Stonehenge

About Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, about 3 km west of Amesbury. An outer ring of large sarsen stones, joined by horizontal lintels, surrounds a ring of smaller bluestones and, inside that, free-standing trilithons.

It was built in phases from about 3100 BC to about 1600 BC; the big sarsen circle was put up between about 2600 and 2400 BC. The monument is aligned on sunrise at the summer solstice and sunset at the winter solstice, and it stands among several hundred Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds. It has been legally protected since the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882.

Background from Stonehenge (Wikipedia) (opens in new tab), read on 1 November 2026.

Avant de partir

Stonehenge is about 124 km (77 miles) from central London in a straight line, measured from Charing Cross; the rail route is longer. Trains leave from London Waterloo. Our rail tickets guide explains Advance, Off-Peak and Anytime tickets, railcards and split tickets, so you can work out which fare suits a day out. On the day, check National Rail for delays and engineering works before you set off.

Opening times, tickets and closures for English Heritage: Stonehenge are on its official website. For sights that can need a timed ticket, see what to book ahead.

Areas to explore in Salisbury & Stonehenge

Our Salisbury & Stonehenge guide is split into 3 areas, each with things to do, places to eat, where to stay and how to get there.

• Salisbury and Old Sarum: The cathedral and Magna Carta, the Close, the Market Place and the hillfort of Old Sarum (19 things to do)
• Stonehenge and Amesbury: The stones, Woodhenge, Durrington Walls and the barrows of the Stonehenge landscape (13 things to do)
• Avebury and Marlborough: The Avebury stone circles, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and the market town of Marlborough (16 things to do)

Weather through the year

Met Office 1991-2020 averages for the Boscombe Down station (opens in new tab), the one we use for Salisbury & Stonehenge. Daylight is calculated for Stonehenge on the 15th of the month. These are averages, not a forecast.

Every month, with sunshine and packing notes: when to go to Salisbury & Stonehenge.

Closest other day trips

Measured in a straight line from Stonehenge, so the journey between them will be longer. Use the journey planner to see whether a direct train runs.

• Bath: about 43 km away
• Bristol: about 62 km away
• Oxford: about 75 km away