Glastonbury Tor: The town is itself is interesting and quirky but the Tor is where the magic is. No stairs, lifts or anything man-made except for the Tor itself, it's a great look-out point over the neighbouring fields, towns and sea. And sometimes, just sometimes, there are sunsets where the noisy onlookers suddenly become quiet until the sun sets behind the ocean. Touched by its beauty and the setting, the humbled onlookers clap at the performance.
Now that's magic.

Hi again HISTORYTRAVELER,

"... Rabbies give you five options for a commendations. I chose 4* hotels. I was very happy with their selections. I think everyone in our group was satisfied with their hotels, B&B's etc."

Sounds good. I would also opt for the 4*hotels. Glad that everyone was satisfied with accommodations.

I also prefer Avebury to Stonehenge, but I can understand why your guide had to go to the latter since the stop was on the itinerary. I have been there twice and have no desire to return although I would be interested in seeing the new facilities.

I also loved the abbey ruins in Glastonbury, but was not interested in all the "new age" offerings in the shops.

Will follow to the end....

Time to wind this trip report up and get on with the holidays.:)

When we arrived at Stonehenge, I took a quick count of coaches in the parking lot. I counted over 28. Some were double deckers. Not sure how many they hold but imagine more than some of the small villages we passed through.;) The lot was full of coaches, caravans and other over-sized vehicles. When we left, I estimated several hundred cars in their other lot. Yes, a lot of people.

Less than half our group actually visited the site. Not sure why but can only assume, like me, they had been there before and just didn't want to face the crowds. I had a cup of tea in the cafe and browsed the gift shop with my friend. I'm always impressed with the quality of items in these shops. There were several books of interest, but I managed to resist. I already have a few excellent books on Stonehenge, and my luggage wouldn't stand the additional weight. They did have a very nice necklace but at £1600, it's still there.:) I did point out Edward Rutherford's " Sarum" to my friend as she hadn't read it but suggested she wait and get it after she got home as even the paperback is a bit of a tome. Then I spent some time at a few of the exhibits that were on display.

When we got back on our little coach, I asked the young Japanese girl if she had enjoyed her visit. She shrugged her shoulders and gave a negative shake of her head. Apparently not too impressed. She had been very pleasant during the tour but also very quiet, so I didn't pursue the conversation. In fact, there was no conversation at all about the henge. I was glad I had the chance to it see before the place became overwhelmed by the crowds. I still hope to visit again either in the winter on on one of the private tours. I have an interest in prehistory and fondly remember a lively conversation about Stonehenge at The Red Lion ( Avebury ). We not only discussed it's history but the social implications involved in its construction. I strongly believe that it is necessary to know something about the place before you visit, it will greatly enhance your experience. But then, that's true about almost any place.

We were suppose to arrive back in a London at 19:30 and we were on time. I was booked into Rubens at the Palace which was less than a 10 minute walk from Victoria Station. After a few goodbyes, I hurried to the hotel, checked in, took a hot bath and went down to the bar for a glass of Prosecco ( well make that two glasses ) ;) and a sandwich. It was a great trip, and I was very impressed with Rabbies. Hope to do another tour soon.

Thanks to all for your comments. They've been much appreciated.

due to the seemingly constant traffic jam on the stretch of the A303 that goes past Stonehenge, you can get a very good view from the road, so I've seen it numerous times, but only visited once. We "did" it at school but as no-one knows that much about it [and what they do know appears to change every 10 years] it was a short and probably out of date lesson.

thanks for sharing your trip with us, ht - a great TR, well written.

HISTORYTRAVELER, thanks again for a most interesting trip report.

Your account might give those who insist on "independent travel only" a glimpse of the convenience/enjoyment of an organized arrangement at times. :)

When I had originally told some of my friends in the UK that I wanted to see Stonehenge, they were all quite concerned that I might be disappointed . . .

NOT. It was amazing - and I did nothing special except the usual audio commentary (which is pretty lame, imo). However, I had read Sarum and love anything about the mysterious, unknown, distant past. I was (and still am) fascinated about the whole "stone circle" phenomena. I can only imagine how incredible it must be to be there on the early morning, early evening tours and hope to take one some day.

My point is, I believe you do need to do a bit of "homework" in order to truly "get it". But then some people are also disappointed in the Grand Canyon . . .

Great information - thank you so much for posting this.

Oh darn -- I was hoping you had gone to the stones. But I totally do understand. I haven't been since the new visitors center opened and the old facilities/access closed and was wondering how they handle it now.

Don't you just love the Rubens at the Palace???

To clarify -- I do know how they handle access now . . . was more wondering how it works in 'real life' so to speak.

janisj, I did think about visiting the stones for the same reasons you mentioned but decided not to risk the likelihood of being disappointed. Better to wait for another and different opportunity to visit. Initially I was put off by the shuttle which is similar to those open- sided little trains one sees at amusement parks. There didn't seem to be any lines for boarding the shuttle but, of course, I have no idea what it was like at the actual site. I will say that the visitor centre was very nice. Beautiful gift shop and fairly nice self- serve type cafe. No lines when I was there but imagine they could get long around lunch time.

The Ruebens has become one of my favorite places to stay. I had stayed there before but it had been several years. Absolutely great location and the breakfast is the best. Where else can you get a nip of whiskey served with your porridge.:)

Cripes! Auto spell check did it again. It doesn't like to spell whiskey the proper Scottish way...whisky. So irritating. I guess I should learn to double check, but I know how to spell it correctly if ( it ) doesn't. ;)

Going back to an earlier comment, DW and I most often take a group tour when overseas, often with extra days on our own. So no need to apologize because we believe Grand Circle Travel offers good bargains plus information about what you see. Been on nine. So you can read our most recent ongoing report Spain and Portugal in Depth plus others: Down the Elbe River, Springtime in Holland and Belgium.

Years ago we did a small van tour in UK similar to yours...a driver-guide with seven passengers. Due to injuries this boiled down to four of us, a Canadian couple and ourselves. And we pretty much decided where to go, including places where ancestors lived. This was with Back Roads Touring Co. going from London to Winchester, Stonehenge, Bath, Cardiff and on north to Lake District, Scotland, York etc. Especially liked lodging in farm house B&Bs and eating mostly in pubs. To my surprize this company does still exist: www.backroadstouring.com

We've been traveling for many years, U.S. and overseas, sometimes on our own including camping sometimes in a tour. And we have been to 41 Road Scholar programs. And now we are much older than you! :-(

I'm not ready yet to give up on my independent travel but with Rabbies I have learned that taking a few days to travel with a small group is an excellent addition and works well for me. I hate to admit it but as we get older it's nice to have a bit of a break from making all the decisions, renting cars, managing train tickets,schedules etc. One of my intentions in writing this report was to let people know that small group tours can work well for independent travelers.

Thanks for mentioning Back Roads. I'll have a look. I have heard of them but thought they only did walking tours. My plans for 2015 are taking shape and with some reluctance I'm finding I may not have time for a tour. We'll see.

historytraveler:

Well done report with nice detail.

Your writing captures the change of the seasons in our life and that taking a tour such as Rabbies can and does work very well.

Thank you for sharing.

Sandy

Interesting tour! thanks for sharing the details with us!

annhig, thanks for the correct pronunciation of Tintagel. It is the way I have always said it. However, I was recently at a travelogue given at the local senior center. The speaker pronounced it differently (hard g and accent on the first syllable) and I wondered if I had been mispronouncing it for fifty years.

the question, irishface, is whether you resisted the temptation to correct her/him.

When we first moved to Cornwall I'm sure that I created much hilarity with the way I pronounced some of the names - Illogan for example is pronounced IllUgen, with a hard G to boot, and then there is Mousehole, [Mouzel ], Tywarddreath, [Tadreth], and Porthallow [Pralla] and the way to show you are not a local is to pronounce our nearest town as REDruth, not RedRUTH, or even 'Druth as it's known in these here parts. There are also local variations in speech - it took me years to get used to the way that locals will ask "Where's he to?" meaning "where does he live?" or Where's that to? [where is it?] not to mention the notorious "D'reckly" which is a bit like "mañana" but with less sense of urgency.

There are some strong accents too especially amongst the farming community - it took me about 5 years to be able to understand every word that my lovely neighbour Denzil says, but I got there in the end. He probably says the same about me!

A friend of mine when she was young asked an old boy the way to Mousehole. "Mouse 'ole? Yew mean Mouzle moi maid".
She was enchanted at being addressed as my maid.

Yes, I'm enchanted too, on the rare occasions I'm addressed thus. Mi 'ansom is more common, or my lover, or even [and this by a lorry driver who was apologising for almost running into me at a roundabout] "my cock".

i laughed all the way to Plymouth.

Hi ANNHIG,

"There are some strong accents too especially amongst the farming community - it took me about 5 years to be able to understand every word that my lovely neighbour Denzil says, but I got there in the end. He probably says the same about me!"

Charming anecdote. Love the local color...

Reminds me of the time when, as Duty Officer, I was awakened very late one night by a phone call from one of the Cornish Constabulary to report the arrest of American citizen. It was proper for him to do so, and the arrest was minor -- some drunken frivolity. The hard part was discerning just what the call was about. At this distance I can't recreate the accent, but I do remember thinking this might have something to do with my inordinate passion for Cornish Pasties and Scrumpy.

lol, Fra. It is said that when the great scottish engineer James Watt visited Cornwall in the early 1800s, he could not understand the cornish, nor they him. i can well believe it.