Stonehenge is one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. Some people visit and see, well...a bunch of rocks. I wasn't one of those people.
For me, the fascination is in everything we don't know. Who built it? How did they move those massive stones? Why was it built? There are theories, of course, but the fact that we may never completely understand Stonehenge is part of what makes it so interesting to me.
During my first trip to London, Stonehenge was the one place outside the city that I knew I wanted to see. It had been on my bucket list for a long time, and I wasn’t leaving England without seeing it.
I was traveling with one of my favorite travel partners, my cousin Kim, and we bought our tickets online a few days before we went. Admission is based on timed entry, and there was no way we were traveling all the way out there only to discover we couldn't get in.
Getting from London to Stonehenge
There are plenty of tours from London that will take you directly to Stonehenge, but we decided to make the trip on our own using public transportation. You can also rent a car, but between driving on the opposite side of the road and navigating roads you're not familiar with, the train sounded just fine to us!
We found getting there on our own to be pretty easy. Take the train from London Waterloo to Salisbury, which takes about an hour and a half. Once you arrive in Salisbury, the Stonehenge Tour Bus leaves from the train station and takes you the rest of the way to Stonehenge.
The nice thing about the bus is that it's hop-on/hop-off, so Stonehenge doesn't have to be your only stop. We also got off at Old Sarum on our way back, and then spent some time exploring Salisbury and visiting Salisbury Cathedral before heading back to London.
If you'd rather drive, Stonehenge is about two hours from central London. Just remember—if you're coming from the United States, you'll be driving on the opposite side of the road. If you rent a car, this might be a good time to spend a little extra for an automatic. Learning to shift with the opposite hand while also reminding yourself which side of the road to stay on sounds like more adventure than I need!
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is spectacular. I know not everyone agrees with me on this one. If you're expecting something enormous or an attraction that keeps you entertained for hours, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. That's not what fascinated me, though.
Standing there looking at stones that have been in that spot for thousands of years, I couldn't stop thinking about how they got there. How did people move stones that massive without anything resembling modern equipment? How did they lift some of them on top of the others? Most importantly—why did they go to all that work in the first place?
Researchers and archaeologists have learned an incredible amount about Stonehenge, but there are still questions we may never be able to answer. That's exactly what fascinates me about it.
Some people may think it's a bunch of rocks, but to me, they're a pretty fascinating bunch of rocks.
Old Sarum
On our way back toward Salisbury, we got off the bus at Old Sarum.
If you've never heard of Old Sarum, you're probably not alone. I hadn't either. We were there because of Stonehenge, but Old Sarum turned out to be a pretty interesting bonus to our day.
Old Sarum has been around for a very long time. The hilltop at Old Sarum was first used as an Iron Age fort, and over the centuries, the Romans, Saxons and Normans all made their mark here. After the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror established a royal castle at Old Sarum, and eventually a cathedral was built here too. By the 1200s, the cathedral had moved down the hill to what would become the town of Salisbury. Stone from the old cathedral was even reused in the new city.
There isn't a castle or cathedral still standing at Old Sarum today. What you see are the remains—the earthworks, foundations and outlines of the buildings that once stood here. I'll admit, it takes a little imagination. When you think about how many different people have stood on this same hill over hundreds and hundreds of years, though, those outlines in the ground suddenly become a lot more interesting.
Salisbury Cathedral
After Old Sarum, we headed back into Salisbury to visit Salisbury Cathedral. Since we had just seen the remains of the original cathedral at Old Sarum, it was interesting to see the cathedral that replaced it.
Construction began in 1220, and the main part of the cathedral was completed in just 38 years—which seems pretty impressive considering they were building this in the 1200s! The famous spire was added later, and at 404 feet, it is the tallest church spire in Britain.
The cathedral wasn't the only reason I wanted to stop here. I also wanted to see the Magna Carta. Salisbury Cathedral has one of only four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta from 1215, and its copy is considered the best preserved. I'm not going to pretend I remember everything I learned about the Magna Carta in history class, but standing in front of a document that's more than 800 years old is pretty incredible.
Stonehenge may have been the reason we left London that morning, but I’m glad we took the time to see Salisbury Cathedral too.
Salisbury
Before catching our train back, we spent some time exploring Salisbury itself. It's a beautiful English city with plenty of shops, restaurants, and streets that are just fun to wander. If the market is open while you're there, take some time to walk through that too.
This is one reason I'm glad we made this trip independently instead of taking a tour that went from London to Stonehenge and straight back again. Stonehenge was absolutely the main event for me, but it wasn't the only memorable part of the day. We got Stonehenge, ancient ruins, an incredible cathedral, the Magna Carta and a little taste of an English city outside London—all in one day.
What I'd Tell a Friend
Give yourself the entire day. Don't try to squeeze Stonehenge into an already packed London itinerary.
Book your Stonehenge admission ahead of time, especially during busy travel periods, and check the current train and Stonehenge Tour Bus schedules before you go. Leave enough time in Salisbury that you aren't constantly checking your watch.
Most importantly, don't automatically skip Old Sarum or Salisbury Cathedral because Stonehenge is the famous name on the itinerary. They are what turned our trip to see a bunch of very old rocks into one of my favorite days outside London.
Been There. Saw a bunch of rocks. Loved That.