There are several other destinations that we’d recommend you couple with a stop at Stonehenge. Learn more about other UK attractions you can do along side of your Stonehenge visit.