Stonehenge

You will find numerous past threads on the subject if you use the search feature.

Trained from London ( Waterloo station ) to Salisbury then took a bus to Stonehenge.

You can read about my trip to Stonehenge in my trip report:

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.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/10-days-in-london-our-first-time-a-trip-report

I went with London Walks but I'm not sure if they're still doing that day tour. It was great! But I think it's pretty easy to do on your own.

Stonehenge seems to be much more popular with North Americans than British people. I have never had a particular desire to go there - I have seen other smaller sites across the country. Others often say that nearby Avebury is more atmospheric as you can walk amongst the stones, which you can’t do at Stonehenge. All this is to get you to think whether you really want to go.

If you do have an interest in pre-history and want to go then it’s easy to do yourself as a day trip. Take the train to Salisbury and there is a bus from the station which will take you to the site. Make sure that you leave some time to see Salisbury and it’s cathedral.

“Stonehenge seems to be much more popular with North Americans than British people. I have never had a particular desire to go there - I have seen other smaller sites across the country.”

There just aren’t the Neolithic sites in the US as in UK, France, etc. so they are a novelty to most Americans. The closest one to me is a rock shelter with ceiling soot dated to 9,000 years ago that’s been backfilled to protect it. The next nearest one I know about is fairly remote and up at about 9,600’ so more difficult to get to than the sites I’ve visited in UK and France where you can often just park nearby.

I agree with taking the train then getting the local shuttle bus. To me the day trips that combine Stonehenge and Bath try to cram too much in. Conversely, doing a half day from London seems like too little time as there is a significant drive.

How many full days do you have in London?

The question about how much time you have otherwise in London is the key one. I don’t think I’d consider Stonehenge unless I had at least a full week in London, as there’s so much else to see there, as well as other daytrip destinations. I think Americans favor Stonehenge because it’s the one everyone has heard of, or at least everyone who’s the kind of person with any interest in visiting England. You have to be much more of an Anglophile, or a devoted Rick Steves Europe viewer, to know that other places like Avebury or the Orkney stone circles exist.

“Stonehenge seems to be much more popular with North Americans than British people. I have never had a particular desire to go there - I have seen other smaller sites across the country.”

Makes sense. If you choose to visit a foreign country you’re bound to be interested in seeing the things that country is famous for. People who live here didn’t choose to be in a country with Stonehenge in it. It just happened to them by accident and they might well not care.

I'll give you two perspectives. Personally, I'd have been disappointed with Stonehenge on a day tour. We spent a few days in Salisbury and saw Stonehenge at sunrise when you're able to buy an entrance that allows you to walk inside the stones. During the day you can only see them from further back.

On the other hand, last November we made a family trip to London and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law did a tour that included Stonehenge and Bath and thought it was well worth it. It was a long day, they left for the tour at 7am and got back after 8pm. Unfortunately I don't have info on the tour group they used.

Depends upon your priorities and how much time you have during this trip. For me these are rocks.

“There just aren’t the Neolithic sites in the US as in UK, France, etc. so they are a novelty to most Americans.“

I found Stonehenge to be a bit underwhelming, but impressive compared to the only North American Paleolithic or Neolithic site I’d visited, Cahokia Mounds, outside of St. Louis on the Illinois side. But oddly, the Cahokia Mounds museum had more information about the people who created it than Stonehenge. Which might be why I felt underwhelmed.

I was hesitant to plan an entire day around Stonehenge when we went to England last year so we opted for a tour with Rabbie's that stopped at Stonehenge and multiple villages in the Cotswolds (including the stones in Avebury). It was an excellent tour and ended up being our favorite day! I know a lot of people find Stonehenge underwhelming but I liked seeing it and liked that we were able to make other stops along the way so we felt like we got the most bang for our buck.