Last week while writing my blog about visiting Stonehenge I realized that it was getting too long to include my experience of getting to go inside Stonehenge. So, I decided I’d split it up into two parts. Last week I talked about the history of Stonehenge and some tips for a general visit to the site. If you have not read that post yet I strongly recommend reading it first. Just so you have an understanding of the history of Stonehenge as well as some of the theories surrounding it. You can find that post here.
This week, in part two, I’ll be talking about getting the opportunity to go inside Stonehenge. Access inside the monument has been heavily restricted in recent years so this was definitely a pretty unique opportunity. So let’s get started.
Getting Access Inside Stonehenge
I had visited Stonehenge once before and was wanting to visit again while in London. I’d started doing my research seeing what tours were offered that go to Stonehenge and I came across a couple that offered access inside the stones. I shifted my search to learning more about if this was true, if you could in fact go inside Stonehenge. As far as I knew the only time people were allowed inside were during celebrations for the solstices and equinoxes. This led me to find the Stonehenge Stone Circle Experience offered through English Heritage, they are currently in charge of Stonehenge.
Requesting a spot on their tour is actually super easy. All the tours take place outside of regular operation hours at either sunrise or sunset. This is something to think about if you are wanting to apply for the experience. If you have a morning spot like we did you’ll need to be there quite early. Application for the experience is all done online on the English Heritage website. All available dates and times are listed on the form for requesting a visit. You’ll fill out the form with your name, address, top three preferred dates for your experience and the info for how many people will be attending with you. They only allow a maximum of 30 people into the circle at a time. You’ll also need to choose from a dropdown menu the reason why you wish to visit. I’m pretty sure I selected sightseeing/tourism.
Within a week I had received the details of my provisional booking. I had received my preferred date without any issue. In the email confirming the provisional booking I was given a phone number to call to make the payment to fully confirm my booking. The only way to make a payment is over the phone though so you’ll have to keep timezones in mind if you’re calling from outside the UK. You will have seven days to make the payment or you lose your booking. Prices for the experience are 47£ for adults, 28.20£ for children aged 5-17 and kids under 5 are free.
Getting There
We were staying in an AirBnb in London during our visit and had rented a car. If you are coming from London you could take the train or a bus to Salisbury and then a taxi from the station. This can be risky though particularly if you have an early morning booking. Even for us in a car, the drive was still probably over two hours. Our booking was for 8AM. Against my wishes, we left with just enough time for us to get there. Being London, of course, there was traffic. A minor fender-bender coming out of the city at six in the morning halted traffic. We were stuck there for a solid 40 minutes, inching our way out of the city. We arrived 30 minutes late for our 60 minute experience. I would highly recommend finding an accommodation closer to Stonehenge for the night before your experience. I wish we had done this. It would have saved me a lot of stress and I could have had the full allotted time for my experience.
I am one of those people who likes to be at the airport early. I hate being late to things or having to rush, it causes a lot of anxiety for me. A lot of people give me a hard time about it but I’ve been booted from overbooked flights before for being the last ones to check-in, arriving at the airport last minute was again against my wishes. So when we arrive in the parking lot 30 minutes after our experience start time I’m nearly in tears thinking we’ve missed our chance.
Inside the Stones
Thank goodness everyone who works there is incredibly lovely. I found someone at the ticket booth and explained the situation, she hurried us over to the shuttle bus, which luckily was in the parking lot, and they got us over to the stones.
It was an incredibly cold and windy February morning. We set out against the wind to get to the stones, it was gusting so hard I could barely gain any ground. The strong wind was bitterly cold as it whistled passed my ears making it impossible to hear anything. I was suddenly wishing I’d worn a warmer jacket and gloves. Stonehenge is out in the middle of the Salisbury Plains, it is exposed to the elements and always very windy.
Everyone knows the stones are huge, that’s part of what makes the monument so fascinating, but you never really fully know how big the stones are until you are standing amongst them. I felt so tiny compared to the huge sarsen stones. One of the strangest things about our visit though was the feeling inside the circle. The wind was howling but once I was inside the circle it was so calm and quiet. The sound of the wind was gone. I could still feel the wind, a lot of my photos didn’t turn out due to camera shake from the wind. But it was dead quiet. It was a really surreal and eerie feeling.
It was just such a crazy, unique experience getting to go inside the inner circle. I would highly recommend the Stone Circle Experience to anyone who is interested in it. I feel it is something you won’t regret. I’d do it again in a heartbeat and I’d be more prepared next time.
Inside Stonehenge Do’s and Don’ts
Once upon a time everyone used to be able to walk among the stones. In the late 70’s it was roped off to the public due to heavy erosion and damage to the stones. It was not uncommon for people to climb on the stones or even break off souvenir pieces. To make sure that this experience can continue to happen for others it is super important to follow the rules and guidelines of the experience. This includes not eating, drinking or smoking while inside the stones, the field or just in the general area, no burning candles or incense, or bringing in glass. They also ask you to not touch the stones, but would you really want to risk travelling through time anyways?
You will most likely be sharing access with other people so don’t forget to respect their reasons for visiting, some people do come to pray or to meditate. Make sure you take a lot of photos! I wish I had taken more since a lot of mine didn’t turn out and you get some of the best photos at sunrise and sunset. You can bring a tripod for your camera but you have to make sure you put a mat of boarding under the legs to protect the field. Dress for the weather, it gets muddy if it has been raining and always pack something to cover up in case the wind picks up. Use all the time you have and most importantly have fun and enjoy it.
What I Would Do Different
Jack and I have been recently discussing potential post-COVID travel plans. Something we’d thought about doing was taking the time to travel within the UK instead of choosing destinations in Europe. I was outlining my plan for this blog and telling Jack about Stonehenge. Jack has never been to Stonehenge so we talked about the possibility of going to Stonehenge and I said I’d love to do the Stone Circle Experience again. So what would I do differently this time?
To start, finding a closer place to stay, whether it is in Amesbury or even Salisbury. Not only would it cut down the journey time and make getting there a lot easier but it gets you out of London and into the beautiful countryside for the day. There’s a lot of other great stuff in the area as well including Woodhenge and Old Sarum. I’d also make sure to set aside time to explore these other attractions. Of course, I’d make sure to arrive 15 minutes early to ensure we get as much time there as possible. I consider myself very lucky to have been let in considering I was 30 minutes late. Lastly I’d stay at the guest centre longer. We were both just so tired and so cold that we wanted to get back to the car after coming back from the stones. We didn’t spend any time in the other exhibitions and experiences on site. Access to all of these is also included in your ticket.
That’s all for this week. The subject of next week’s post will be decided by your vote on my Instagram story. The options this time are the Scottish Borders or going on a camel trek through the Sahara. So make sure you cast your vote on Wednesday! You can follow along and get updates when I have new blogs up on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
See you next week!