Stonehenge - worth time?
 

Our first trip to Europe is scheduled for this summer. We will have three full days in London, then leave the UK for Paris. My husband wants to see Stonehenge, so we've <BR>booked a one day tour to Bath and Stonehenge. I've heard that it is a lot of time invested to reach a destination that some find disappointing. Any thoughts on this? My husband realizes that although he'd like to view Stonehenge, it may not be worth one third of our London days.

Well it really depends on whether you view it as a few old stones (in which case you will be disappointed) or a site of specific historical and spiritual significance

I did a 1 day trip to Stonehenge twice with a company called Astral Travels out of London (I did it twice because each time I was there with different people). I think it's worth the trip.<BR>If you want to see my trips, go to<BR>http://www.wired2theworld.com<BR>Look at both the RTW trip (England page) in '99 and the trip to London in 2001.

Definitely worth the time. I suggest taking advantage of the free 'phone' tours while there. It takes quite a while to go through all of the information and there is also quite a bit of supplementary info on the tapes as well if you choose to listen. It might seem more worth it if you actually stayed for a while and learned about it than just getting off the bus looking at it and leaving. Also, we thought it would be a nice spot for a picnic.

yes - Stonehenge is &quot;worth&quot; it -- but NOT when you only have 3 days in London. The first day is pretty much shot because you will be truly exhausted after an overnight transatlantic flight. Even with the excitement of a first European trip - you will have jet-lag.<BR><BR>You need to take it easy that day - not sleeping, but walking around in the fresh air, going to parks or taking a boat ride. You don't want to go to museums or the theatre that first day. So you only have 2 full days for serious sightseeing. <BR><BR>I don't think taking a day trip to Stonehenge is a good use of your limited time.

I agree with everyone. On the one hand it's an amazing place if you appreciate the significance, on the other hand, for a 3 day visit, it's an exhausting day, particularly to do Bath AND Stonehenge.<BR>You say you're going this summer. It stays light amazingly late in England in the summer-sometimes til 10pm. I would suggest just doing Stonehenge &amp; saving Bath for another visit.Perhaps you can go later in the day when, according to other posters here, you can actually get much closer to the stones. This way you won't lose an entire day in London. I don't know if this is a possibility with a tour but perhaps others here would know.

Hi Eliz,<BR>Hubby is right, its not worth it.<BR>Go away and come back another time, the West country and also Wales are Fantastic and worth a trip on their own.<BR>But remember, there is more to UK than London, likewise, there is more to France than Paris.<BR>Good luck and have fun<BR><BR>Muck<BR>

A_in_L offers a useful opinion - only you can know &quot;. . . worth the time . . .&quot; is highly subjective.<BR><BR>janis makes an assumption that when you say &quot;three full days&quot; that you don't really mean three full days and if that's the case who can say how much touristy stuff you can pack in on day one . . . <BR><BR>If your first inclination is to tour Bath and stop by Stonehenge, then go for it, you may regret it if you don't. Nobody can tell you (even though they will try mightily) that tourist spot A is more important than tourist spot B. No matter what you see or don't see, someone will tell you that you should've done something different.<BR><BR>I have wandered around Stonehenge for a couple of hours and I have sped by it doing about 80km per hour. Both viewings had their merit.

With only three days in London you may wish to spend that time there. However, my niece wanted very badly to see Stonehenge when we were there for a week. I wasn't much interested, but &quot;went along for the ride.&quot; I truly enjoyed it and it is very worthwhile.

Bath and Stonehenge are both worthwhile, but if you're limited on time you're smart to reconsider it this trip. You could figure out exactly what you &quot;must&quot; see in London, before you commit to giving up a day there.<BR>Another thought, if you're on a bus trip to Bath/Stonehenge, you could actually sleep on the bus if you think you'll have jet lag. (I never like to waste time sleeping!)<BR>You may very well decide to relax in London before you're on the go again. Bear in mind that it's your vacation!