Visit to Stonehenge - is there a way to see it from road as driving by?

You can see Stonehenge from the A303 (whilst you're stuck in a traffic jam) but there's nowhere to stop and have a better look:

https://www.claireperry.org.uk/sites/www.claireperry.org.uk/files/styles/gallery_large/public/2017-01/traffic-stonehenge-solstice.jpg?itok=VNZ-A4D3

(have read it's not worth the "touristy" stop

Stonehenge does divide people (the guidebook was priced at 3/6 the last time I went), but if you are quite sure you don't want to visit it, I can't see how it can be worth your time planning a route diversion just to drive somewhere near it either, but maybe that is just me.

We are driving from Rye to Bath and it happens to be on the way. Was hoping just to stop for a quick photo and be on our way.

On the A303 coming from Amesbury there is no shoulder on the road where you can pull off. Even if there was, you’d need a good zoom lens to get a decent photo. Just past Stonehenge is a service road where you could momentarily pull off, but it’s a distance away and you wouldn’t get a good view.

I’m going to be in London at the end of July and I just want to take a tour to the Stonehenge only, is there a tour only for that?

" Was hoping just to stop for a quick photo and be on our way."

Pulling over on the A303 is not recommended.

It is worth a short visit to see. We also enjoyed visiting Avebury with the array of huge stones that you can touch. Also, we visited another stone site in the Lake District. There are stone sites all over Britain.

We just returned last night from two weeks in England. I was on the fence about Stonehenge, but we did a Mad Max tour from Bath to Stonehenge and Avebury. Of course, we paid the Stonehenge entrance fee, but I think it was worth taking the time to see it.

We fully intended to visit Stonehenge as we were also driving to Bath from Heathrow. My bro in law was working in England at that time so he picked us up and we got to Stonehenge about an hour before closing time. Unfortunately for us, there was an event going on and they had closed down early. We were parked in the visitors parking lot so we just walked up to the surrounding chain link fence around the site and got our pictures. This was in 2007 and I’ve been back to UK 5x and haven’t returned to Stonehenge. I think that brief visit satisfied my urge. You can just do this too so you don’t have to pull over on the side of the road for a quick photo.

You cannot just stop a take a few quick photos. The site is set up so that you must pay to really see it. If it's not really that interesting to you, then don't pay the fee.

Claudette, the 2007 visitor center is no longer there. A section of the road it used to be off of (A360) was removed and restored to the way it used to be and the new visitor center was built further down the road. There are busses to take visitors to the stone circle. One can walk, but it’s not across the street like it used to be.

Good to know, thanks!

I certainly think Stonehenge is worth it, although not as much fun as when you could go among the stones. I think I enjoy Avebury more.

While you cannot stop voluntarily to see it from the road, you will get stuck in the westbound traffic jam on the A303 long enough to get a really good view of it.

Since you are driving, you may want to consider visiting Avebury. Since I was only using public transportation, I took a Mad Max tour there for my "stone" experience. I've never been to Stonehenge and don't ever plan to go-I don't think it's worth the crowds.

patyflopez, there are plenty of tours to stonehenge-I imagine London Walks does one. You could also take a train to Salisbury and there's a special bus that goes to Stonehenge. I think Mad Max also does a Stonehenge only tour from Bath.

The space aliens who built it knew the only way to attract paying tourists was to limit the view from the highway.

It would be a shame to be that close to Stonehenge and not see it up-close and personal. Seeing it up close really gives one the feeling of "No way they dragged these stones here over hill and dale 5000 years ago". But you have to be there to really feel it.

As others have said, you can see it from the A303 (and I managed to get some grainy pics from the car window), but there’s no place to pull off. And it really is worth a trip. Stonehenge was on my hubby’s must-see list for our recent trip to southern England (early June), and I was completely unenthused. I thought it would be one big tourist trap. Instead, it was one of my favorite places. Yes, it’s crowded, but if you spend some time there, you get a lot more out of it. (There are a few benches for sitting, or you can just plant yourself on the grass.) I’ve gotten into the habit of doing this at big tourist attractions, and I’ve found that the crowds ebb and flow. If you aren’t in a hurry and can dedicate some time to “just sitting” at a place, it starts to reveal itself to you more fully. (I once sat in the Sistine Chapel for almost an hour.)

Was hoping to attach a couple of photos to show the difference between a drive-by pic and being there. Oh well. My recommendation is go!

I took a bus tour to Bath , Stonehenge and Salisbury , some years ago.. so as noted perhaps the set up has changed.

I did not pay to include the entrance fee to Stonehenge.. I stayed in the bus parking area walking about a bit.. I saw enough in the distance.. I still to this day have zero regrets about not wasting my money on seeing it.. you cant get near the stones anymore.. so you shuffle along a boardwalk with hundreds of others.. didnt look magical at all to me..

Re: earlier comment about Avebury, be aware that Avebury is about an hour's drive north of Stonehenge. You can either take country roads that are relatively slow but scenic and fairly direct, or go the longer way around on faster dual-carriageway roads, but it is not a hop-skip-and-jump from Stonehenge. The walk around Avebury's circle is about 1 mile. In contrast to Stonehenge, at Avebury you can go right up to the stones and in among them.

Probably every tourist in southern England who doesn't really want to bother with the entry fee and the time to see Stonehenge properly has the same idea as you -- to drive by and have a look, and try to take a photo or a video. That's undoubtedly one of the reasons for the tieup on the A303.

If you are heading from London to Bath and don't want to go out of your way, you could either take a route past Avebury or past Stonehenge, one or the other.