I just booked inner circle tickets to Stonehenge and am looking on how to get there by 7:30am from London. I looked at the train schedule and it looks like the earliest train from Waterloo is at 6:30am and gets to Salisbury at 8:00am. Does anyone know of a way to get to Stonehenge by 7:30am from London on Public Transportation?
I guess the last resort would be to rent a car, but I would prefer using public transportation. Driving on the other side of the road makes me nervous. 😅
We would, but our hotels are already booked in London and are non refundable. Trying to avoid having to pay for a second hotel room.
Are the tickets you bought refundable? If so, that may be what you need to do if you are loathe to pay for a night at a hotel
They're for the Inner Circle and I have the latest time available already. They allow us to go into the stones before they open to the general public. They are refundable, but I'm not really willing to.
You can hire a driver?? Not cheap but it would get you there on time. You can take the train back to London though. Depending on the day, getting out of central London by car can take a VERY long time. Get a VERY early start...I'm talking 5:00 or 5:30. Public transport will simply not work to get you there by 7:30 - you actually need to be there quite a bit earlier than 7:30 to physically get out to where the stones are...there is no longer a parking lot right near the stones...you have to park quite a distance away and either walk or take the shuttle.
My recommendation is just to eat the cost of a hotel for the night out in Salisbury...find a cheap place or a room in someone's home on Airbnb. It's just a bed for the night! You don't have to spend a lot. To me it would be worth it! Still a LOT cheaper than hiring a driver too.
Hiring a car isn't a practical option, as few places would be open so early and hiring the night before would involve you paying the London congestion charge, assuming you are staying centrally. If you are a nervous driver, starting in London isn't a good idea.
Your only options have already been suggested - book a hotel in Salisbury or cancel Stonehenge or rebook for later in the day when you can get there by train. Hiring a car and driver would certainly break my piggy bank!
If public transport were available, you would have to leave your London accommodation well before 4am to be there by 7am.
Unfortunately you've put yourself in a bind. You are correct that there's no public transport that early in the morning. If you rent a car from London, you'll be navigating out of London in the pre-dawn darkness with a strict deadline for arriving at Stonehenge by the moment your shuttle bus leaves. If you hire a driver from London, you'll be paying a lot but it will be your driver's responsibility to get you there on time. Other than that, you'll either need to throw yourself on the mercy of the London hotel to let you off that one night, or else just bite the bullet and pay for two hotel rooms (one in Salisbury or elsewhere in the Stonehenge area such as the modern hotel at Solstice Park) for that same night -- and then pay for either a rental car or a driver from there.
Not going to happen via public transport. Stonehenge isn’t Disneyland.
You’ve backed yourself into a corner so you need to be flexible. Best and most practical option is stay in Salisbury the night before! Simple as that. Train back to London the next day after visiting Stonehenge AND seeing the wonderful Salisbury cathedral.
