I'm working in Salisbury next week and thought about going to Stonehenge whilst i'm so close.
Had a look on google earth and it looks like it's ring fenced and it's £20 to get in.
Is it worth it?
Planned to ride down the back roads on my bike but I bet you can't take a bike in either?
Any yokle feedback would be great.
worth it ? it's some stones and some grass... £20 is hysterical !!!! lol.
And you know that scene in spinal tap with the tiny standing stone? Yeah that's actually life size.
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@51.4284542,-1.8545631,3a,75y,0.32h,79.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sR2jQEf4IDG_B6NPVOGQjQQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en">go here spend it on something to eat and see some ancient stones for free
Worth it IMHO.
Yeah, it's great. It's free if you're National Trust by the way. Do it AND Avebury!
Worth seeing once in your life, good call on Avebury
English Heritage.
Good call on Avebury. We did both on the same day.
Worth it, to me. Always wanted to go, was pleasantly surprised. Thought the museum at the visitor centre was crap though, way too much audio visual displays, I can see that sort of stuff on telly or t'internet. When I go to a museum I want to see old stuff. Avebury much more atmospheric.
If you've got a bike, there is a bridleway/byway that gets within 300m of the stones, short ride down from Larkhill.
I was speaking to someone last week and they compared it to the Angel of the North. Which means something at the side of the road to stop and have a quick look at but not worth going out of your way for.
Edit: Jesus H Christ, at least the Angle is free! £60 for a family ticket! At least Dick Turpin wore a mask etc etc
Asa above, there's a track bridleway NW right past the stones (300m), but also you can roam all over the adjacent area of the avenue, cursus etc (NE), which means you can get pretty close.
You could do an excellent atmospheric ride taking in some great pre-history if you combine all around Avebury (including fyfield down) and stone henge...best make sure they're not firing on the artillery ranges though!
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.1789342,-1.826083,3a,75y,76.46h,86.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2toQT4rUKwZdv46KZSdYUQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-GB
Save yourself £20.
I just stod at the road side and took a couple of photos as I'm tight!
No, IMHO.
a) You can't get anywhere near it any more because morons were chipping souvenirs off it, you might as well see it on TV. If you do decide to go, pack binoculars.
b) There are many many other stone circles in the UK. Avebury is cool, that's a good shout.
c) Twenty quid is a pisstake. What's that paying towards, maintaining the fence that keeps you out?
It's paying for the upkeep of the 400 sites in the English Heritage portfolio.
Annual membership is worth it if you are going to visit more than a couple of them.
(c) pretty much, that and building an AV display hut for AV displays you could have seen on the internet, and which would then not have disturbed the important archaelogical site etc.
I went to see the Avebury stones on an Equinox.
Place was full of hippies drinking funny tea and playing drums.
Can't remember a damn thing.
I took my daughter on the way back from Devon last month. Joined for the year instead of paying on the day. £5.64 a month for 2 of us to visit all English Heritage sites as often as we want. She loved the place and would go again, preferably not when it's rainy and windy next time.
I did a very nice ride including Avebury that went past Stonehenge a few weeks ago - you get pretty close for free - no way would I pay £20! It's an odd bridleway, riding past all the hippies and oldies in their clapped out campers sitting their round their campfires looking at piles of rocks!
What an odd place...
£20 to get in? What a bloody rip! Didn't there used to be a free festival there? When did it get sold/annexed off?
If you're interested in the pre-history of the UK then it's probably worth it. If you go and "just" see a bunch of stones in a grass field, perhaps less so.
It’s paying for the upkeep of the 400 sites in the English Heritage portfolio.
But the OP isn't visiting those. Do the other 399 not have entry fees?
Annual membership is worth it if you are going to visit more than a couple of them.
In a past life I was a National Trust member, I had to cancel it when I lost my job and never really had much cause to renew it. I got more value from that than I would have from English Heritage, and there's only so many subscriptions one can subscript to.
I much prefer Avebury, walk amongst the stones, decent cafe, decent pub, couple of museums etc.
But the OP isn’t visiting those. Do the other 399 not have entry fees?
Some are free. Some won't generate enough for their upkeep. Stonehenge and a few other Big Hitters will help fund them.
For example, Avebury is free but NT funded.
The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar seems apposite.
I think you'll be disappointed TBH, it's my local, but it's a bit underwhelming. I ride past quite frequently, as other have said there's a track very close if you're on the bike https://w3w.co/models.ranted.estuaries
Avebury Stones are cool though. Or closer, Old Sarum is nice - usually an ice-cream van there too. You could do aloop from the Catheral, up to Old Sarum, then use the King Alfred route to go from Old Sarum up the the Stones, or cut left by Stings house, across the grassy hill and leggit across the A303
Visit Salisbury cathédrale and see if you can get access to the roof space, it has the original wooden scaffolding all the way up the spire. Incredible médiéval carpentry. There's Old Sarum too, also English Heritage but cheaper and probably better luck with a bike. Nice steep hill to get in too!
Twenty quid is a pisstake. What’s that paying towards, maintaining the fence that keeps you out?
You're really paying for the visitor center. But can't choose to go to one without the other
You can see everything there is to see from the free path running past the site. And I say this as a NT member with free entry. Also the path has less fannies on it!
The best views of Stonehenge are actually from a distance taking in the country around it anyway.
Avebury is awesome and much more impressive.
When did it get sold/annexed off?
You can still go on soulstices
Just drive pass traffic will be going slow enough we took kids recently whilst on the way to cornwall - Needless to say kids were not impressed and apparantley I wasted 3 hours of there holiday. So was definitely my last trip to the stones it's certainly good to see once.
Reading the reviews it seems people who paid extra for a guided trip had a much better time, not sure what the cost is.
On the subject of standing stones these are pretty amazing and 2000 years older, bit of a detour for the OP though.
https://www.wildernessscotland.com/blog/scotlands-stonehenge-standing-stones-callanish/
1/5 of your soul.
Standard druidic tax.
If you plan to drive past, pick your time wisely. Last time I went the traffic ques were massive and it took ages to get there.
Save your £20 and put it towards your very own one
Very old meets ancient
Don't feel I missed out by not going in
Some are free. Some won’t generate enough for their upkeep. Stonehenge and a few other Big Hitters will help fund them.
Makes sense I suppose, if you consider it a charity donation rather than an entrance fee.
English Heritage.
Yep, but you can get in for free with a National Trust membership.
If you really think it's just some stones and grass, I'd suggest it's not for you. I think it's pretty awesome.
My folks used to walk up there in the 60's and sit by the stones for a picnic ..not a soul about . How things have changed and generally not for the better it often seems.
Deffo worth going if you want NT or EH membership (both are valid). You can find discounted membership rather than sign up on the day.
This is how close you get
It's a better veiw from the old bridleway it puts the stones into the settings. + Hippie vans and dogs. way less inster posters looking for that perfect pouting pose..
Cuckoo stone is not far as is wooden hence.
Definitely go to the cathedral the stone masonry folk could still be working round the back.
also, go see silbury hill down toward avebury
about the size of a pyramid, made of dirt, a few man hours of labour getting that thing together
There’s a good circular walk taking in Avebury, the ridgeway, west kennet barrow and Silbury hill, all in about 7 miles and for free!
Best thing about the visitor centre is that it tells you all about the ancient landscape (way more there than just the stone circle) and for me that was very interesting, but then I love thinking about ancient stuff.
If you go looking for some spectacular thing like most tourists* then yeah you'll be disappointed.
* actually I don't know why most tourists go to these things. Most of them are useless without a desire to try and understand the past as well as possible. It's a museum, not entertainment. I think this is why people are disappointed.
