Is this doable? Stonehenge, Canterbury, Bath
 

We have early access to Stonehenge on a Monday in August (from 7:30 - 8:30). After we have our hour with Stonehenge, we'd like to head over to Canterbury and then make it to Bath in the late afternoon for spa treatments. Is this doable?

We'll be touring Bath the next day, but were really hoping we'd have time in the Stonehenge day for both Canterbury and the Spa.

Thanks!
Melody

Canterbury is in the opposite direction from Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge is it not? If you went to Stonehenge first, you would have to backtrack to London, change for Canterbury, then go back to London, and change again for Bath.

Not my idea of good use of travel time. If you want to see a big cathedral, go to the one in Salisbury.

You will need to go to Salisbury from London to reach Stonehenge will you not?

I don't think your trip is possible. It would be if you substituted Salisbury for Canterbury.

Do you actually mean <u>Canterbury</u>?? If so - definitely not. It is on the absolute opposite side of the country from Bath. You could not pick two cities farther apart and still be in southern England.

Could you <i>possibly</i> mean Salisbury instead? If so, yes that is doable. But Canterbury - uhuh. I'd suggest you get a map of England to give you an idea.

Good grief, I'm a dork. I didn't mean Canterbury, I meant GLASTONBURY. My mind was thinking it and my hands typed something else. Sorry for the confusion!!!

Melody

OK - dork :) - that makes thing much better.

Yes - since you have early access to Stonehenge - you could easily visit Glastonbury and Wells (DO NOT miss Wells Cathedral) before heading up to Bath.

I second Janis's recommendation of Wells Cathedral; spectacular isn't strong enough word. (I loved Salisbury Cathedral too, enough to return in --wow--a few days! to show my husband--but Wells is prettier--don't have time for it, too, this trip.) And Glastonbury was a real treat, too. So yes, arrange your days to see those things (hope your spa appointment is VERY late afternoon!)

If you only have time for one of these, decide if it's the ruins/Arthur stuff of Glastonbury or the gorgeous Wells cathedral that would better suit your interests. I hope you don't have to choose. When on an EF tour we did Glastonbury, Wells, and Cheddar all in one busy, rushed, long day.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Janis. I thought it looked like it was, but I don't want to end up like Clark Griswold and only spend two seconds staring at a sight before moving on!

Melody

Another yes for Wells. It's so close to Bath that it would be a shame to miss it. The town is lovely and the cathedral has those spectacular scissor arches that will just take your breath away.

While at Wells Cathedral, don't miss the Bishop's Palace.

I'd rather go to Avebury than Glastonbury.

A question about Stonehenge:

What does &quot;early access&quot; mean? How can you get it?

http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/times.htm says:
Summer 1 Jun to 31 Aug
09.00 - 19.00

Thanks so much for the additional replies. We will definitely add Wells onto our trip. We haven't made our spa reservations yet and will get the latest available appointments. Really, the spa was just an additional treat so if we can't get appointments late enough, we can plan it for the next afternoon when we have the whole day for Bath.

As far as Glastonbury, it's one of the very few things that my husband said he really wanted to do so it's on the schedule. I would probably have chosen Avebury over it.

And Traveller1959, through this site and helpful Fodorites, I learned that there is an early and late access to Stonehenge where you can make reservations before opening time or after closing time to have complete access to the stones, rather than seeing them from afar behind a rope. I think the slots are very limited and it cost 14 pounds each.

Go here (sorry, there's something wacky about the link)
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge

You can email them and tell them how many in your party and when you want to go for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. Look at the schedule first, because it's not available every day. Also ask them to email you an electronic form to fill out so you can email it back. They will also email you back a tentative confirmation number.

I didn't want to email my CC information so I filled out the form except for that and emailed it back and dropped the one with my payment details in the mail and they received it in about 5 days. Then, they sent my confirmation letter back. They were extremely nice and it's now one of the things we're looking forward to the most!

Melody

It's &quot;Stone Circle Access&quot; and it means you get in outside of normal hours the riff-raff and get to touch the stones.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/tours/s...cess_tours.htm

You DON'T need to book a tour to be able to get access

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.878

Correct, I went on the dusk tour several years ago, and you get an hour in among the stones to do as you wish (as long as you don't deface anything!). Our time also had a group of wiccans doing a full-moon ceremony.

I've used Vic from Vic's Taxi to make a custom tour. www.vicstaxi.com - he's a character, and willing to take you anywhere in the area you want to go.

Would like to add my vote for Wells. Wells and Ely are my favorite cathedrals in England, though there is not one which I have not enjoyed. Wells and Ely literally took my breath away when I stepped inside, so that I had to sit for a bit and then kneel to offer special prayers. It is not anything I can explain logically, it is just an overwhelming and powerful &quot;feeling&quot;.

And when at Wells, take a minute to step across the street to Vicar's Close, a place very little changed in hundreds of years. It was a delightful little street of houses and gardens. (It has been quite a while since I was at Wells, so maybe someone can give more uptodate info about Vicar's Close.)

I just googled Vicar's Close. It is supposedly the oldest complete street from the 14th century in Europe. Also you can look at the various websites with pictures.

Thank you all. Most valuable information on this thread!!