I was so excited to go to Stonehenge. You would think my excitement derived from my love of archaeology (in which I have a degree) and you would be somewhat right. But I was mainly excited to go to Stonehenge because of Doctor Who (and now I have also revealed myself to be a huge nerd).
But here’s the thing about Stonehenge…it looks how it looks. What I mean by that is, if you have seen a picture of Stonehenge, you’ve basically seen Stonehenge. That’s what it looks it. There is nothing new or unique that you gain from actually being there other than being able to say that you visited Stonehenge.
Now, should you happen to visit Stonehenge on one of the solstices, this would be a different story. Stonehenge acts as one very large astronomical calendar, with the rocks falling into alignment with the sun on the summer and winter solstice. These days are hugely popular and bring many tourists to the area.
Now Stonehenge does not have a museum or much written information available in the site. There is an audio guide, but I thought it extremely dry (granted, it seems that most audio guides are). There is also a small visitor center selling pictures of Stonehenge (when you could just go outside and take a picture of Stonehenge). So all in all, there’s not much there.
If I had made a special trek just to see Stonehenge I would have been very disappointed. However, I took a tour from Bath that included Stonehenge, Avebury, and a number of cute villages in the Cotswolds. I would highly recommend you do something similar if you want to see Stonehenge and are without a car.
And if you decide to visit Stonehenge on the solstice – good luck. There are some crazy people out there
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