Salisbury or Bath?

We did Stonehenge from Bath on a half day tour. It was easy and simple.
I think that if you go directly to Bath it will save you having to move apartments twice.
Bath is really great.

We were on the Best of England tour this past fall. We went to Stonehenge the afternoon we had free time on the tour. There are a couple of tour companies that do the tours. We booked ahead. You can check your itinerary to see which day you will have the afternoon free. It was worth it to me to go to Stonehenge.

I would stay in Bath and take a day trip tour to Stonehenge. Perhaps try to book a room in the same hotel as your tour to avoid having to change hotels. A few years back we took Rick's recommended Mad Max tour https://www.madmaxtours.co.uk/ to Stonehenge and it was great!

We did the BOE tour in 2017. We took the bus from Heathrow to Salisbury and spent three nights in a B&B by the Cathedral before taking the train to Bath to join the tour. We had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, it looks like the B&B we stayed at has closed. I truly hope this delightful couple got to retire and go to Florida as was their dream at the time. We explored the area, climbed up into the top of the Cathedral, did a within the stones Stonehenge tour (so much better than just walking around the perimeter) and had some wonderful meals.

I will take the contrary view and say that I love Salisbury, and Bath leaves me cold. Partly because I prefer the medieval half-timbered building style of Salisbury, and the beautiful Gothic Cathedral, much more than the newer Georgian style of Bath. I also like the proximity to Stonehenge. And the general ambiance of the town.

But let’s start at the beginning. What is the date of your tour? I see one Best of England starting May 11, and the next one starting June 15. You say there is a big festival in on Salisbury at the end of May that is driving up hotel prices, but I can only find a Flower Festival from May 13 to 18. Then in late June the summer solstice is a big deal. But I don’t see how either of these would affect you, assuming you are talking about a few days prior to the June 15 tour. Or maybe there is a festival I have not found? But why would you be arriving in late May for a June 15 tour?

When you fly into London (assuming Heathrow), you can reach Bath by train to Paddington plus train to Bath Spa, or bus to REading and train from there. To reach Salisbury, you would take a bus from Heathrow to Woking and train from there, or Tube/train into London Waterloo and train from there.

Traveling to Bath on the day of your arrival from a long flight, then using the next day to take a bus tour to Stonehenge, sounds very tiring to me. I would much prefer to add an extra day, fly to London and take the bus/train journey to Salisbury, and stay 2 nights. Use the intervening day to visit Stonehenge at your leisure. It is a short bus or taxi ride or, as I have done, a nice bike ride on fairly quiet country roads. You would also have time to visit the beautiful Salisbury Cathedral, see the Magna Carta, and enjoy the town a bit, since you won’t have a chance to see it on the tour. And still time for a nap if you need it.

Just my 2 cents worthl.

Thanks for everyone's replies. To fill out our story, we will fly to London, most likely Heathrow from Los Angeles. Our tour is June 1 - 15th, it shows up at the bottom of the dates because it is sold out. I had a momentary freakout when I didn't see it at first! We will stay in London for two days on points. Then off to either Bath or Salisbury. Will take everyone's comments to heart.

You will have a great time in either town! (We stayed in both towns in October.) I agree with Lola---I prefer the medieval ambience of Salisbury. We had a good time in Bath over a couple of days---including afternoon tea and visits to several wonderful bookstores. Oh, and I enjoyed charity shops in both towns, but we were travelling by car until departure (so easier to load the suitcase!)

You have time enough to do both. What I will say is that as you're travelling in June, accommodation will be expensive in both places.
There are Stonehenge tours from Bath as well as Salisbury, so don't go to Salisbury if you're not going for any other reason than Stonehenge.

We had a rental car, based ourselves in Bath, and visited Stonehenge and Salisbury on the same day.

I like both Salisbury and Bath BUT when I want to do Stonehenge, I stay over in Salisbury. I like to take the local bus company's shuttle out to the stones so I can take my time, then like to finish off by going to Evensong at Salisbury Cathedral. There is also a nice small museum on the Cathedral Close that has artifacts from Stonehenge.

https://www.salisburyreds.co.uk/services/SWWD/ST

I've stayed in Bath as well but it's a touch harder to get to Stonehenge. I have done a Mad Max tour of Stonehenge but it included Avebury and some smaller towns that might be included on your day in the Cotswolds on the tour.

I've also stayed a number of places in Salisbury. My favorite place was a B&B but the owners have retired. I've also stayed at the Rose and Crown on a Rick Steves tour and at the White Hart Hotel on a Road Scholar tour. I've always thought the Red Lion looked like a cool place to stay but no actual experience there other than walking back into their courtyard.

I'm glad you are going early!