tasta

I want to spend two nights visiting Bath,Salisberry and Stonehenge .I am coming on the 8.03.2014. How is the situation there with the flood? Is Stonehenge accessible? Can i get there from Bath by public transportation? What is better place to stay to visit these three places?

MmePerdu

I think using public transport, if you really have just 2 nights, it may be better to limit yourself to either Salisbury/Stonehenge OR Bath. You'll want to stay in Salisbury to see Stonehenge and in Bath to see Bath.

It would help if we knew where you'll be coming from and if you have all 3 days, with the 2 nights, for this jaunt? Will you be there in March or August?

MmePerdu

With the question about flooding, I imagine you'll be there in March. I can guess but we'll hope someone with reliable information comes along to answer that question. I'm interested too.

tasta

I am coming in March, from London.My hotel is near Paddington,but I understand,trains are coming from Waterloo.Mostly I wanted to see Stonehenge, not sure what I want to see more,Bath or Salisberry.So two nights mean I can spend almost 4 days

flanneruk

Stonehenge rarely if ever floods, and it's fully accessible. Trains between London and Salisbury, Salisbury and Bath and (at present) Bath and London are now running more or less as normal. There's no problem in seeing all three in a two-nighter

All pretty irrelevant, since it's the state of the ground in early March that matters: these things in England change constantly, and within hours. A continuously updated map of flood warnings (NOT of floods) at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26189096

As I write this, most of the area you'll be passing through is colour coded "flood alert". This DOES NOT mean there's an alert of likely floods there: it simply means that, within the coloured area there are places where floods can happen.

It actually shows one real warning, for part of central Salisbury near the cathedral. This might make parts of Salisbury near the cathedral impassable. Today

That tells you nothing about how it'll be in a couple of weeks.

Steve_James

Hi Tasta - From Bath, Scarper Tours run a half-day minibus excursion to Stonehenge DAILY.
http://visitbath.co.uk/things-to-do/...r-tours-p41301

For reviews see
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...t_England.html

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Gordon_R

In case you're in any doubt, it's Salisbury - pronounced "SALS-burry" (emphasis on the first syllable)

janisj

You can easily do all of it w/ 2 nights. (assuming there are no huge deluges/floods while you are there)

Train to Salisbury (lovely city). Local tour bus to Stonehenge. Then stay that night in Slalsbury - or probably my choice would be a late afternoon/early evening train to Bath and stay two nights there. This would give you most of a day for Salisbury/Stonehenge and a full day+ in Bath.

bvlenci

You can easily get to Stonehenge by bus from Salisbury, and you can also easily get to Bath by train. However, with two nights, you probably would have to do one or the other. If you leave London early, though, you could drop off your bags and head immediately to Stonehenge. When we went there, the bus station had a great information sheet about getting to both Stonehenge and Avebury, and even on how to get to both in one day without returning to Salisbury. This was maybe eight years ago, so I don't know if all the buses are still running or if the bus station still provides this information. This was not a tour, just regular bus lines. It was a very scenic bus ride.

You should really save some time to see Salisbury itself. It's a very beautiful city, with some nice walks you can take, and the cathedral is magnificent. There's an original copy of the Magna Carta in the choir room (or some other adjacent room). The day we went to Stonehenge, we just passed through Salisbury, and returned to London the same night. We were sorry not to have seen Salisbury, so we returned there a few years later and spent a few days. Another wonderful cathedral is in Wells, a beautiful town, easily reached from Salisbury.

janisj

I honestly don't get the 'only time for one or the other' advice. (and I am normally the queen of 'slow down/spend more time'). In this case 2 nights means at least 2.5 days for 'seeing/doing'.

Most of one day for Salisbury and Stonehenge and 1+ day for Bath. Sure IF one has several days one could/should spend more time in both Salisbury and Bath.

But w/ this limited time it certainly is doable to get a very nice taste of all three places.

tasta

So I'm coming toBath for 2 nights,on the second day take a train to Salisbury,from there local bus to Stonehenge,and in the evening back to Bath.Right? One day is enough?
Do you know the timetable for those buses?

MmePerdu

Here's a page with various options:
http://salisburyandstonehenge.net/st...-to-stonehenge

More: http://www.google.com/#q=buses+salisbury+to+stonehenge

There's also mention of buses from Bath to Stonehenge but I like the idea of dropping off your things in Bath and taking the train, as you've said, to Salisbury so you also see the town which I like, and the cathedral.

tasta

Thank you all very much!
MmePerdu - especially for your links! Walking from Amesbery bus to Stonehenge may be possible, but it maybe not passable in March and not comfortable in rain - it's an hour and a half according to Google. So meanwhile the only option I see is tour bus. But it's an option.

Bvlenci - I'll definitely visit the cathedral, but can you give some more details about the walks that you mentioned?
As for Bath - I'm Jane Austin fan, so I'll visit the museum. What other places can you recommend, especially those connected with her ?

flanneruk

" However, with two nights, you probably would have to do one or the other. "

Bollocks

"bus to Stonehenge may be possible, but it maybe not passable in March "

Also bollocks. What part of "Stonehenge rarely if ever floods, and it's fully accessible" do you not understand?

"not comfortable in rain - it's an hour and a half according to Google."

So what? Unless you live in a desert, SE England almost certainly gets less rain than where you live (London is Europe's driest capital). Rain last month doesn't mean rain next month. If the forecast is for rain (it probably won't be) and you don't like that, wear a raincoat or buy an umbrella.

tasta

"So what? Unless you live in a desert, SE England almost certainly gets less rain than where you live "
- Actually I live in the dessert

tasta

One more thing - on a very busy day, when I'm planning to come from Bath, see Stonehenge and Salisberry and then return back to Bath - so on the same day to spend 3 hrs walking through the fields - it must be very special walk ...

MmePerdu

Just about any walk in the English countryside is a special walk, my heart's desire. But not if you're in a hurry.

bvlenci

Bollocks yourself, flanner!

I don't understand how two nights yields two and a half days. It gives you one full day and bits of two others. I did say that by dropping off the bags in Salisbury and heading straight to Stonehenge the first day, one could then visit Bath the next day. I do think Bath deserves a full day. However, that would leave almost no time to see Salisbury, which I think would be a pity.

We got a list of walking paths while we were in Salisbury. I can't remember the route that we took, but it involved some public paths, and some smaller roads, and ended in the little town of Harnham near Salisbury, at which point we got a bite to eat and walked back. There was a lovely view of the cathedral over a meadow along the walk. Maybe someone can identify the path more specifically from the photos in this album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1039588...eat=directlink

Here are my albums of Bath and Wells as well, which may be useful to you.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1039588...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/1039588...eat=directlink

We didn't go to the Jane Austen museum when we were in Bath. We went to the Roman baths, which were very interesting, and to the Pump Room, which brought Jane Austen reminiscences to my mind. However, my Italian husband hasn't read any Jane Austen, not even in Italian translation, so the museum wouldn't have had much interest for him. We spent the rest of the day just walking around the center of the town, which is very attractive, and visiting some churches.

I have no photos (at least in digital form) of Stonehenge or Avebury. That was a different trip. I must say I liked Avebury more than Stonehenge, but that's subjective.

bvlenci

[[ London is Europe's driest capital.]]

Bollocks!

Athens is Europe's driest capital, ranked by cm of rain per year, and Madrid is the second driest.

janisj

Bvlenci: easy. Leave London in the early AM. When you get to Salisbury check into a B&B. take the bus to Stonehenge. Return to Salisbury - have afternoon tea and to tour the cathedral. Next morning take an early train to Bath. Spend all day. Stay the night. Next day take a mid afternoon train to London. Have dinner. 2.5 days. Easy peasy..