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-   -   London day trip (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/london-day-trip-980110/)

4annmarie Jun 2nd, 2013 06:27 AM

London day trip
 
I was wondering if anyone has taken a tour of Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor that they would recommend? Most tours seem to offer Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath.
I have found one offered by Anderson Tours but their reviews on Tripadvisor were quite mixed and many less than stellar. I was hoping to just make one day trip out of London during our vacation. thanks so much for your input.

jamikins Jun 2nd, 2013 07:05 AM

We always recommend www.walks.com for their Stonehenge and. Salisbury day trip. Adding Windsor would too much for me...too much time in transit and not enough time seeing the sites.

gailscout Jun 2nd, 2013 07:28 AM

I agree with Jamikins. We've taken the Stonehenge and Salisbury day trip with London Walks and it was very informative and an enjoyable tour.

anyegr Jun 2nd, 2013 07:47 AM

I've done a "Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath" tour with Golden Tours in 2010. It was too much time on the bus. I doubt that "Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor" will be much better.

Sure, you can bring a book (maybe an audio book so you can look at the scenery, too). But most tour buses will be crowded, with little legroom.

The driving distances will NOT be any different between different tour companies. Maybe a really good guide making interesting comments during the drive will help, but you can't really know who the guide will be on that day until you get on the bus.

janisj Jun 2nd, 2013 10:28 AM

You don't need a tour to any of those places. Windsor on your own is VERY easy by train from London. And if you want to see Stonehenge - you can go to Salisbury and catch the local tour bus (on a different day from Windsor).

I personally would not pay to take a coach tour that gives you more time in a seat than at the sites.

Instead of either Windsor OR Stonehenge though you might want to consider Hampton Court Palace instead.

4annmarie Jun 2nd, 2013 10:41 AM

Thanks. My husband was just mentioning Hampton Court Palace. I'll have to give that a look.
Our oldest son wants to see Stonehenge. We definitely prefer to avoid coach tours but I thought that perhaps if we did one it might enable us to see all 3 sights in just one outing. It looks like that may be too much. Do you think we need a full day for Stonehenge and Salisbury?

jamikins Jun 2nd, 2013 10:46 AM

You can definitely spend a full day doing Stonehenge and Salisbury...the cathedral is beautiful and houses a copy of the Magna Carta. It's a lovely market town!

janisj Jun 2nd, 2013 11:13 AM

You don't 'need' a full day but w/ the logistics it will pretty much take most of the day. You can easily be back in London by late afternoon though.

>><i>f we did one it might enable us to see all 3 sights in just one outing.</i><<

Depends on what you mean by 'see'. Checking off a list, or actually exploring/enjoying?

lovs2travel Jun 2nd, 2013 11:22 AM

We spent an entire day when we saw Salisbury and Stonehenge from London, but you can go at your own pace.

Buy tickets on uk.megabus.com and print them out at home. The train leaves from Waterloo Rail Station and only takes about an hour and a half. The Stonehenge bus is right outside the train station and you can buy your tickets on the bus. The audio guide is included in the price of the tour.

There is a farmer’s market in the Salisbury marketplace on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The Salisbury Cathedral, which is just beautiful, is an easy walk back to the train station. An interesting site to learn about the graves in the Cathedral is: http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous...teryid=1977331

http://uk.megabus.com
http://www.stonehenge.co.uk

4annmarie Jun 2nd, 2013 01:08 PM

I assume I can buy the tickets at the train station before departure. Is there an advantage to pre-purchasing??


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