Stonehenge Stone Circle Experience

Did you know you can actually go right into the circle of Stonehenge? No many people know that The English Heritage now offer special Stone Circle Experience tours, which run either before or after normal opening hours, which allow you to step over the barriers and get right up close to the stones.

My boys and I love visiting historical places and are slowly ticking off neolithic and megalithic sites across the UK and have been wanting to visit Stonehenge for a long time but with it being over 2hrs drive and normal admission does not allow you to walk up close to the stones, the nearest you can get is around 10 yards with the monument being roped off, it just made sense to pay extra for what was an incredible experience we will never forget. 

To give you an idea of the difference in price, normal admission is £21.50 for an adult and the VIP Stone Circle tour is £47 for one full hour among the stones with a guide on hand to answer any questions. Yes it is a lot of money, especially for a family (although children are cheaper at £28.20 for the VIP tour) but it's something that is a one off experience you may never get to be able to do again and for us it was worth it. 

As I mentioned before these tours run either before or after opening hours, we opted for an early evening time slot although we did make sure to eat beforehand as I didn't want any hangry moments during our tour. On arrival at the Stonehenge Centre you are taken to the group bus, masks were mandatory on the bus at our time of visiting, which drives you as close as possible to the stones, roughly a 5min journey from the centre. 

After disembarking from the bus the tour guide runs through some rules with the group with the main one being no touching of the stones, yes you can get as close as you want to them, inspect every nook and cranny but they are protected monuments so you can't touch. You can however take your shoes off when your in the circle, to get the full experience and as you can imagine, despite the rain, my eldest had his shoes iff straight away. 

As soon as you step over the rope barrier, which during normal opening hours you cannot cross, you start to take in the enormity of these stones and being right in the centre of them is truly incredible. The atmosphere is amazing and I have to say the English Heritage storyteller was excellent, extremely knowledgable, educational and you can dip in and out of his talk about the stones while you wander around them.

You have an hour within the stone circle and we made sure to soak up every minute and the kids loved it as much as I did, no complaints, or boredom, they were equally entranced by it all. The whole experience almost felt surreal and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this, plus the fee goes straight back into English Heritage to help conserve more historical sites like Stonehenge, many of which are free the enter.

 

*I have no affiliation with Stonehenge or English Heritage and paid for my tickets in full.