England 2025- Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of those places that you can’t help but be familiar with. Even if you’re not an Anglophile like me you would recognize the large standing stones. We almost decided not to go. We’ve passed it twice on the road on previous trips and when you see how close it is to said road you almost feel like you’ve already been there. We were both left wondering if that was good enough? We’d seen it from the road- maybe we don’t need to spend almost $120 to see it from 50ft away? 

The decisions you make at 4am should probably never be followed. You see, jet lag was very much happening that first morning. I woke up at 4am feeling like it was 7am, I was wide awake and ready to start the day at a running start. My husband woke up shortly after me, so we were both up and debating choices we would surely have regretted later if we had followed through on our 4am logic. 

The light from the car park at 4am. WIDE awake

First off Stonehenge didn’t open until 9:30am, which at 4am felt like an entire day away. What on earth would we do with ourselves for 5 hours, especially when we could just get on the road and a start our long drive to Cornwall making it in time to have breakfast by the beach?

First we hemmed and hawed and then we balked at the price of admission, parking and the guidebook combined. Did we want to start our trip dropping $120? Our budget was small- we know how to be very frugal while in England- so the thought of spending so much on just one place felt wrong. My husband voted no, but also left the final decision up to me. I went around and around and finally decided that yes, we would spend the money and do it. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t. I can’t come all that way and not see one of England’s most famous ancient sites. 

We got up, got ready and decided the best thing to do for breakfast was walk across the parking lot to the McDonalds. You might not believe me but the only times I’ve been to a McDonalds since 1997 have been while in Europe. I do not eat McDonalds at home but somehow I’ve been to one in Rome, Canterbury, London, Doncaster and now Amesbury. (Actually I lied! I’ve just recalled that we had McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches last year on our roadtrip to Humboldt County). Sometimes it’s just the easiest and cheapest option, and I reason with myself that the ingredients have got to be better because we’re in Europe. Dang it if that breakfast sandwich didn’t taste good. Also they were playing Wham so an added bonus in my book!

If you approach Stonehenge from the East on the A303 road it suddenly appears from behind some hawthorn bushes on a low hill in the Wiltshire countryside. This vantage point gives you a false sense that the stones stand alone with not a soul in sight. I made the mistake of thinking we’d have the place to ourselves based on what I saw from the road. Little did I know the car park was already filling up and the shuttle had already sent along its first group of people to the stones.                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  It was a chilly morning- the only time on the whole trip that my jacket made an appearance. Despite the cold the sun was out in all its glory. There is nothing like a sunny day in England. We were so lucky that the sun was out the entire two weeks we were in the country. We had rain two times and both of those times were at night while we slept. We did not have to trudge through sodden fields or muddy pathways- we had the perfect weather for exploration. 

The visitors center is chock full of information and if you have the patience it’s worth a look. To be honest I browsed it at best because I was eager to get out to the stones themselves and we had purchased the guidebook. I wanted to be standing in front of the stones while I read about their history. We made a quick pit stop at the recreated village houses before quickly making our way to the shuttle. 

Walking the path to the stones you can look over the Salisbury Plain at the ancient burial mounds, or barrows that dot the landscape. The inhabitants that erected the stones buried their loved ones in that grassy plain thousands of years ago. We saw a facial reconstruction of a skeleton excavated from the area in 1864. This man bears an uncanny resemblance to my father-in-law. 

John, is that you? 

Recreated Durrington Walls “village”

The barrows

As Stonehenge came into closer view on the path I expected to feel a certain way. I was expecting a swelling of emotion but instead I was underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, Stonehenge is spectacular and I’ve contemplated my reaction several times. The conclusion that I’ve come to is the presence of so many other people and the fact that you cannot walk about the stones and touch them meant I didn’t feel like I could get lost in the history and transport myself to the past. It was really hard to block out the crowds and in particular the people jumping and doing funny poses. In their defense the National Trust had signs all around the southern part of pathway instructing people to do said poses- I understand that the National Trust is trying to keep Stonehenge relevant to the social media generation but it was so distracting. Our old middle aged butts were not amused lol.

Walking to Stonehenge 

I had a great discussion with a friend about Stonehenge the day after we went. This friend had lived in England for a time and had been to Stonehenge many times, stating it was one of her favorite places and she makes sure to put it on her itinerary every time she visits. This got me to thinking about perspective and experience. You see, both my husband and I found Stonehenge interesting but we didn’t fall in love with it. We were happy to say we’d finally seen it but we both said that we feel perfectly fine never visiting again. Certain places make you feel things and Stonehenge speaks to a part of my friend that just isn’t in me. There isn’t a Stonehenge shaped hole in my heart but maybe there’s one in you?  I genuinely encourage everyone who visits England to make the effort to see it. Despite what I said, it is worth the journey and I have zero regrets.

Next up: making our way to Cornwall…