How to visit Longleat and Stonehenge from London?

Getting to Stonehenge from London is easy. You take the train from Waterloo Station to Salisbury. Then either at the train station, or in the center of town, hop on the Stonehenge Bus. It is well-marked with huge letters painted on the side of the bus, "Stonehenge". You buy a ticket from the driver for your bus fare plus entrance to Stonehenge. After you have toured Stonehenge--the visitor's center and the stone circle itself--take the shuttle bus back to the Stonehenge parking lot. Another "Stonehenge" bus will take you back to Salisbury.

You can then get back on the train, and go to one of the stations near Longleat.

Getting to Longleat by train is no problem; see below. Taxis wait at each train station to take you to Longleat.
https://www.longleat.co.uk/longleat-house
Their page "How to find us":
https://www.longleat.co.uk/visitor-info/find-us
***Frome Station is the closest station to Longleat and has a good service from Bath and London.

***Warminster station, is about 5 miles from Longleat and is on the Cardiff to Portsmouth line.

***Westbury station is about 12 miles from Longleat and is on the London Paddington to Penzance line.

All stations are served by taxis (details below).

For train times, contact the National Rail Enquiry line on 08457 484950 or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk
Taxis from Warminster and Westbury Stations

Starline Taxis: +44 (0)1985 212215
AAA Taxis: +44 (0)1985 846674
DJ's Taxi's +44 (0)1985 215151

The problem arises because Longleat is also known for its drive through Safari Park.
You would need a car to do this.
However, they also have a safari tour in a jeep/land rover:
https://www.longleat.co.uk/safari
and a steam train that travels through the grounds for you to ride:
https://www.longleat.co.uk/
However, these two activities would be a lot more fun to do in the summer.

Some historic houses in England are not open in the wintertime, or off-season for tourists, or have limited days they are open.
Longleat is only open on weekends at the time of year you will be visiting.

"We are trying to find the best (budget!) way to visit Longleat and Stonehenge."

That would be by train.
But buy your tickets 11 to 12 weeks in advance online for a huge discount.
The most expensive way to buy tickets is to walk up to the ticket office and buy them on the day of travel. Very expensive that way.

Also consider spending the night at one of the hotels on the Longleat website.

Seeing both sights could be done as a day trip from London, but only if you skip the Safari Park at Longleat. Otherwise, tough to get everything done in one day, plus transportation.

It may still be cool in England in March, so many of the animals at the Safari Park will probably be either in a shelter or huddled in a grove of bushes or trees. Not the best time of year for viewing them. If the Safari Park is one of the reasons you are going, check their website carefully before going out there, or call to ask if it is open, so you won't be disappointed.

From their website:
"Opening of standard Longleat attractions will be subject to weather and opening times will vary according to daylight hours.
Some animals in the Safari Park may not be available if the weather is inclement in the "shoulder months"

If you are coming back to England for a future trip in the summertime, I would save both of these sights for that next trip.

It will be cold out at Stonehenge. Sometimes there's a pretty sharp wind blowing across Salisbury Plain. When we were at Stonehenge this past May (the 3rd), it was cold, raining, with a wind blowing. And that was May!!

Also, the Safari Park at Longleat will be much more fun if you were to come back one summer. Too cold to walk around outside and see the maze, possibly. One never knows what the weather will be.

In my opinion, you may be happier staying in London. (Unless it's unseasonable warm!) There's plenty to do in London.

Just my two cents. I hope I have helped at least a small amount.

HI Rebecca, Thank you so much for all the help! I had not seen that note on the Longleat website about the animals being unavailable!

As far as we know, the next time our kids will get to England will be when they are adults, so we are trying to see the BIG stuff this time....I would definitely not choose to go in the chilly weather but that is when we were able to make it happen. One of our boys found the LongLeat place in a book and they all really want to do the maze.....so we will! ;-) Our last trip to Europe (2015 to the Switzerland, Germany, Italy) was this same time of year and thankfully we had waterproofed our shoes and coats!

Someone mentioned to me that if you arrive early at Stonehenge that you can get closer to the stones--have you heard anything about that?

Thanks again for the help!

Glad you referred to their website--just noticed Longleat is only open on weekends this time of year!

if you want a maze check out Hampton Court

http://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/visit-us/top-things-to-see-and-do/the-maze/#gs.FcMLtRo

If the only reason he wants to visit Longleat is for the maze, Hampton Court's maze is way more famous & historic - and part of a fascinating palace with lots to see and do for the whole family.

Plus it's much closer to central London - 30 minutes on a local train. It makes an easy half-day excursion to one of the very finest great houses of Britain.

English Heritage private access to Stonehenge:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/plan-your-visit/stone-circle-access-visits/

Thank you so much for the info about Hampton Court--did not realize that they too had a maze! We will definitely consider substituting it for Longleat.

Also--Thanks for the info about early admission to Stonehenge. Has anyone done it? It costs quite a bit more so we are trying to decide if there is a big difference in how close you can get.

Thanks!

"The early admission to Stonehenge. Has anyone done it? It costs quite a bit more so we are trying to decide if there is a big difference in how close you can get."

I have visited Stonehenge both ways. One visit we did the early access. You get to go inside the stone circle. You are not allowed to touch the stones.
Regular admission, you are outside the stone circle, but this does not matter much to me, because you can stand within 20 feet or so of the stones. Pretty close. There is a paved path that goes around the stones, except for a portion in the back where you are walking on grass.
So, for more money, you can stand about 20 feet closer to the stones inside the circle. Not worth it, in my opinion.

If you were out there very early morning, you may be the only tourists at the stones. That would be a different experience from being there when crowds are there. But I do not think you're going to have crowds out there in March anyway.

Coming out from London, I'm not sure how convenient it would be for your family to get up before dawn, eat breakfast, leave your hotel, get to the train station in London, take the train to Salisbury, catch the Stonehenge bus out from Salisbury. The Stonehenge bus arrives in the parking lot at Stonehenge museum/gift shop and cafe, where you catch a shuttle to go to the stones. You are let out some distance from the stones, and walk a paved trail to the stones.

Would you really even be able to make your early morning timed entry if you bought the more expensive Stonehenge tickets?

To me, there's not much gained by this more expensive entry.

You have the same access to the museum and all exhibits and the audio guide with the less expensive regular entry.

About Hampton Court. As mentioned, there is a terrific maze there and gardens. The grounds are very grand. Hampton Court Palace is one of the most interesting houses or palaces in England that is open to the public. More picturesque because it is located right on the banks of the Thames River. The royals used to travel by boat from London to Hampton Court. I think you may enjoy seeing it.

The train station to and from London is a short walk across the bridge over the river. There are pubs and cafes for lunch over that bridge near the station. Hampton Court also has a lunch cafe.

Explore their website here:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/#gs.f3NFIj8

To visit Hampton Court, you would leave London out of Waterloo Station.

You could always hire a car & stay in Wiltshire. This place is by Longleat.http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/villages/longleat/index.jsp
Westbury is probably the best station for Longleat if coming out from London (Paddington). Warminster is probably the best station if on the train from Salisbury. (It is much shorter to drive from Stonehenge to Longleat than take the shuttle bus back to Salisbury & train to Warminster).
Bath is not far either. With a car rental, you could also visit Avebury - which is free & you can touch the stones.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/

This map has Stonehenge near the middle. Back out for the wider view of where the places mentioned are located. (Longleat will appear on the left).https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?v=2&cp=50.459353%7E-4.687419&lvl=13&sty=s&form=LMLTCC

Some good hotels from the Longleat website I gave in my first post:
http://www.longleathotels.co.uk/

There are some good hotels and B&B's in Salisbury. If you decide to try to do the early stones visit, and decide to spend the night before, we can give you some hotels for Salisbury.

Unless you pay for a tour that goes inside the Stone circle you will not get to be near the Stones. You will follow a path outside listening to audio paddles explaining the history of the monolithic stones. I love the fact they still can't truly explain how these huge stones were moved and placed. Love the fact there isn't just one answer. Lots of theories and speculations though.

How old are the kids again? Might consider a visit here but checkout the website for opening times.
Mudchute farms.