London, Stonehenge, Salisbury trip
 

We just returned from 10 days in England. While we spent 3 days in London, much of our trip was in the countryside. We especially recommend a visit to Salisbury to see its amazing cathedral and the hundreds of medieval buildings in the old down town.<BR><BR>We had heard so much about bad conditions at Stonehenge that we almost passed it by. But we would have been very sorry. The site is well organized and there's an audio tour included in the cheap cost of admission. One of the highlights of our trip.<BR><BR>Hotel recommendation in Salisbury: The Red Lion Inn is 900 years old and a wonderful place to stay.<BR><BR>One last recommendation: We spent our last night at Gatwick Renaissance Hotel. Five minutes walk from the hotel is the Old Six Bells Inn, the second oldest pub in England. A great end to our trip.

Linda, If you traveled to Stonehenge from London via train please give me some details. Teenager headed that way!!Thanks

Yes, more details about Stonehenge please. I've heard that it is great, then other people say you can't get anywhere near the stones. What's the real scoop. And how did you get there?

There's a bus from Salisbury to Stonehenge.<BR><BR>It's true, you can only get up to about 20 feet from the stones, they're roped off to protect them from tourist wear and tear. <BR><BR>There are special inner-access tours, run after hours. Contact English Heritage, which runs the site. Or you can do it as the grand finale of the Astral Travels "Inner Circle" full-day tour which includes visits to Avebury and other neolithic sites in the area and takes you past the current crop circles in the area, too.

Linda, We stayed at the Red Lion some years ago - it was great then, glad to hear it is still good! Actually I remember the food there as being quite good too. I really recommend Salisbury as it is a very interesting town.

Dale - From London you take the train to Salisbury which leaves from London Waterloo Station. <BR><BR>Stonehenge buses leave from outside Salisbury Station. <BR><BR>Hope this helps ...<BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR>

Our trip to Stonehenge was really the surprise of our vacation. If you read the guidebooks, and we used four different ones, each one plays down the views and facilities of Stonehenge. We felt that we got close enough to see everything we could want. About 40 feet. Actually, that's better than being close up as you need perspective. Best part is the audio tour which does give a good explanation of the site.<BR><BR>We drove all over Southwestern England. Did not take the trains. Driving to Salisbury is not difficult, once you are out of London.<BR><BR>I should give a recommendation to our London hotel which I've never seen mentioned on this forum. We stayed at the Hilton Mews in Mayfair. This is not part of the great big London Hilton but a very small and intimate 72-room facility two blocks "behind" the big Hilton. It backs onto the Shepherd Market, a delightful little 2-block area of pubs, restaurants and shops. We worked a good deal with Hilton for about $175 a night including full England breakfast and dinner! Check their website for the special.