Stonehenge
★ 4.6🇬🇧 WiltshireSuggested visit 2-3 hoursBest season May to September, with steadier weather and long days
World HeritageArchaeological sitePrehistoric
A Neolithic stone circle standing for more than four thousand years and still one of archaeology's great puzzles.
Overview
On Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, Stonehenge was built in several phases between roughly 3000 and 1500 BC. The outer circle is about 30 metres across, its largest sarsen stones standing some nine metres and weighing over 25 tonnes. Its purpose remains unsettled, though alignments with the midsummer sunrise suggest astronomy, ceremony and burial. It joined the World Heritage List in 1986.
History
Built in phases from about 3000 BC, studied systematically from the 1950s and inscribed with surrounding monuments on the World Heritage List in 1986.
Highlights
- •The great sarsen circle
- •The trilithons and lintels
- •The midsummer sunrise alignment
- •The visitor centre and rebuilt village
Practical tips
- •You cannot walk among the stones — the path circles them
- •The plain is windswept with no shelter; bring a jacket
Practical information
- Best time
- May-September
- Tickets
- About GBP 25 for adults including the shuttle
- Opening hours
- 9:00-20:00 in summer; shorter in winter
- Local food
- Afternoon tea, scones, local ale
- Getting around
- Train from London Waterloo to Salisbury, then a shuttle bus; about 1.5 hours overall.
- Visa
- A visa is required; apply about a month in advance.
Traveller reviews
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