Trying to decide between two stonehenge tours
 

Hi, looking at the Stongehenge Tours Web site, there are two tours that interest me.<BR><BR>One includes Avebury, Salisbury, Old Sarum Castle, Silbury Hill, and of course, Stonehenge.<BR><BR>The other is the Inner Circle Tour, which intrigues me because I could see Stonehenge after it was closed to the public. (I know I can't really touch the stones.) The tour also includes Averbury, a walk through West Kennet Long Barrow, and a scenic drive over the Marlborough Downs and through the Pewsey valley.<BR><BR>I guess I'm trying to gt the most bang for my buck out of the tour. I'd like to see Salisbury but I could always so that on my own. I was wondering, other than Stonehenge and Avebury, which itinerary do you think is more worthwhile? The Inner Circle tour also allows an hour inside the circle. Do I really need an hour?

I really liked Stonehenge, but would not have wanted to spend an hour there. How about checking the price of driving it yourself and going where you want and adding Bath. Bath is not far from Stonehenge and we found it to be worthwhile.

I love Stonehenge - have probably been there 20 times before and after it was roped off - but Avebury is much more interesting (Stonehenge is an icon, avebury is real with layers of history intertwined)<BR><BR>Anyway - since both tours include Avebury you probably can't go wrong with either. I opt (slightly) for the first one since Salisbury is wonderful and Old Sarum is VERY special. You say you could do Salisbury on you own - so it depends on if you actually have enough time to get back to Salisbury. <BR><BR>BTW - if you had a car for a day you could see everything on both lists since they are very close together. Salisbury to Sarum to Stonehenge to Kennet to Silbury to Avebury.<BR><BR>If you haven't - read Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd before you go. It will give you chills to stand on the same pieces of ground&gt;

We did the Inner Cricle tour, after doing Old Sarum, Salisbury and a Stonhenge drive-by earlier in the week. We enjoyed it thoroughly, the hour inside Stonehenge seemed to fly by. The tour guide provided wire dowsing rods in case we wanted to test out the ley lines. We did wish that in Avebury we had spent more time in the museums and less amongst the stones, which are much smaller and the whole setup is restored rather than original.<BR><BR>I generally don't like guided tours, I'd rather allocate the time myself, I wouldn't have done the non-inner-circle tour. However, if you'd have no other opportunity to visit Salisbury and Old Sarum, then I'd opt for the non-inner-circle tour, the bottom line is better.

I really nead to clarify something - this is the 2nd time someone on this board has said that Avebury is "restored". <BR><BR>Absolutely not true. The positions of the stones that have been lost over the centuries are marked by small stone markers. Every other stone and the earthworks are just as they have evolved in the thousand's of years since they were erected. In the middle ages a small village grew up among the stones - some using building materials from the stones. The avenue of stones stretches for almost a mile. Nothing at Avebury is artificial or restored. That is what makes it so interesting.

Hi Vita<BR><BR>Stonehenge is worth seeing once in your life and Avebury bears repeat visits. Salisbury (around the Cathederal close) is great anytime of year. <BR><BR>Silbury Hill is basically a huge earth mound (and nothing else) and (across the road) the West Kennet Long Barrow is a long, small earth/burial mound - both (unless you are really REALLY interested in British pre-history) have limited appeal and are not worth going out of your way for (sorry English Tourism board - but you know I'm right!)<BR><BR>Old Sarum Castle, just outside of Salisbury again is the site of an ancient fort - basic earth works and thats all. Again, if you are really interested in this period of history - great! If not, there are more interesting places to visit in Wiltshire.<BR><BR>IMHO ('cos I live in this area) I'd recommend Marlborough, ideal for a stroll down the lovely high street, Winchester (just got back from a visit today) - magnificent cathederal and school buildings and ( a little known gem) Malmesbury in north Wilthsire - not far from Avebury.<BR><BR>Malmesbury is England's oldest borough. It has an impressive norman abbey (it was large than Salibury's before Henry the VIII had a hissy fit and pulled it down) and the town was the site of the first recorded attempt at flight - by Elmer the Flying Monk (he leapt off the top of the Abbey with some DIY wings and soared for a couple of hundred feet....broke both his legs and croaked - but hey! It was more comfortable than coach on British Airways....)<BR><BR>Anyway, it has LOADS of history - its worth a visit if you have time.<BR><BR>Hope you have a great trip!<BR><BR>

janis, in response to your comments about Avebury not being "restored," I learned this during a video presentation at the Alexander Keiller museum in Avebury. There was extensive archival footage of the work done in the 1930s to resurrect stones that had gotten knocked down, buried underground, moved, etc. It was quite a major undertaking, as many stones had been deliberately buried during Medieval times, and the avenue of stones was almost lost! The markers for missing stones are indeed for those that could not be re-located and re-placed, but many, if not most, of the standing stones have had misadventures over the centuries. There is a reference to this work in the official National Trust web site:<BR><BR>http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scripts/nthandbook.dll?ACTION=PROPERTY&PROPERTYID=316<BR>< BR>And here's a more thorough description:<BR><BR>http://freespace.virgin.net/abw.mork/mus_man.htm<BR><BR>And I 'm sorry to also contradict Rae, but the ruins at Old Sarum much more than ancient earthworks. There are also the ruins of a castle built by William the Conqueror (1066 and all that), a later cathedral, etc., that were abandoned when they all decided that the climate down at the current site of Salisbury was more comfortable than living up on a windy hill (fine for fortresses, not so fine for actually living); the stone walls are in ruins but it was fascinating to find the patterns of the walls, and to see in the surviving walls the evidence of different types of stonework used in the various phases of construction.

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I am interested in spending a day out of London touring Bath and Stonehenge and would very much like to do the Inner Circle tour of Stonehenge. Is there a tour company that offers this combination? (I haven't been able to find one from my searches.) It looks as though we would have to leave London in the morning, spend the day in Bath and arrive at Stonehenge before 7 pm for the Inner Circle tour.<BR><BR>Other alternatives I am considering are taking the train to these destinations, renting a car, or hiring a driver and car. My concerns are how much time will be spent waiting for trains, traveling to car rental location, and reliability and expense of private driver hire.<BR><BR>I would appreciate your experienced input in making my plans. Thanks.

The Green Line has a tour from London of Cotswolds-Bath-Stonehenge. They're really a bus company adding a guide on their trip, but I found if quite convenient since I wanted to mostly be on my own. I really didn't want the typical hand holding every where you go kind of guide. The guide was fine, just kind of setting up what you could see and explaining things while you then went out and did it on your own.<BR><BR>Otherwise, you might be best just with a car rental. Then you could pick the best of what you wanted - for me I'd just go to the parking lot of Stonehenge, then to Avebury to really get a better idea of the history. I'd choose Salisbury and Winchester as other stops. That might be a bit much if you're going to Bath as well unless maybe you saw one or two on the way to Bath, stayed over night there, and then saw the rest on the return trip and dropped the car off the next day. It might be the best use of a car for one day.

Hi Vita, I loved Stonehenge too. The inner circle tour sounds fascinating. I would do that one.<BR> Rae: I think I really want to day trip to Winchester from London. It looks like a charming town, is it? I wanted to see Jane Austen's crypt in the Cathedral.<BR> Judy :-)

Try Astral Tours. They offer the inner circle Tour.

Astral Travels can be reached at astraltravels.co.uk<BR>Good luck!

Stonehenge? That old pile of rocks??<BR>Only kidding guys! But I do have to laugh when I think of Chevy Chase backing into it and the whole thing toppling like a stack of dominoes in European Vacation : )

Hi Judy - Winchester is a lovely town to stroll around and visit for the day - I think the oldest house still standing dates from 1490. <BR><BR>The house where Jane Austen died is a short stroll from the Abbey (although its a private house and not open to the public) - there is also a lovely walk of a mile or so which takes you round the Abbey to the school and old castle and then along the river back onto the town - taking in some of the oldest parts of the town.<BR><BR>The High St is mostly pedestrianised so again, its nice to stroll along at any time of the year - lots of shops and cafes/bars to have a rest too. <BR><BR>I think Winchester and Salisbury combined make a great day out - not too much distance to cover.<BR><BR>Joanne - you are probably right about Old Sarem - its just that I've seen its so often I must be jaded! <BR><BR><BR>