This short series of posts, relating to places of interest in the English County of Wiltshire, is intended to help visitors know what to expect. I’m not presenting any details of history, etc., simply describing as well as I can, with the aid of photographs, how to get there and what you might see. There are links to more informative sites for each place listed.

What is it?
Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle with many associated features, all of which are described at the Visitor Centre. There’s a dedicated car park, well-maintained and clean toilet facilities at the centre, an exhibition, a café serving various types of food and drink, a gift shop, and a regular, dedicated coach service to take those who don’t wish to walk the mile and a half from the Visitor Centre to the Stone Circle. The coach journey takes around 10 minutes, apparently. We walked along the road to get to the stones and then discovered some pleasant walks through the countryside to return.

Where is it?
It’s located just north of the A303, a trunk road that runs from junction 8 of the M3, southwest of Basingstoke, to just north of Honiton in Devon. You’ll find the monument about 5 miles west of Amesbury and need to leave the A303 to join the A360 at a roundabout. You travel about half a mile north and the Visitor Centre is accessed via a right turn at the next roundabout. This leads you into the dedicated car park.  For Sat Nav use SP4 7DE and follow the brown and white tourist signs to the Visitor Centre. (Map here)

English Heritage run the site along with the National Trust. Members can park free, however, non-members are charged a fee (I don’t know what the parking fee is, as we belong to English Heritage). If you’re a couple or a family, it may well be worth your while to join the organisation, as entry fees are fairly pricy – a family ticket for 2 adults and up to 3 children is £59.00 ($74.66) at time of posting this.

The exhibition is full of information and is passed through after you collect your tickets. Outside, you’ll find some sarson stones and a life-size replica of a small iron-age village. If you’re walking, you’ll be directed to the road, a tarmacked route that takes the coaches to the drop-off point near the stone circle.

The walk is along the side of the road and the coach drivers are careful to give pedestrians a wide birth as they pass in each direction.

Once at the stone circle, you can walk all the way round the massive monument. Access to the interior is possible at certain times, but you need to check on the dates and pay an additional fee. We walked the entire circle and found it a fascinating experience. Other visitors were generally sensitive to those trying to take pictures and a Chinese family even offered to picture us together on my phone. It’s easy to obtain sight of the stones from all the way round.

When you finish that tour, you can, if you wish, catch a coach back to the Visitor Centre, or you can return on foot via the road. There are also some footpaths through the fields adjacent, one of which leads to the old barrows, and these allow you to return through peaceful countryside.

Our visit, including a short stop for food, took us around 3 to 4 hours.