My 9-year-old son is super into Stonehenge. I'd like to make a day trip happen during our week-long London trip during spring break in March. Does anyone have experience with doing this and a recommendation? I don't want to rent a car, a train seems like there are a lot of extra steps involved and a bus seems like the best bet. But I'm open to hearing about all experiences. Thanks!
I just did this in Oct. and it was super easy. From my trip report:
DAY 4, THURSDAY, OCT. 3: Today was our big Stonehenge day. This is something my sister and brother-in-law really wanted to see. I had read about the Stonehenge Tour on the forum and it really worked well for us.
https://www.thestonehengetour.info/
It involved walking to the Waterloo train station to take a 1.5-hour train to Salisbury. I had booked us open return train tickets in advance. There are no seat reservations on this particular train. Then right outside the Salisbury train station, the bus picked us up and took us to Stonehenge. The bus ride is not time specific, so you can take any bus you like. We took the first one at 10 am. The check-in process was a little slow as it seemed most people had not purchased tickets ahead of time. (I bought our bus and Stonehenge tickets ahead of time from the tour website linked above.) The bus dropped us off near the visitor center where we had to show our tour tickets to get a Stonehenge ticket. We then took the free shuttle out to the site. We had a fantastic day!! Blue skies!!!! It was not crowded at all. And much to my delight, there were sheep all around. I had originally planned for us to see the Salisbury Cathedral afterwards, but it was a long day and so we decided to just head back to London.
We were skeptical about Stonehenge. We had been warned about large crowds. We went in early June and expected the worst. We got there early and there was practically no one there. Of course, there was typical English summer weather. (Freezing, horizontal rain). Great pictures!
If your son is really into ancient stone circles; add Avebury to the itinerary.
Our experience was similar to Carrie's. Train direct from London to Salisbury. You have the option of getting the tour bus at the station, or from town. https://www.thestonehengetour.info/bus-timetable/
There are some bus tours from Victoria Station that go to Stonehenge and another place. It is a full day tour but only half is Stonehenge. There is a restroom on the bus but it is at the center of the bus. I thought the tour had promised food but it never delivered. You have to eat at Stonehenge or wherever you go. I do not regret going to Stonehenge, I was glad to do it once, but it is under whelming to see. Regardless, the site has stuck with me. The museum is decent but does not take long. If you can find something to throw in with Stonehenge that your 9 year old would like, you would have a winner of a day.
My daughters and I did a day trip through London Walks to Salisbury and Stonehenge in 2018. So we had a guide who bought the train tickets and showed us around Salisbury and Salisbury Cathedral before getting us onto a bus to Stonehenge. Not sure if they're still doing this day trip tour, but the guide was wonderful and we really enjoyed it.
But from what I have read, it's pretty easy to do on your own.