My husband and I (late 20's) will be arriving at Heathrow around 6am next Thursday. We are picking up a car and heading to Stonehenge (then on to Bath). However, Stonehenge doesn't open until 9:30am. I know we have to get through customs, get our bags, deal with rush hour traffic, etc, but I think we'll end up with a bit of time to kill before Stonehenge opens. We may not, but in case we do, I'd like to have a plan as to something to do between Heathrow and Stonehenge early in the morning? Any suggestions? Scenic drive? We don't have to be at Stonehenge right when it opens, so it's not like we are time limited for this additional "excursion". We like to hit the ground running, so please no "take a nap in the car" suggestions!

Thanks!

YOu can visit Runnymede - lots of history there, from King John's signing of Magna Carta, to JFK memorial.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...s/w-runnymede/

Even Flanner should know that you are heading west and therefore away from London and although you will have to do some motorway driving (the M25 will be busy from 6.00am) I think that as long as you are sensible you will be fine.
You could drive through Runnymede (15 minutes max from the airport) but the car park won't be open until 9.00am at least. You could also go to Windsor.
Having said that by the time you have dealt with customs & immigration and sorted the car out out it could well be 8.00am which would put you at Stonehenge around 9.15 - 9.30.

You could stop at Avebury on the way to Stonehenge. The stones there are more impressive to me than the Stonehenge circle; you can walk among them. And they are always accessible (just watch out for the sheep poo.)

Also bear in mind that it will likely be quite dark this time of year until at least 7:30 am or so.

1) you will not be to Stonehenge before 9:30 AM. None of the car rental locations are on the airport. So you have to shuttle to the rental depot which could be 2 or 6 miles away. Then you have to deal w/ the paperwork. Yo will be lucky to be on the road before about 8:30 at the earliest

2) While I <i>might</i> word it a bit gentler the flanner - he is basically right. You have no idea when condition you will be in after an over night flight. If it was me I'd visit Windsor that AM (only 7 miles away) and then stay the night there. You can drive to Avebury/Stonehenge and Bath the next day when hopefully you will be over the jet lag.

OR another option would be to take the express bus to Bath on arrival day. Then the next morning pick up a rental car in Bath and pop over to Stonehenge/Salisbury.

Last time it tooks us 90 minutes to get the rental car from the Hertz station at Heathrow - the queue was incredible (on a Saturday morning!).

Since you are leaving London, traffic won't be too bad - but everybody is right, you will not be before 9:00 or 9:30 in Stonehenge. In case you will arrive before opening hours indeed, you might walk the archeological path which leads you to many other tombs and mounds.

BTW, paying the entrance fee for Stonehenge is wasted money IMO, the view from the fence is good enough.

In order to take pictures, it is even a good idea to be there BEFORE opening - you have the chance to take photos without crowds of visitors.

Wow, flanneruk, a little aggressive!

My husband and I both are well travelled and always sleep well on red-eyes. We have taken many of them and then gone on our way as soon as we have landed, having a full productive day wherever we are. Additionally, we live in the metro NYC area and are very familiar with city driving in heavy traffic (here and an many other cities around the world). If we couldn't handle it, we wouldn't travel this way.

Thanks to everyone else for your info and advice. I guess I am underestimating the amount of time it will take to get the car. I also didn't realize the fence where you can take pictures of the stones at Stonehenge was outside the entrance fee area. We may just do that as we really are going just to take some pictures, say we were there, and move on to other things.

azzure - I have heard that about Avebury, but for some reason my husband is set on Stonehenge. Otherwise, we would just do that!

I found the audio guide at Stonehenge very informative and well worth the entry fee - plus you help to support and maintain this historic site.

Even if you don't need to kill time, I would suggest a stop at Avebury on the way to Stonehenge. It's not as immediately visually impressive because the stones are more spread out. But because there are no crowds of people you get a much different experience. There's a cute little town, you walk through some fields, especially early in the morning I would think it would be a very good experience. And it need not take much time. Here's a photo of some of the stone (you can't get all of them in one photo because they are so spread out) - www.pbase.com/annforcier/image/56411889.

The following photo is of Stonehenge and was taken through the fence. We weren't even going to go to Stonehenge because everyone told us how much a tourist trap it felt. But we were so close we decided to drive by, I had also heard you could see it from the road. We went in the early evening (summer) after it &quot;closed&quot;, the sun just started peaking through the rain clouds, it was just us and two other cars of people parked by the side of the road. It was magical.

So if you are staying in the area for a few days and could drive over when it's still day light but not during official open hours I recommend that.

I have spend a considerable share of my lifetime in museums and on historic and prehistoric sites - so I am anything but ignorant.

But regarding Stonehenge, I must say: a glance is sufficient.

Stonehenge is most impressive, absolutely breathtaking, when you see it for the first time from your car, just when you are coming over the hill on A303. It is an aerial view and nothing beats that.

Otherwise, you see it and that is that. No need to walk around the stones. You can comfortably peep over the fence and take pictures.

Audioguide: Well, but reading the wikipedia article is also quite informative.

My tip: Enter &quot;Stonehenge&quot; in Google Earth - you get a good impression of the site and the area around it (even better than on foot).

Maybe you are lucky to get your rental car faster than we did (a priority card may help and maybe other rental stations are faster than Hertz). The bus ride to the rental car stations is just 10 minutes.

I agree with the others that you will be lucky to get through customs, car rental, and London traffic and get to Stonehenge by 9:30.

Having been to both Stonehenge and Avebury this past summer, I highly suggest going to Avebury in addition to passing by Stonehenge. Avebury is an excellent experience because you can actually walk around the stones (with sheep wandering the area), and it's much larger than Stonehenge.

@ traveller1959: I hope you didn't interpret my post as calling you ignorant - because that wasn't my intent at all.

I visited Stonehenge with family and wasn't expecting to be impressed. All I can say is that I'm glad to have walked around the stones and had the opportunity to see them from many perspectives. Some photos:
http://acrossthebridgebandb.ca/stonehenge/index.html

And to demonstrate that you'll get opposing views on almost any question posed on Fodors, we also went to Avebury and I was all like &quot;meh&quot; (to use the Internet vernacular). ;-)

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gdh-- would love to hear more about your itinerary.. I spent some time in Somerset and I always like seeing which towns people include in their trip. I'm partial to Glastonbury which is not too far from Bath---probably 30-40 minutes or so...

I too found Stonehenge to be a worthwhile experience. The &quot;surprise&quot; of seeing it as you first come over the hill is probably the experience's high point as mentioned by traveller1959. Definitely worth seeing--just good to keep your expectations in check (it sounds like you are).

ghd,my partner and I returned from England in September and our Stonehenge visit was one of the highlights of our trip. We were able reserve spots on the Private Access tour, walked inside the circle, touched the stones, and experienced this site from the inside. It was awesome. I suggest trying to get one of these reservations which are available before the actual opening of Stonehenge for the general public. Google for more information. I will never forget the sunset shining between the stones.

<i>I was all like &quot;meh&quot; (to use the Internet vernacular)</i>

No longer just Internet vernacular. It's one of the words added to the Collins English Dictionary:

&quot;The expression of indifference or boredom has gained a place in the Collins English Dictionary after generating a surprising amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers.&quot;

I've often picked up cars after an overnight flight and driven down to Bournemouth on the south coast.

My advice would be to do all the things you have to do (Immigration, baggage claim, Customs, bus to car rental) and then see how you feel when you get on the road. As others have said, it could well be 8:00 am by then.

On my drives down to Bournemouth, an extreme need to nod off would often hit me after about 30-40 minutes. I pull into one of the &quot;break&quot; stops on the motorway, deliberately pull up close to the entrance to the food service, check the doors are locked and crash for usually 20 minutes, then go inside and get a large coffee. Usually then I'm good to go for the rest of the day.

By the time you get to Stonehenge it should be open. You will see it as you drive up and then you can decide for yourselves whether or not you want to go in.

After you've done Stonehenge, snooze in their car park if you need to. Just stay off the road if you're feeling really tried and you will be okay.

hi gdh,

i just had a look at the english heritage website to see if there are any chances to get up close to the stones at the moment, but they don't restart until December - too soon for you, I think.

so far as your car-hire is concerned, how about getting a train [or maybe a bus, according to the train timetables I just looked up!] to Reading and picking it up there? - it's in the right direction and it should be a lot quicker to collect your car there.

regards, ann

Anyone save Flanner's post? I always get a kick out of them, the more savage the better.

I'm surprised no one has suggested visiting the lovely city of Salisbury, with its fine cathedral and famous spire.


If you have a chance while you're in the area, make time to visit Stourhead. The gardens are beautifully landscaped, and a walk around the lake is a great way to shake off jet lag.

Ann,

I think the aggravation and cost of getting to Reading to pick up a car is far greater than getting on the free car rental bus outside the terminal and dealing with a queue at the rental agency. Just my opinion.