Stonehenge & Avebury
The leaflets advertising Stonehenge define it as "The greatest mystery of
the prehistoric world. As old as the great temples and pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge
exerts a mysterious fascination".
You can get there, visit the site listening to an audio tour in 9 languages (subject to availability), during which you'll get plenty of details concerning the most famous ancient monument in the British Isles.
Open almost all year, the site is closed 24 - 26 December and 1 January. Be informed that the last admission is not later than hallf an hour before the advertised closing time. For further information, ph. +44 (0)1980 624715 (Info. Line), Private Access telephone number: +44 (O) 1980 626267.
You can reach Stonehenge by Car, 2 miles west of Amesbury on junction of A303 and A344/360, by bus, ph. +44 (0) 870 6082608, by train, nearest station Salisbury, 9 ½ miles ph. +44(0)8457 484 950.
Avebury, compared with Stonehenge, was defined by Julie Myerson, in “The Mail on Sunday”, January 27, 2002, as “lesser-known but far more impressive cousin”. In fact, the settlment is formed by three rings of stones (some weighting 40 tons), cutting through and around this Wiltshire village. They were dragged here all the way from West Wales 4,000 years ago. The site is surrounded by a huge, empty moat about 30 feet deep and at least 40 feet across. The nice piece of news is that visitors are allowed to walk through the monoliths looming up out the ground, unlike what happens at Stonehenge.
You can reach Avebury by car, driving the M4, taking the exit for Marlborough, watching Silbury Hill, the tallest man-made earthwork in Europe (about 130 feet high), driving one more mile to get to the village.
We'd suggest that you don't limit your visit to the above said site, as not far from there you could also see:
- Old Sarum, with its remains of an Iron Age Hillfort;
- Wardour Castle;
- the Cathedral.