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Stonehenge and Avebury in a day - which one first?

We're planning a day at the major stone circles in late June, doing both Stonehenge and Avebury on the same day, and wondering which one to do in the morning, and which one in the late afternoon.

I have a bad attitude about big crowds of tourists (and yes, I recognize the irony there - at least I admit it), so I'm prepared to be a little bummed out at Stonehenge (not at the monument itself, just the crowds), and hoping for a better, less compromised experience at Avebury.

My usual strategy for dealing with a popular site that is being loved-to-death is to try to be there early and late, as in my experience the worst of the crowds are usually day trippers who predictably arrive 9-10 am and depart 3-4 pm, so outside those hours, you can often still have a decent experience even at a popular attraction (and the light is often better for photos anyway). During the middle of the day, I'm better off relaxing somewhere else, or moving on to the next too-popular place.

We will be getting up v-e-r-y early that day in central London, and will head west out of the city proper via public transportation, then pick up our rental car somewhere west of London. Exact location TBD, but I want to get an early start so we can arrive at the first stone circle early enough to beat most day-trippers. We will end the day somewhere near/around either Salisbury/Avebury (also still TBD).

Given those parameters, can anyone suggest the best strategy for doing these two sites, in which order? One of them will be in the morning, the other will be in the evening.

Thanks!

Posted by
7010 posts

The best way to see Stonehenge is to do a special access tour (early morning or late evening) so you can actually walk among the stones. Otherwise you're just walking around the outside behind a rope with hundreds of other people. Yes, you can see them and yes, you can get pictures but it's not the ideal situation.

Since it's unlikely that you can get from London to Stonehenge for a morning tour my suggestion would be to go to Avebury in the morning and (hopefully) arrange an evening tour at Stonehenge and plan to spend the night in Salisbury afterward. It will be more expensive than normal admission and they're not available every evening but it's worth looking into. Hope it can work out for you.

I suggest this because of your stated aversion to crowds. If the normal Stonehenge experience outside the ropes is okay with you, then it really doesn't make that much difference. Be sure to check opening and closing hours at each and driving time between them, when making your decision.

Posted by
6733 posts

Thanks, Nancy. I'd love to do the "special access tour" inside Stonehenge (sunrise or sunset, I could make either work). But I am quite confused at what I'm finding when I google that. It appears there are dozens of commercial tour operations that do these tours (seems odd), and they appear to make conflicting statements about what days they are offered. Actually, I kind of cringe at organized tours, and would rather just pay extra to be let in and left alone, but would go along with a tour if I could find one that seemed legit and that worked with our schedule (which is tight, but could have a little flexibility).

Anyone know the skinny on how to find reliable info about availability of special access tours?

Thanks.

Posted by
7010 posts

David, it may be that different tour operators have different days they're allowed to offer the tours, thus the conflicting (differing) schedules. I do know they strictly limit the number of people on these tours.

There are posters on here who have done this so hopefully they'll weigh in with their experiences.

Posted by
3387 posts

We did something similar to this last summer...
We took off from London around 5AM (we had a car already), headed north out of the city up the A10 till we hit the M25 and then drove around west until we came to the M3 and then finally the A303. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Stonehenge with some traffic we hit. We were there right when it opened so it wasn't overrun yet - by the time we left it was crowded...that was probably around 11:00.
We didn't go to Avebury that afternoon (we had tickets to see Highclere Castle) but we have been there numerous times and have never seen it crowded. The stones are spread out through the town and the fields surrounding it and access to the stones is not limited or controlled like it is at Stonehenge. You can get there any time and see what you like without the hoards of people - the village is lovely too - a good place to have lunch or afternoon tea!

Posted by
244 posts

We ordered our Stonehenge Circle special access directly from the English Heritage website. It cost us $30 per person. It was easy! I called the number + 44 (0) 370 333 0605. They gave me a provisional date and time. Then they email you an application. You fill it out and email it back with payment info. We got an evening viewing! I'm so excited to walk in the inner circle. Our plan is to rent a car for the day from heathrow airport. We will visit Avebury and Salisbury earlier. Our tickets for the special access is 6:45 pm. I wasn't sure about public transportation that late. So we will just drop the car back at Heathrow. I know it probably would be better to stay close to Salisbury but just didn't workout. Anyway, getting the tickets were easy! Only 30 people allowed in the circle! Can't wait! Here is the website stonehenge

Posted by
325 posts

Time of day will probably have more impact on Stonehenge, so I would suggest going there first. We were there early morning two years ago and the crowds were definitely larger when we left. Since then they have built a new visitor center and access is now in designated time slots, I don't know if that has changed the crowd situation any. We were at Avebury mid morning to early afternoon last year and didn't see much of a crowd. You can make appointments for a designated time slot for Stonehenge, doing that will also help your planning. You can make them through English Heritage. Consider a family membership to English Heritage also, both sites and a many more in England, Wales, and Ireland are free to members. The savings at Stonehenge and Avebury alone will probably recoup the cost to join.

Posted by
4535 posts

You actually may need to do Stonehenge last just because of timing. I'm not sure you can get there from London, including a train somewhere and then picking up a car and not getting at least a little lost and be there when the gates open. Instead, take a more leisurely pace out to Avebury, have a nice lunch there and then see Stonehenge after most of the busses have gone (if not on one of the tours). Avebury doesn't get that crowded - there will be more sheep than people walking amongst the stones.

Posted by
337 posts

I like the idea of Avebury first and then Stonehenge, especially if you can get the special "Stone Circle Access" in the evening. We did that, and being there at sunset was breathtaking. (We were booked for the latest admission, at 8:30pm.)

Plus, I think there are fewer crowds at Avebury in general, and it's a bigger site, so the visitors are more spread out.

PS. Book the special access directly with English Heritage, as pfresh3 says.

PPS. I see now that you're going soon. We booked our June "special access" the previous February. You might be too late to book anything, but you never know! Certainly don't hesitate to book the 8:30 slot if that's all that's available. If it's all booked up, maybe the order of visiting doesnt' matter, if the new ticket "scheme" at Stonehenge has timed tickets all day long. It will help with crowd control.

But please do go to both places. They are amazing!

Posted by
1814 posts

Regarding Stonehenge special access: Things may have changed, but as far as I know "special access" is not available from June 21 to the beginning of July. The grass needs time to regenerate after the Solstice celebrations when it gets trampled. Check with English Heritage to confirm if this is still true.

Salisbury is a pleasant place for an overnight. The cathedral is lovely, especially from the outside, although I think that nearby Winchester Cathedral has a more interesting interior. Reading Sarum or Pillars of the Earth before your visit to this area will add to your enjoyment.

Posted by
6733 posts

Cynthia, that actually makes sense. Our day at Stonehenge & Avebury is June 30. The grass gets so trampled around the solstice they need to give it a week to recover, eh? So much for their crowd controls...oh well. That's OK, we'll more than make up for it at other stone circlese.

We have already read Pillars Of The Earth (and watched the mini-series - thought it was surprisingly well done) - check.

I suspect we may just dial back our aggressiveness for how we attack that day - maybe do Avebury in the morning as suggested above (thanks) Stonehenge in the late afternoon, and just resign myself to sharing it with 5000 strangers. If you can't beat 'em...

Thanks for the suggestions for an overnight in Salisbury. I'm looking for a place to spend that night. Will post that question in a separate thread.

Thanks, all, for your tips and input on this.