Day trip to Stonehenge and Bath taking public transit

All I can add is www.gwr.com has the schedule for trains to Bath Spa. They leave from Paddington about every 30 minutes and the ride is 1.5 hours. The last train back to London is 10:45pm. No idea about Stonehenge.

Bath is easy to do as a full day trip from London by train.

Trying to squeeze in Stonehenge the same day is possible - train to Salisbury then bus to Stonehenge (3+ hours door to door), 2 hours at Stonehenge, then the bus back to the station in Salisbury and an hour on the train to Bath, but your time in Bath will be compromised. If Stonehenge is a must see for you (it certainly isn’t for me), then ideally it needs to be a different day to Bath.

You are correct that the daily bus tours are rushed.

Here is the link to the Salisbury Reds (local bus company) that makes a loop all day out to the stones and back by Old Sarum. They pick up at 2 different spots in Salisbury one of which is the train station. You buy your ticket from the driver.

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

It’s called a “tour” but really it’s just a shuttle. The driver plays a video.

I’d probably choose to do either Bath or Stonehenge/Salisbury as there is plenty to see in either place for a full day especially when your daylight is limited as it will be in November. Go to www.sunrisesunset.com to get your times.

Buy your train tickets ahead of time as they’ll probably be cheaper.

The National Rail website will give you ticket prices to all segments if you choose to do London-Salisbury-Bath-London. Then you buy from each line.

Have a look at London Walks website. www.walks.com. They do some day trips outside London, using the train (and buses at the destination where necessary). As its November they don't have so many options. They do a day trip that goes to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Also a day trip to Bath. I've done the Stonehenge and Salisbury trip, which was good - but for me Stonehenge is not a highlight.

We spent three nights in Bath and there is much to see. You can squeeze in all the main sites in a full day, but not in a fraction of a day.
Stonehenge would eat up at least half your day taking rail and public transport.
There are tours that cover both places. On a tour you save valuable time that you would eat up taking public transport.

In Bath, the key site is the Roman Bath Museum. It is great, you see some of the original plumbing that the Romans built that is still working.

If you do a full day at Bath, dine at The Scallop Shell and get the fish and chips. The best we have ever had in England.

I took the Train to Salisbury and then took Bus to Stonehenge ( you should get your ticket while in town as they are timed entry). You should try to see Salisbury Cathedral while there. I then took the Train to Bath where I spent the night and thereby had enough time to see Bath ( Be sure to visit the Fashion Museum www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/ ) and return on Evening Train to London. Bon Voyage!

I hsven't been to Bath, but last December, debarked from cruis3 in Southampton, trained to Salisbury and took the 'tour' but to Stonehenge. They have headphones for guided talk heading out there, but once there you can stay as long as you like and then get one of the hourly buses back to Salisbury. Hard to fit Old Sarum in on the shortened winter schedule, and they only drop off, but as mentioned, the Cathedral is nice...and the Magna Carta may be back in place again. The case had been vandalized last November, so it was jist a copy in place last December. Ample time for a bus to Heathrow for my flight home.
The best thing about the Salisbury Stonehenge busi s that it includes the ticket. The line ups were very long otherwise.

I did a full day bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath, and really it was just transportation, not a "tour" at all. Most of those coach tours leave from Victoria Station. We did not hang out with any of the other people on the bus at all except for when we were actually riding the bus.