Stonehenge - Inner Circle worth it?

It really depends on what you are looking for. My wife an I went two weeks ago. Stonehenge used to be free to the public (it still kinda is, more to come). However, a new visitor's center was recently built, I think around 2014. If you go through the visitor's center, it is quite expensive and you are still unable to get close to the stones themselves. There are options to go within the stones, but it is even more expensive and space is limited.

However, if you just want to SEE Stonehenge, you can still access it for free. There is a dirt road a few hundred yards away where you can park your car. You then just follow the dirt road just a little way down and walk on path nearly as close to the stones as the paid path. We were maybe an extra five feet away and saved around $70.

I must say I was a little sketched out when my wife proposed this idea, but there were plenty of others doing the same thing and it all seemed to be on the up and up. If you just do a Google search, you can find out more details on how to take this route.

The main question is do you want to get up at ca. 4 am, to sit in a bus for a couple of hours, then to stand in a cold field (hopefully not raining) listening to someone lecture you about Neolithic stone circles? Or conversely leave London later in the day and return late evening? I think the inner circle is worth visiting because you get a much better feel for the scale of the site rather than just walking around the outer circle. Personally I’d choose the evening visit just because I am not a morning person.

The days are very long in the summertime, so check an almanac to find the times of sunrise and sunset in August. As someone else said, sunrise could be something like 5am. Sunset maybe 9pm.

We did the special access at sunset in 2013, a year before the visitor center opened. I don't know if, or how, that changes things, but personally I thought it was truly special to walk among the stones and see the sunset between and behind them.

Having said that, it might be getting late to book a slot! Good luck and have fun!

I would not want to do this as a day trip from London. If you have enough days to spend the night in Salisbury that would make me consider it. Your touring style might be different from mine.

To me the price of admission is reasonable. It’s 17.50£/15.80£(concession or Senior charge) for regular day visit. The audio guide is quite good and you can see different views of the whole circle as you walk around the stones.